Tuesday 21 May 2013

Considering UofT for your Engineering Grad Study

University College @ UofT
Some time back in April, I read the following post by Dr. Greg Mankiw, a professor at Harvard University. In his post, he listed 9 criterion to consider when choosing a graduate program. I find it very useful and decided to answer some of the questions he posted by specifically looking at the  Engineering Program @ University of Toronto (UofT).

So here it goes:
  1. Ranking of Engineering @ UofT - According to ARWU 2012, Engineering @ UofT ranks 13 in the world. Click here for more info.
  2. Am I happy to be a grad student at UofT? Absolutely. The people here are great, tons of opportunities (e.g. AngelHack Toronto) around and there are a lot of fun activities around (e.g. cherry blossom viewing).
  3. How strong is engineering at UofT? - Most of the engineering department is very strong, so if something doesn't work out, you can always switch (supervisors or department).
  4. (Not much to say about advice #4).
  5. Is Toronto a fun place to live? You bet! Since UofT is located near downtown, you have tons of choices for activities. Furthermore, you never really need a car if you live downtown. The downside is the rent in Toronto is pretty high by North American standards.
  6. Is UofT a nice university? It is definitely is. The facilities are pretty complete but not the newest. They still lack of funding.
  7. How strong are the undergrads? The intellectual level of the undergraduates at UofT is very diverse. There are some that are eager to learn, others just want to pass. They are still somewhat smart. The problem is they didn't really receive the proper guidance since first year.
  8. (Once again, nothing much to say about advice #8.)
  9. What is the rate of success of completing a PhD and what jobs do they get? For the system control group, I would say that there is 90% success rate of completing a PhD. For Masters (MASc), that is near to 100%. Most of the grad students get jobs in the industry and the pay is not bad at all. So, it is definitely worth your time (money is not involved!). I want to emphasize that doing your grad study (in the research stream side) at UofT is basically free and funding should not be an issue.
I hope that helps to answer some of your questions!

No comments:

Post a Comment

www.hypersmash.com Blog Ping Site Google+