Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

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tak197
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby tak197 » 10 Dec 2009, 06:32

BOOKS: The most expensive semester for books for me was $700. $2000 is more than you need, so plan on spending the remainder on other important spplies and services.

FOOD: If you do the free pizza lunches and all, consider paying for a gym pass. Especially if you have a kinesiology program, because then they have a surplus of student trainers for extra cheap or free. I think you should put some of that $2000 book allocation towards that.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES: Join them! It's worth it to go to the meetings and make friends. I went to a club because a classmate needed my help wth something there, and I ended up sticking around to the extent that they became my main friend group for the rest of college. We had lunch every day at the same spot in the Union building. I miss them a lot.

JOBS: I highly recommend getting one on campus. I had a job for 3 years while I went to my school, and it was a really good source of extra income for me. I worked 20 hours a week at the commons desk, which was a lot of mailroom, information, keys, and so on. The majority of the time was spent doing homework and surfing the web, though, because that's how much free time I had. So look for wage-payroll jobs on campus. Because it's on campus, they also tend to have a higher hourly wage, because the money gets taken from the allocations of the tuition and fees.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby sdhonda » 10 Dec 2009, 06:52

Be careful with a job if your course load is heavy. On campus jobs are somewhat better for that, but still.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby CygnusX1 » 10 Dec 2009, 07:12

As a waterloo student in Computer Science Co-op(3B) I can probably provide some useful information.

The co-op is very useful for paying for school terms. With the exception of the double study term you have to do at either the beginning or end of your degree. The money should be enough to cover your fees. ie. 4 month coop pays for a 4 month school term.

As for textbooks, the usefulness of these can be debated. Most math & cs textbooks are supplementary and seldom used. A lot of waterloo courses are driven by course notes written by current/previous professors which are usually available free online or cheap for a printed copy.

I have gotten through full course load terms paying as little as $100 for textbooks.

Know that the program is difficult and stay away from waterloo if you don't like math. Their approach to computer science is much more math oriented then other Ontario universities.

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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby jtaylor » 10 Dec 2009, 07:54

Does Canada have something like Federal Work Study in the US?
I volunteered to mentor a high school robotics team this fall because it is something I enjoy doing, but if I was eligible for Federal Work Study money I could have been paid for the work I did.

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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Shinoki » 10 Dec 2009, 09:00

Tak's gym idea is a good one. And often the gym is either free or ridiculously cheap. York's gym for instance costs $10 for the year. There are a lot of services they are going to charge you for through your tuition so you might as well make use of them all.

Oh and I don't know about Waterloo but this is how it went at UofT and York for me. Look at the detailed summary of what charges are on your tuition. The reason why I say this is there are some charges that are optional in that you can opt-out of them. One example is here at York we have a health plan that costs several hundred each year that you can opt out of. If you need medication or dental work it covers a lot of that, but if you don't use it, it's wasted money.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Elomin Sha » 10 Dec 2009, 11:01

I've been to three Universities and would love to help, but I only chose them because the food in the canteen was nice

To save money just have a bowl of pasta with sauce ready. It can last you a long long time.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Master Gunner » 10 Dec 2009, 11:39

Shinoki wrote:Oh and I don't know about Waterloo but this is how it went at UofT and York for me. Look at the detailed summary of what charges are on your tuition. The reason why I say this is there are some charges that are optional in that you can opt-out of them. One example is here at York we have a health plan that costs several hundred each year that you can opt out of. If you need medication or dental work it covers a lot of that, but if you don't use it, it's wasted money.


Especially important on health/dental plans (would have being $250/year for me), check your parent's insurance. My mother's insurance will cover me for as long as I remain in school. So I'm guaranteed coverage for this entire degree without paying an extra cent (I doubt it will cover me if I do my Master's right after, but it's something to check).
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Elomin Sha » 10 Dec 2009, 11:48

I forgot to mention about book savings. I used none in my 6 years, saves quite a lot of money.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Bananafish » 10 Dec 2009, 12:17

Holy hell, study.

I know how easy it is to coast through high school by now studying at all but in college you actually have to put an effort into getting a good grade. I cannot imagine passing any of my classes if I didn't study for the tests.

Get out of your shitty high school mentalities if you have them.

Also: KNOW HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY. You cannot fathom just how many people in college cannot write a concise and half decent essay, it's almost sad.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby AmazingPjotrMan » 10 Dec 2009, 15:56

In soviet Sweden, tuition pays you.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby theDreamer » 10 Dec 2009, 16:08

Actually, the fact that the UW site has lied to me about $2000 for books saves me so much stress.

I thought it was obscenely high, but I don't exactly have a lot of experience to go on, now do I?

Gaining weight I doubt will be an issue for me. The most expensive meal plan they have budgets half of what I currently eat a day.

And I'm fairly healthy (insanely high metabolism, you shall be the death of me), so I'm actually prolly going to lose some weight.

Also, I'm pretty confused about this: How, exactly, _do_ the classes work?

You have to get x number of credits to graduate? You have to take y number of classes per term? You have to take a minimum number of classes per term, but it is the number of terms that ultimately matters?

It's just that the cost is by class. If I don't _have_ to take 5 courses a term, why should I?
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby IronRingRoad » 10 Dec 2009, 16:13

Holy balls, UW is expensive! I just completed a software engineering degree at the University of Victoria and only had to pay ~$3000/term tuition and ~$500/term books (at bookstore prices).

I know UW is a very good university, particularly when it comes to computer science and engineering, but is it really worth paying double the cost of similar programs at other universities?

In any case, co-op is a must. A co-op term generally nets you enough money to pay for the next study term, and gets you all-important work experience. (And places like RIM and IBM hire co-op students from across the country. Several of my UVic friends had co-op jobs with RIM and I had one with IBM Toronto Lab.)
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby DmitriW » 10 Dec 2009, 16:17

theDreamer wrote:Also, I'm pretty confused about this: How, exactly, _do_ the classes work?

You have to get x number of credits to graduate? You have to take y number of classes per term? You have to take a minimum number of classes per term, but it is the number of terms that ultimately matters?

It's just that the cost is by class. If I don't _have_ to take 5 courses a term, why should I?


For your degree, you will need a set number of credits to graduate. For any scholarships, you will need to be a full-time student--usually a minimum of 12 credit hours per term, though your school may have different requirements.

Also, if you don't take a certain number of courses per term, it will take you longer to graduate than it would otherwise.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Master Gunner » 10 Dec 2009, 16:42

Different programs have different requirements to graduate, but this is how it breaks down for me: In order to graduate with a degree in Information Systems, I need about 140 credit-hours, with most classes being worth 3 or 4 credit hours each (in calculating GPA, your mark for each course will be multiplied by the number of credit-hours the course is worth, then added together and divided by the total number of credit-hours). Of those, a certain number has to be "writing" credits (from courses that require you to write essays). In addition to that baseline you need to graduate (which is very important, my brother ended up 6 credits short of being able to graduate after he epically failed his thesis, he still hasn't graduated 2 years later), there's certain courses you'll need to take to graduate. I have a list of 10 computer science and 5 information systems courses to satisfy the computer science core of my degree, as well as 9 business, 2 economics, and 3 maths/statistics courses to satisfy my business core.

In addition to all that, I have to take about 10 additional courses to fill out the rest of my credit-hour requirements, and of those, 3 have to be arts courses.

You don't have to take 5 courses/term, but the programs are generally structured so you can get out in 8 study terms that way. I'm only taking 4 courses right now, but it turns out I have to take 6 next term in order to keep my scholarship. If you want to give the university extra money, they won't stop you from taking 4 or 3 courses a term and sticking around for a few more years (anything less and you'll be considered a part-time student, generally, anyways). Or, if you want to get out early, you can take 6 or 7 courses a term (which will, in all likelihood, kill you).

If you still can, take every AP course you can sign up for, at your high school or online. I took 4 AP courses, and ended up with 21 credits. It also means I don't have to take calculus next semester (or this semester if I were pure Comp-Sci), and have all my arts and most of my writing courses taking care of already. So by advancing my courses to fill those timeslots, I'll be out here a semester early in all likelihood.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby CygnusX1 » 11 Dec 2009, 08:54

theDreamer wrote:
Also, I'm pretty confused about this: How, exactly, _do_ the classes work?

You have to get x number of credits to graduate? You have to take y number of classes per term? You have to take a minimum number of classes per term, but it is the number of terms that ultimately matters?

It's just that the cost is by class. If I don't _have_ to take 5 courses a term, why should I?


http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/current/programs/require/2009-2010/bcs.pdf

Here is a list of courses and requirements for the 09/10 BCS degree @ UW. as you can see one requirement is to have 8 terms enrolled in at least 3 courses. That is the restriction.. having said that you can take 3 courses a term and carry out your degree for like 7 years. But that is a waste of time. The best way to cut university costs is to take full course loads and graduate on time. Well it minimizes living expenses anyway.

To Graduate you basically fill out a form and they check you have all the courses you need. Engineering @ UW is very different, you are on a fixed program and dont have the option of when to take what courses etc...
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Dempsas » 11 Dec 2009, 09:24

In NZ we have student loans to deal with all the fees and book costs. And they can pay you a student allowance of 165 NZD a week, But you have to pay it all back in the end. Its probably very different to allot of you guys. I just finished my first year staying at a Hall of residents studying a bachelor of I.T. My few hints

coffee is a godsend. Make it yourself as said above

Again yes eat healthy and only when your hungry. Save every penny lol In NZ you need it for the weekend.

A job in the first yea its hard to deal but if you can handle it go for it.

As for books, I dont really know I only had to buy one at 100 NZD

Finally, Just enjoy it. Everybody in 1st year is in the same boat as you, and you will find allot more people with common interests :)
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby Shinoki » 11 Dec 2009, 09:25

CygnusX1 wrote: Well it minimizes living expenses anyway.


Not everything you get charged for in your tuition is course fees. There are tariffs and taxes on every semester you are enrolled in on top of course fees. For instance York has a $30 charge for every student to pay the operating costs of the student center, which at york consists of tables and fast food, with a couple club offices upstairs that they rent. So it will save you a lot more than just living expenses.

But as Cygnus said if it is a fixed program you have no choice really. I usually take a little bit of a lighter load because doing a writing program is time intensive. That way I don't fail all my courses because I don't have enough time to dick around on the internet and write papers/assignments. So I just take a course during the summer to make up for what I miss during the year.
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Re: Universities, Tuition, and Cutting Costs

Postby CygnusX1 » 11 Dec 2009, 09:29

As far as I know when I get my bill the tuition part is just for course fees. Yes there are additional fees but they are stated in their own sections, everything from my coop fee to student clubs to campus newspaper fees all have their own breakdowns so you know what your money is going towards. They don't lump the fees all into tuition fee at UW.
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