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What's the most hacker-friendly major at Waterloo? Where are the most creative and/or entrepreneurial students to be found? Specifically, can anyone comment on

by gruseom 16y ago

What's the most hacker-friendly major at Waterloo? Where are the most creative and/or entrepreneurial students to be found? Specifically, can anyone comment on CS vs. software eng in these respects?

mrtron 16y ago
It doesnt matter much for CS vs soft eng. Most entrepreneur clubs and meet ups are degree agnostic. Get a strong background in what interests you most. Most students are looking at a regular career path. You will have to seek out like minded people.
andrewmunn 16y ago
Soft engs are generally better. Velocity is full of them. The one problem with Soft Engs is that their work load is generally higher than CS students, so less time to work on startups. Full disclosure: I'm in Soft Eng :)
- OmarIsmail 16y ago
  Agreed with SoftEng being the better program, at least when I was there (class of '06). From my one class of 85 grads there have been at least 3 companies started, including PagerDuty which is in the current YC cohort. The benefits of SoftEng vs CS may be mitigated by being in Velocity. But if you're not, then the fact that you're with the same group of people for 5 years on the same schedule is great for forging bonds and thus cofounders.
mcpherrinm 16y ago
CS is better, since you get the flexibility to adjust your school to support your life, startups, or whatever you're doing. Engineering is too rigid to do something like take a term off to focus on a personal project or do some research.
reso 16y ago
Full disclosure: Current Velocity Resident, 4th year CS I've met brilliant CS students and brilliant SE's, and complete morons in each program. Degree title is irrelevant, it is the quality of person that determines the quality of hacker that leaves each program. Having said that, while the core curriculum of the programs is almost identical, the SE curriculum contains a lot more non-CS requirements such as Chemistry, English, and Ethics. This makes their workload much heavier, without making them better software engineers. In CS, we get a lot more freedom. I usually have one or two electives each term, which means I've been able to take courses in economics, entrepreneurship, music, biology, and others. It also leaves a lot more time for side-projects, which are what really make you a better hacker.

by gruseom 16y ago

What's the most hacker-friendly major at Waterloo? Where are the most creative and/or entrepreneurial students to be found? Specifically, can anyone comment on CS vs. software eng in these respects?

mrtron 16y ago

It doesnt matter much for CS vs soft eng. Most entrepreneur clubs and meet ups are degree agnostic. Get a strong background in what interests you most. Most students are looking at a regular career path. You will have to seek out like minded people.

andrewmunn 16y ago

Soft engs are generally better. Velocity is full of them. The one problem with Soft Engs is that their work load is generally higher than CS students, so less time to work on startups. Full disclosure: I'm in Soft Eng :)

OmarIsmail 16y ago
Agreed with SoftEng being the better program, at least when I was there (class of '06). From my one class of 85 grads there have been at least 3 companies started, including PagerDuty which is in the current YC cohort. The benefits of SoftEng vs CS may be mitigated by being in Velocity. But if you're not, then the fact that you're with the same group of people for 5 years on the same schedule is great for forging bonds and thus cofounders.

mcpherrinm 16y ago

CS is better, since you get the flexibility to adjust your school to support your life, startups, or whatever you're doing. Engineering is too rigid to do something like take a term off to focus on a personal project or do some research.

reso 16y ago

Full disclosure: Current Velocity Resident, 4th year CS I've met brilliant CS students and brilliant SE's, and complete morons in each program. Degree title is irrelevant, it is the quality of person that determines the quality of hacker that leaves each program. Having said that, while the core curriculum of the programs is almost identical, the SE curriculum contains a lot more non-CS requirements such as Chemistry, English, and Ethics. This makes their workload much heavier, without making them better software engineers. In CS, we get a lot more freedom. I usually have one or two electives each term, which means I've been able to take courses in economics, entrepreneurship, music, biology, and others. It also leaves a lot more time for side-projects, which are what really make you a better hacker.