1A ECE

Check out this video I edited!

Writing this has long been overdue. Currently it is the week before 1B exams (heavily procrastinating right now) and I wanted to take the time to reflect over 1A and how my first semester of University went, and the whole timeline with Waterloo in general.

I was first introduced to the University of Waterloo at HackCamp 2023 (UBC). Everyone I talked to there said to go to Waterloo and not UBC. Fast forward to March of 2025, I couldn't believe my eyes when I actually got in. I thought I would get rejected because of my English and Chemistry grades.

The summer after Grade 12 went by incredibly fast. I was working full time so I didn't have a chance to really grind out projects or do anything to prepare for university. When the time came to leave, I still was unable to process that I was leaving family and friends behind to spend the next 4 and 2/3rds years 4000 km away from home.

Arriving at Waterloo

The first weeks went by quickly. I went to all the O-week events and tried to meet as many people as possible. Honestly, it was very fun but incredibly exhausting.

Courses Rated

These courses follow a tier list rather than a conventional x > y > z ranking. Courses are subjective to my own opinions and the overall ECE experience will be different term to term.

MATH 115 - Linear Algebra

Professor: Ryan Trelford

My favorite course of the term. The course was so well organized and structured for being an introductory topic to abstract math. Cliche advice but I would recommend watching 3blue1brown's series on Linear Algebra.

ECE 150 - Fundamentals of Programming

Professor: Douglas Harder

I didn't have Dietl, which may have influenced my ranking significantly. I rate this course in the S tier because I was already familiar with C++, and I believe it was well run and fair. The midterm was brutal for many, which resulted in one of the most fair finals. In fact, the final was so fair that the prof sent an email saying if you got below a 70 that you were gonna fail in the future. Fair I guess?

This entire course is doable without going to a single lecture. Prof Harder has slides, and videos on every topic. He also went out of his way to create programming exercises, review the C++ standard library, and do a bunch of cool stuff this term.

As well, since the final exam grade could replace the midterm and every project grade, all you need to do is study for the final and you'd be fine (though not recommended). There were little to no P71 incidents this term as far as I was aware.

MATH 117 - Calculus 1 & 2

Professor: Sachin Kotecha

Fair, interesting course. Nothing wrong with Calc 1 & 2. Sachin wrote really good notes.

ECE 105 - Classical Mechanics

Professor: Jamie Forrest

People didn't like this course, the professor, or the content. I didn't like all three. I ended up skipping most of the lectures in the latter half of the course. When it came to studying I crammed the midterm and finals the day before. This course is the reason I'm not on the honor roll LOL.

ECE 198 - Project Studio

Professor: Simar Saini

Fat time waster. Luckily, it was nerfed / a bird course compared to previous years. If this course is still being taught the way it is, I would recommend implementing a pure software solution and save your time for more important things.

ECE 190 - Ethics and Profession of Engineering

Professor: Dan Davison

Despite this course being a time waster, this was definitely a more interesting course than the other D tier courses. Learned a lot of random trivia and random facts. (as well as the Dan Davison method, for those who know).

COMNST 192 - Engineering Communication

Professor: William Shakespeare

Mandatory lectures. After the first project i.e. a persuasive speech, the course just became a Canva grind. Still liked this course way more than what ENGL 192 would have been (I don't like writing 2000 word uni essays).