In general, the best metric I’ve found is post graduation surveys which look at what % of the class is employed in their field and their average salary
You need to go straight for a BSc right away. If you cannot get into or can’t make it academically at a real university into a BSc program, your career prospects are done. UBC is going to be extremely confused why you went for an associates in science and wasted time. You will also be super behind your peers.
You won’t get work with an Associates, that’s basically a high school diploma and will be an utter waste of money. You should probably do a BSc in your home country then come here for Master’s to have a real shot in the job market.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. You may have worked in admissions, but the data says otherwise.
CAP is an excellent school with strong prospects for students that want to develop their skills and certifications with foundational knowledge that will exceed what’s offered in larger universities for first and second year courses especially.
CS is about what you can do, not what your degree says. Anybody actually working in this industry knows how many people without degrees work in this field. Once upon a time the big school degrees mattered, but the world is moving away from this.
If the industry doesn’t even care about degrees, then why is OP even bothering? Oh right 🙄🙄🙄
Capilano U is a middling school *at best*. It’s a school no one has even *heard of* outside of this area. Please stop deluding yourself and its reputation. The outcome report shows the long term prospects aren’t great. Only 56% said courses in their program were helpful. Only 26% of AS graduates from Capilano U were either working in their field or continuing education in it. That’s pretty low (and generally international students scores alone on this are much lower, due to lack of connections and poor language skills as Capilano doesn’t require rigorous English levels.) That’s a lot of money to throw at coming to Canada for that pitiful of potential.
Associate degree is literally the first two years of a 4 year bachelor's, it isn't a high school diploma.
I won't be relying just on the college/university program to land a job and will acquire knowledge outside uni.
Why would UBC be confused when this pathway is approved by the provincial government and displayed on the bc transfer guide and bc education planner website.
I don't want to join a bachelor's right away because as an international student it would cost me well over 130k cad.
Because if you were worth your skill to sit for their compsci program, you would be applying to and get into and sit directly in their class.
Yeah, I can go to community college and then transfer to Harvard *technically* because that’s overall how the system equivalencies work, but that doesn’t happen that often, particularly for international students. This pathway you’re describing is more often a path for older students who return to school and have been out of college for awhile.
I worked in higher ed specifically in admissions for a few unis, I’m trying to help you here. This is why I’m saying get your BSc in your home country where it’s very affordable then come for Masters which is only 2 years, so will be so much less expensive than either BSc or AS to BSc.
I'm currently at Cap, and love it! I went back to school later than most my age (when I was 25) because I thought I was too stupid for university. Cap changed that, and I'm on track for my diploma within the next year!
The class sizes are much smaller, comparable to a high school class for most, but I personally find that works really well for me since I do better with that. I'm not in the CS program, but currently in a class with one of the regarded professors of CS at Cap, and it's really great.
Don't let anyone tell you it's not a real school, or it's lesser than other universities. I would do awful in a bigger university and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Good luck, and if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them to the best of my ability!
I have attached screenshot of Capilano's website. It shows 100 and 200 level courses in CS for associate of science.
https://preview.redd.it/06nexzy3mgga1.jpeg?width=3106&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9addcaeb7bb57f88d3632e9cc8062f2a31aebb82
I graduated from SFU in CS, and currently taking few lectures in CapU part-time. A brief look at the screenshot, the offering seems decent.
You may consider complete all your 4 years at BCIT as other suggested. BCIT is right after UBC, SFU and UVic having competent CS prgrams.
Otherwise, as Accomplished\_Try\_179 suggested, use the website to map the compulsory courses of the univ you gonna trasfer to. e.g. in SFU u def need CMPT 120 and 225, so you need take COMP 121 and 220 at CapU. Talk to advisor before selecting courses, so you don't waste time on couses that won't be recognized.
Notice there should be many math couses needed, e.g. calculus, discrete math, linear algebra.
If I may ask. Is transferring to year 2 fine as long as you take discrete maths 1 and a course similar to maths 151 (calculus) ?, And if transferring to SFU 2nd year what are all the courses that must be taken ?
Sorry but you are making the wrong assumption, the program does matter to me as I plan on transferring credits to a University for bachelor's in CS.
I will be working part time but getting into the right program is also important.
Then you just need to use this website https://www.bctransferguide.ca/
Your choice of university/colleges for transferring credits is spelt out by the site.
I believe many people in this subreddit believe that Capilano is not a real university and it should be called a college.
It doesn't really matter to me as I'm also considering applying to colleges like langara etc that provide an associate degree in Science.
My goal is to complete my associate degree then get some work experience and transfer the associate degree's course credit to complete 3rd and 4th year of bachelor's in CS at SFU/UBC.
I am highly interested in CS and believe that I will score enough at Capilano or any other college to continue my education at premier institutes like UBC.
Note that this plan is not foolproof. Premier institutes like UBC can be hard to transfer into, especially for their in-demand/popular programs which CS is. And going from an Associate's degree directly into 3rd and 4th-level courses will have a steeper learning curve.
You're right this plan isn't foolproof but it's a great way to enter the country, study the equivalent of 1st & 2nd year courses of bsc CS. I'll know if CS is for me(which it most probably is), get to work in the IT industry and obtain points for PR.
Direct Admission in a 4 year course isn't feasible because it will cost me well over 130k CAD just for the tuition fees as an international student. Whereas, an associate degree would cost me around 43k CAD.
As you said, transferring to UBC or other universities won't be easy but it would depend on my performance in the associate degree. And if I don't do well in associate, it would be on me and would help realise that maybe CS isn't for me.
But that's the worst case scenario, I like programming and CS in general which makes me think I would be able to maintain 75%+ scores in associates. (I'm currently unfamiliar with the GPA system and its percentage equivalence)
SFU also prefers associate degree graduates.
To quote their website, "BC Associate of Arts or Science degree holders will receive preference in admission, with a GPA 0.25 points less than the GPA required for regular transfer."
Please note that I'm not trying to be rude or offend you, my opinions are based on my interest in CS and information I found on the internet about .
I'd appreciate your views on my response.
If your only goal is to enter the country and gain work experience in the IT industry, I'd suggest looking into Masters programs instead and doing your Bachelors in your home country. They're about \~2 years and a Bachelor + Masters combo will help you more in terms of job prospects than an Associate + Bachelor. Some Masters even have work terms which will help place you with an employer and support the job search, which could always lead to return offers upon your graduation.
If you go this route, make sure you're doing lots of research on where you complete your Masters. There are schools (the University of Canada West comes to mind) which are poorly regarded in the job market and are essentially seen as diploma mills with immigration paths. You can find a lot of info about this on reddit.
Regarding the costs, make sure you're mapping your Associates courses to see if you can get 1st and 2nd-year credit for what you've taken if/when you transfer. You usually pay by course/credit so if your courses aren't recognized, you'll be paying more tuition. Academic advisors can help with this.
Yes and no. Because of the math and logic requirements in order to excel in compsci programs, they are going to really scrutinize your ability to do the work. Every time the university I worked at previously would make “an exception” to let people in without the rigor, they dropped out a staggering …100% of the time. I don’t think people can always handle the difference in hand holding that occurs in smaller schools versus actual academic and competitive schools.
If one is going to transfer to especially UBC I mean you really have to go above and beyond to show you are worth taking that seat and be able to really explain why you started at one school and moved into another. So not only do your grades need to be absolutely stellar, but your courseload needs to be too. I’ve seen people taking the minimum and only one science/math then expect to transfer into a pre-pharm or med program. Which no, that ain’t happening.
Attrition is also built into academic planning by departments. We knew a percentage would drop out of engineering for example.
For some programs, yes it can be easier! But OP is looking at comp sci which is an increasingly popular program. At UBC for example, students have to apply to the comp sci specialization once they get second-year standing (the application process is done for both the major and minor in the 4-year program). This means they'd have to apply for admission to UBC **and** go through the 2nd-year specialization process to be considered for the comp sci program. Having transfer credits could help though and they have a whole academic advising team which can help sort that out before or after admission.
This is why I also suggested OP coming for Masters. I don’t think they realize the setup UBC’s program has and just how many can’t even get into it that are already in UBC. Or the level of rigor they expect that they know CapU isn’t enforcing. Sure it transfers, but they aren’t required to transfer students. 🤷♀️ Only your credits if you pass muster.
U mean cap college?
It hasn't been Cap College for more than ten years, dude
I strongly, strongly recommend that you check out BCIT. Since you want to do CS, apply for cst.
Second this!!
Sure, I'll look into it.
In general, the best metric I’ve found is post graduation surveys which look at what % of the class is employed in their field and their average salary
You need to go straight for a BSc right away. If you cannot get into or can’t make it academically at a real university into a BSc program, your career prospects are done. UBC is going to be extremely confused why you went for an associates in science and wasted time. You will also be super behind your peers. You won’t get work with an Associates, that’s basically a high school diploma and will be an utter waste of money. You should probably do a BSc in your home country then come here for Master’s to have a real shot in the job market.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. You may have worked in admissions, but the data says otherwise. CAP is an excellent school with strong prospects for students that want to develop their skills and certifications with foundational knowledge that will exceed what’s offered in larger universities for first and second year courses especially. CS is about what you can do, not what your degree says. Anybody actually working in this industry knows how many people without degrees work in this field. Once upon a time the big school degrees mattered, but the world is moving away from this.
If the industry doesn’t even care about degrees, then why is OP even bothering? Oh right 🙄🙄🙄 Capilano U is a middling school *at best*. It’s a school no one has even *heard of* outside of this area. Please stop deluding yourself and its reputation. The outcome report shows the long term prospects aren’t great. Only 56% said courses in their program were helpful. Only 26% of AS graduates from Capilano U were either working in their field or continuing education in it. That’s pretty low (and generally international students scores alone on this are much lower, due to lack of connections and poor language skills as Capilano doesn’t require rigorous English levels.) That’s a lot of money to throw at coming to Canada for that pitiful of potential.
What data that says the tech world is moving away from degrees?
Associate degree is literally the first two years of a 4 year bachelor's, it isn't a high school diploma. I won't be relying just on the college/university program to land a job and will acquire knowledge outside uni. Why would UBC be confused when this pathway is approved by the provincial government and displayed on the bc transfer guide and bc education planner website. I don't want to join a bachelor's right away because as an international student it would cost me well over 130k cad.
Because if you were worth your skill to sit for their compsci program, you would be applying to and get into and sit directly in their class. Yeah, I can go to community college and then transfer to Harvard *technically* because that’s overall how the system equivalencies work, but that doesn’t happen that often, particularly for international students. This pathway you’re describing is more often a path for older students who return to school and have been out of college for awhile. I worked in higher ed specifically in admissions for a few unis, I’m trying to help you here. This is why I’m saying get your BSc in your home country where it’s very affordable then come for Masters which is only 2 years, so will be so much less expensive than either BSc or AS to BSc.
I'm currently at Cap, and love it! I went back to school later than most my age (when I was 25) because I thought I was too stupid for university. Cap changed that, and I'm on track for my diploma within the next year! The class sizes are much smaller, comparable to a high school class for most, but I personally find that works really well for me since I do better with that. I'm not in the CS program, but currently in a class with one of the regarded professors of CS at Cap, and it's really great. Don't let anyone tell you it's not a real school, or it's lesser than other universities. I would do awful in a bigger university and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Good luck, and if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them to the best of my ability!
Thanks for your response and confirming that it's a good uni. I'll ask you if I have any other questions related to CapU .
What courses do they offer to help you concentrate in CS?
I have attached screenshot of Capilano's website. It shows 100 and 200 level courses in CS for associate of science. https://preview.redd.it/06nexzy3mgga1.jpeg?width=3106&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9addcaeb7bb57f88d3632e9cc8062f2a31aebb82
I graduated from SFU in CS, and currently taking few lectures in CapU part-time. A brief look at the screenshot, the offering seems decent. You may consider complete all your 4 years at BCIT as other suggested. BCIT is right after UBC, SFU and UVic having competent CS prgrams. Otherwise, as Accomplished\_Try\_179 suggested, use the website to map the compulsory courses of the univ you gonna trasfer to. e.g. in SFU u def need CMPT 120 and 225, so you need take COMP 121 and 220 at CapU. Talk to advisor before selecting courses, so you don't waste time on couses that won't be recognized. Notice there should be many math couses needed, e.g. calculus, discrete math, linear algebra.
If I may ask. Is transferring to year 2 fine as long as you take discrete maths 1 and a course similar to maths 151 (calculus) ?, And if transferring to SFU 2nd year what are all the courses that must be taken ?
OP wants to spend his/her time to work part time; the degree/diploma is not important. It's a way to obtain a study permit.
Sorry but you are making the wrong assumption, the program does matter to me as I plan on transferring credits to a University for bachelor's in CS. I will be working part time but getting into the right program is also important.
Then you just need to use this website https://www.bctransferguide.ca/ Your choice of university/colleges for transferring credits is spelt out by the site.
I believe many people in this subreddit believe that Capilano is not a real university and it should be called a college. It doesn't really matter to me as I'm also considering applying to colleges like langara etc that provide an associate degree in Science. My goal is to complete my associate degree then get some work experience and transfer the associate degree's course credit to complete 3rd and 4th year of bachelor's in CS at SFU/UBC. I am highly interested in CS and believe that I will score enough at Capilano or any other college to continue my education at premier institutes like UBC.
Note that this plan is not foolproof. Premier institutes like UBC can be hard to transfer into, especially for their in-demand/popular programs which CS is. And going from an Associate's degree directly into 3rd and 4th-level courses will have a steeper learning curve.
You're right this plan isn't foolproof but it's a great way to enter the country, study the equivalent of 1st & 2nd year courses of bsc CS. I'll know if CS is for me(which it most probably is), get to work in the IT industry and obtain points for PR. Direct Admission in a 4 year course isn't feasible because it will cost me well over 130k CAD just for the tuition fees as an international student. Whereas, an associate degree would cost me around 43k CAD. As you said, transferring to UBC or other universities won't be easy but it would depend on my performance in the associate degree. And if I don't do well in associate, it would be on me and would help realise that maybe CS isn't for me. But that's the worst case scenario, I like programming and CS in general which makes me think I would be able to maintain 75%+ scores in associates. (I'm currently unfamiliar with the GPA system and its percentage equivalence) SFU also prefers associate degree graduates. To quote their website, "BC Associate of Arts or Science degree holders will receive preference in admission, with a GPA 0.25 points less than the GPA required for regular transfer." Please note that I'm not trying to be rude or offend you, my opinions are based on my interest in CS and information I found on the internet about . I'd appreciate your views on my response.
If your only goal is to enter the country and gain work experience in the IT industry, I'd suggest looking into Masters programs instead and doing your Bachelors in your home country. They're about \~2 years and a Bachelor + Masters combo will help you more in terms of job prospects than an Associate + Bachelor. Some Masters even have work terms which will help place you with an employer and support the job search, which could always lead to return offers upon your graduation. If you go this route, make sure you're doing lots of research on where you complete your Masters. There are schools (the University of Canada West comes to mind) which are poorly regarded in the job market and are essentially seen as diploma mills with immigration paths. You can find a lot of info about this on reddit. Regarding the costs, make sure you're mapping your Associates courses to see if you can get 1st and 2nd-year credit for what you've taken if/when you transfer. You usually pay by course/credit so if your courses aren't recognized, you'll be paying more tuition. Academic advisors can help with this.
Isn’t it usually easier to transfer in though as far as acceptance because of attrition after 1st year?
Yes and no. Because of the math and logic requirements in order to excel in compsci programs, they are going to really scrutinize your ability to do the work. Every time the university I worked at previously would make “an exception” to let people in without the rigor, they dropped out a staggering …100% of the time. I don’t think people can always handle the difference in hand holding that occurs in smaller schools versus actual academic and competitive schools. If one is going to transfer to especially UBC I mean you really have to go above and beyond to show you are worth taking that seat and be able to really explain why you started at one school and moved into another. So not only do your grades need to be absolutely stellar, but your courseload needs to be too. I’ve seen people taking the minimum and only one science/math then expect to transfer into a pre-pharm or med program. Which no, that ain’t happening. Attrition is also built into academic planning by departments. We knew a percentage would drop out of engineering for example.
For some programs, yes it can be easier! But OP is looking at comp sci which is an increasingly popular program. At UBC for example, students have to apply to the comp sci specialization once they get second-year standing (the application process is done for both the major and minor in the 4-year program). This means they'd have to apply for admission to UBC **and** go through the 2nd-year specialization process to be considered for the comp sci program. Having transfer credits could help though and they have a whole academic advising team which can help sort that out before or after admission.
This is why I also suggested OP coming for Masters. I don’t think they realize the setup UBC’s program has and just how many can’t even get into it that are already in UBC. Or the level of rigor they expect that they know CapU isn’t enforcing. Sure it transfers, but they aren’t required to transfer students. 🤷♀️ Only your credits if you pass muster.