We went to universities open houses, for Tony, and for ourselves too. Not that we are planning to go to university ourselves, but that we just want to know how it works the education system at university level, and the whole program selection and application process.

We’ve been to U of Waterloo, U of Guelph, U of Toronto, U of Western, and U of Queens, by this order. So the last three weekends were unusually busy. And it delayed a bit the healing of my poor left knee.

U of Waterloo was our first stop. We were so excited. You should be able to imagine that, since everything was new or first-time-heard. We got so eyes-opened by the first student we ran into. His high school average was 97 at the application. Tony’s average by now is about mid-80s. The guy is doing double degree of Computer Science and Business, and taking a minor on top of that. We thought he was just an exceptional example, fortunately and unfortunately bumped into us. And then we got to know better as the day went on. For Computer Science or Software Engineering programs in U of W, you get 70% chances to get in with a high school average of 97. That super guy was really just a plain one in these programs. Each one in these programs is a super guy, or girl. We got so surprised and discouraged the same time.

Once we went to information evening at Tony’s high school. They got their excellent grade 12 students to show off and answer questions. All the five students had already got offers from universities, like U of Waterloo, U of T, McMaster, Queens, etc. Most majored medical. We were kind of surprised that there wasn’t even one going abroad to study. Being accepted by Canadian universities wasn’t something to brag about we thought back then. Weren’t all the top students to go study in the U.S? We definitely have opened and changed our mind after these open house trips.

For science and engineering programs we favored, they are truly hard to get in at Waterloo. We disliked U of Toronto at the scene, and heard enough disliking comments of it too. Guelph isn’t strong enough. So, Western and Queens look good for now. But we will surely change our mind for at least a hundred times before the real application date. And besides, Tony hasn’t set an eye on either of these schools yet.

About programs, there are millions of options and combinations these days. People like us, growing up in a simple world, will get lost for no doubts. Each university was bragging how flexible their programs are. You could absolutely customize your own courses and degrees. But wouldn’t I like everything was scheduled and fixed. Wouldn’t it make things easier and life easier? This new world is truly designed for young and ambitious people, for people who know exactly what they want.

We didn’t have a clue about what we wanted Tony to study in university if you’d asked us this before the open houses. But it seems there is a little light on inside our heads now.

I prefer engineering programs for now. For one thing, they all offer co-op programs, so you don’t need to worry about financial pressures. Universities are not cheap. Many engineering co-op students leave school debt free. Doesn’t this sound attractive?  Another good reason is that you don’t have to do graduate school. You can just land a good job and start your little happy life right after graduate. After all, taking university is to get a good job. If you can get a good one right after university, why bother to take graduate school to waste couple years of time and some more money.

But my husband has a slightly different idea. He thinks engineering is too narrow. It’s not really worth four years study when you are so young and can study something broad to broaden you vision and sharpen your brain. That being said, he favors sciences programs. But he is practical. So he does not insist on pure science, like physics or math. He doesn’t mind graduate school, which is a must if you take science programs. He doesn’t care much about co-op option either. His philosophy is to take advantage of university to make you a fuller person, instead of a solely skilled person. Nobody can blame him. It’s a beautiful picture.

I don’t argue with him. It’s not time yet. I might change my mind, and he might change his mind.