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So, you want to come to Waterloo engineering?

So, you want to come to Waterloo to study engineering?

  1. Create a personal web page. On this page, you should document all of your extra-curricular projects.
  2. Teach yourself at least one programming language that you have not yet seen in elementary or secondary school. You should use a search engine to find appropriate introductory tutorials. Document this on your web site. Include a few programs as samples of your work. Be sure to explain what they should do, and why you wrote them. Commenting your code would help.
  3. Get an account on Github and post any code you have authored there. Be sure to add comments to explain to the reader what your code is attempting to accomplish. Add a link to your Github repository on your web page.
  4. Alternatively, write an app for either either Android or the iPhone. Document this on your web site and upload the application to the appropriate forum.
  5. Purchase a crystal radio, preferably one where you have to assemble at least some of the components, and try using it to pick up radio signals. Document this on your web site including a photograph of you holding your crystal radio or include a link to a YouTube video of your radio working. Indicate anything you may have changed or improved. Here is a great link to a video on how to make/build a crystal radio. The requisite materials are available at The Source (formerly Radio Shack Canada).
  6. Consider purchasing a circuit building kit and if this is not possible, visit one of: Document what you have done, and post either photographs or screen shots on your web site.
  7. Pick a chapter in a text book that has not been covered by your teacher. Read through it, and complete the questions at the end of the chapter. Summarize those chapters you have read on your web site. When you are learning the new material, try to determine how you could teach this material to another student. Create a YouTube video where you teach or explain this material to your audience. Link to this video on your web page.
  8. Consider skipping a week of classes in one of your courses and learn the material on your own. You should approach a teach who you respect and who has respect for you and ask him or her to facilitate this. Indicate to your teacher you are attempting to learn on your own. If you can't survive this, no problem as there are many other universities in Ontario to apply to.
  9. When you are learning new material, don't just learn it so that you can get 100% on the test, but always ask yourself how you would explain the concepts to one of your peers. This is the Richard Feynman technique.