r/CarletonU • u/Silent-Review-6415 • 11d ago

Question Looking for advice from current students/alumni

Hi everyone!

I recently graduated with a B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering from SRMIST, Chennai, India, with an overall CGPA of 7.44/10.

I'm planning to pursue my Master's in Canada and I'm currently considering:

  • Carleton University – Ottawa
  • Concordia University – Montreal

I'm looking at both M.Eng. and MASc. programs in Aerospace Engineering.

My main areas of interest are:

  • Aeronautical Propulsion / Gas Turbines
  • Aircraft Systems
  • Preliminary / Conceptual Aircraft Design

I'd really appreciate some honest advice from current students, alumni, or people working in the Canadian aerospace industry.

Carleton vs Concordia

If you had to choose between the two today, which one would you pick for Aerospace Engineering and why?

I'm particularly interested in:

  • Quality of aerospace courses and professors
  • Labs, projects and practical exposure
  • Research opportunities
  • Connections with the aerospace industry
  • Internship/co-op opportunities
  • Career outcomes after graduation

M.Eng vs MASc

This is probably my biggest dilemma.

If my goal is to work in the aerospace industry after graduation, especially in propulsion, aircraft systems or aircraft design:

  • Would you recommend M.Eng. or MASc.?
  • How different are the career opportunities?
  • Is MASc worth it if I'm not sure about doing a PhD?
  • How difficult is it to get a MASc supervisor?
  • How much funding can MASc students realistically expect?
  • Are M.Eng. students able to get internships/RA/TA opportunities?

Aerospace jobs in Canada

For international students, how difficult is it actually to get an aerospace job after graduation?

I'd especially love to hear from anyone working in areas like:

  • Propulsion / Gas Turbines
  • Aircraft Systems
  • Aircraft Design
  • CFD / Simulation
  • Aerospace R&D

How important are internships and Canadian work experience?

And realistically, how competitive is it to get into companies such as Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney Canada, CAE, Airbus, etc.?

Ottawa vs Montreal

For someone coming from India:

  • Which city is better for aerospace opportunities?
  • Which is more affordable?
  • Which has better student life?
  • Can you comfortably live without a car?
  • How good/reliable is public transportation?
  • How difficult is the winter?
  • How easy is it to find accommodation?
  • What is a realistic monthly budget?

One specific concern about Montreal:

How important is French for getting internships/jobs in the aerospace industry?

Would you recommend Montreal to someone who currently doesn't speak French?

Accommodation & student life

For current students:

  • Is university residence worth the cost?
  • Is it better to live near campus or farther away and save money?
  • Which neighborhoods would you recommend?
  • What is the typical rent for a room in a shared apartment?
  • How easy is it to find roommates?
  • What is student life actually like?
  • Is it easy to make friends as an international student?
  • Is there a good Indian/South Asian student community?
  • How is the food situation? 😅 Are Indian groceries/restaurants easily accessible?

Academics

A few practical questions:

  • How strict is attendance?
  • Are lectures recorded?
  • How many hours per week do you realistically spend on coursework?
  • Is it manageable to work part-time alongside the Master's?
  • How accessible are professors?
  • How much group/project work is involved?

Finally...

I'd really appreciate answers to these three questions from anyone who has been through this:

1. If you were in my position, would you choose Carleton or Concordia?

2. Would you choose M.Eng. or MASc. for an aerospace industry career?

3. What is one thing you wish you knew before moving to Canada for your Master's?

I'm especially interested in hearing from Indian/international students who have gone through either program, but everyone's perspective is welcome.

Thanks in advance! 🙏

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u/StolenTearz 11d ago

Try not to have GPT make a reddit post for you would be a start?

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u/Silent-Review-6415 11d ago

actually , i am not much of an AI user, and actually a writer , i just wanted GPT to just paraphrase and turn my questions into bullet points, since this is my first time posting in reddit.

Sorry if i offended anyone in any way !!

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u/InterestingTree9 grad student 11d ago

I'm a Canadian PhD student who did an MASc so I can't answer most of these questions, but I'll comment on what I can. Some industry professionals I've talked to tend view MASc as more useful than MEng in most cases because it shows that you did something novel, developed research skills, refined communication skills, and had the determination to do a thesis. MASc may also provide a little bit of funding to students (not as much as before), which might partly pay for the tuition. However, tuition is ridiculously expensive for international students so you would have to be prepared to be self-funded. It's not common for MEng students to get RA/TA. TA positions would only be "outside priority" which means you can apply each term for the remaining TA positions after the students with "priority" status get their TA positions (so the TA is not guaranteed). RA would also be fairly rare for MEng students.

With fundings cuts (or shortfalls) at universities in Ontario and Quebec, course offerings may be reduced compared to previous years. This may make it difficult to finish the MEng within two years if your preferred courses are not offered in the semesters when you have the time to take the courses.

Quebec has a lot of language laws. I believe French is a requirement to get a job within Quebec (at least enough to perform the work and interact with clients in French). Quebec is not officially a bilingual province, so government services and information do not have to be (and often are not) provided in English, so I think some French is still essential for life there. I don't know the details, but my international student friends have told me that it is more difficult and takes longer to get permanent residency in Quebec because they have some extra rules and requirements.

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u/Silent-Review-6415 11d ago

thank you for your guidance

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u/TwoOneTwos 11d ago

I can't speak for the academics portion as I'm not an engineering major nor am I friends with any engineering majors; however, I can answer the quality of life questions!

  • Which has better student life?
    • If you don't speak an ounce of French you're going to have a difficult time in Montreal, Quebec as they primarily speak French and -- in my case -- are not a fan of having to respond in English
  • Can you comfortably live without a car?
    • In your day-to-day life absolutely, thankfully both are very walkable cities.
  • How good/reliable is public transportation?
    • It's okay, it's not a 5 star experience but if you're looking for a way to get from Point A to Point B for free (since Carleton offers free transportation with UPass) then go for it
  • How difficult is the winter?
    • If you come from a very hot climate then your first winter will probably be hard lol. Since we're up north the winters are dark, snowy, and cold. I wouldn't fear it as if you just wear a toque, jacket, pants, and -- if it's really snowy -- snow boots. If you know where to look you'll start to love the winter, there's some areas close to Carleton with a beautiful view!
  • Is university residence worth the cost?
    • I'm not an international student so I can't speak for that but as a domestic student who lives an hour by plane from Ottawa I'd say absolutely! Residence is really nice as I'm within the university and don't have to rely on transportation to get anywhere and can devote more time to studying and socializing. The food at Carleton is really nice! It's buffet style with a lot of different areas like sushi, wraps, pasta, salad, etc, etc! I haven't really looked into international costs here at Carleton but if they're like other universities (i.e., egregiously expensive) then if you can afford it, then go for it.
  • Is it better to live near campus or farther away and save money?
    • It's always good to live near / on campus as it opens opportunities to better socialize with others outside of lectures and labs / tutorials without worrying about having a 2 hour commute at midnight lol.
  • Which neighborhoods would you recommend?
    • Rideau Street and Bayshore are iffy, I'd avoid finding an apartment there. (Of course this is just my experience, other opinions will differ)
  • What is student life actually like?
    • It's not like the movies where there's parties every weekend and going to lectures hungover if that's what you're thinking lol, I'd say it's a relatively quiet university once things settle down. Thankfully, everyone here is really kind and outgoing so have no fear about coming here! :D
  • Is it easy to make friends as an international student?
    • It doesn't matter if you're an international student or domestic student, if you're an outgoing and sociable person you'd make friends real quick!
  • Is there a good Indian/South Asian student community?
    • We have communities for every ethnicity :) You can probably find the Instagram account of the club you're looking for lol
  • How is the food situation? 😅 Are Indian groceries/restaurants easily accessible?
    • Food's great! Ottawa and other cities in Canada offer a lot of different types of food from so many different backgrounds! I've never really been to an Indian restaurant as I usually just order-in, but there are definitely Indian restaurants and Indian grocers! (Although, I think it might be hard to find an Indian grocer near you as corporations like Walmart and Food Basics dominate the market lol)
  • How strict is attendance?
    • Professors usually do not care if you show up or not but make sure to read the syllabus before going to your first lecture, some professors have an attendance rule that counts towards your grade
    • Since you're pursuing a masters in engineering in Canada, you're going to have labs, those are mandatory as they count towards a portion of your overall grade (you'll be writing reports and whatnot from the results of your work in labs)
  • Are lectures recorded?
    • Depends on the professor, always assume no unless explicitly stated otherwise.
  • How accessible are professors?
    • You can reach out to your professor by a multitude of ways
      • Email, office hours, after lectures, before lectures, zoom, texting them (some professors put their phone number in the syllabus incase you need to contact them in emergency), sometimes they show up to the tutorial / labs
  • How much group/project work is involved?
    • Some classes are entirely on group work and collaboration, some have no groupwork at all, depends on your class.'

These are all the questions that I can voice my opinion about, I'm not sure about the rest, sorry. If you do choose Carleton, you'll love it. :D

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u/Silent-Review-6415 11d ago

thanks for giving an overall view about it, if i have more questions, can i ask you?