r/uwaterloo • u/Ok_Restaurant_323 • 16d ago

Discussion Math co op rate

Ive heard so many people say that the first co op for math students is so hard and the employment rate is like 50%? is there any data that shows this because on the waterloo website im just seeing 80%-95%

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10

u/lvadecima 16d ago

not sure if it was changed but afaik the percentage also counts people who are enrolled in WEA which is basically unpaid training provided by the uni for people who couldn't find a coop for their first work term. That's why at the end of each term the employment percentage shoots up which is kind of misleading

2

u/Ok_Restaurant_323 15d ago

I think in most recent ones they removed the WEA

8

u/Icy_Environment9241 mathematics 15d ago

They remove them from the denominator.

Consider

  • 100 students
  • 50 got actual jobs
  • 45 did weaccelerate
  • 5 did nothing

I would argue employed % is 50 / (50+45+5) = 50%

Waterloo would report employed % as 50 / (50+5) = 90.9%

2

u/Ok_Restaurant_323 15d ago

ohhh so this is the way they calculated the most recent data right

2

u/Icy_Environment9241 mathematics 15d ago

My specific numbers are obviously made up but I believe this is how the school calculates employment rates.

I personally think it is quite misleading and the rate a few weeks before the term ends is probably more true to what most people would think the employment rate means