The University of Waterloo (Canada)

Date: May 18 2014
Major: Accounting (This Major's Salary over time)
Disclaimer: This review is based on my experiences.

I had a miserable time during the 4.5 years I spent at Waterloo. The only enjoyable time I had was frosh week, and that was during the first week of school. By the time first term was completed, I wanted to switch out, and to this day, I regret not switching out. The accounting professors were unhelpful, exams were harsh and grading was unfair, and at times it felt as though the accounting professors themselves were unknowledgeable. The PowerPoint slides they used in classes seemed like they came directly from the publisher's slides, and they would often times just read the slides in class, without explaining the contents, and would simply gloss over the examples, or provide you with an example and a solution. And then, when you go back to review the day's notes, you realize that the solution they provided was wrong. And not only that, the method was sometimes wrong as well. Of course, not all professors are that terrible, I can think of a few that made me continue to have faith in humanity, but in my experience, the majority of accounting professors were only in it for the (very ample) salary. I felt that the faculty did not care for us and would often give exams that were so difficult, they had to bell curve it by >25%. It was a very negative environment, and I was often depressed. (The constant rainy weather, cement backdrop, and the geese crap everywhere did not help alleviate moods either).

The only thing Waterloo accounting taught me was that I can teach myself everything. I learned nothing else from AFM apart from what I taught myself. By the end of the program, I was so jaded that I wanted nothing to do with accounting. Let me reiterate that for you, going into Accounting at Waterloo made me despise my entire profession. By the time I graduated, I couldn't see how accountants could not be greedy, how they could not be backstabbing and cutthroat, and how they could not be so self-absorbed. I wanted nothing to do with the hellish environment. All of the good friends I made at Waterloo were not in the accounting program, and they, along with my elective courses were what kept my sanity in tact during my time spent on this miserable degree. I am full of regrets and feel that AFM destroyed my optimistic disposition. I hope that this review can cast some light to those considering AFM.