I am a Canadian student with a rather complicated background. I graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2012 with a degree in accounting and my GPA was quite bad due to a multitude of reasons (Personal issues, I was unsure about what I wanted to do with my life, etc.)
After university I worked overseas for a bit, and long story short, after realizing what I wanted to do career-wise I am now studying a second Bachelor’s in Comp Sci. in Hong Kong. I am feeling a bit homesick, so I’m looking for schools that I could transfer to back home in Canada.
The problem is, it looks like most Comp. Sci programs in Canada would take a look at my entire academic record, which will severely drop my admission GPA even though my grades are much improved and fairly decent in my current program. It’s frustrating to feel like I can’t overcome mistakes I made in my previous degree, but it is what it is and I am trying to find a solution. Does anyone here know about schools that would put more emphasis on recent coursework for admission?
Instead of a second bachelors, have you considered leveraging your existing degree plus work history into a masters program in something like Computer Information Systems? Doing this, things like your real-world track record and GRE results could compensate for your low GPA from seven years ago. Your recent coursework in CS would be taken into consideration and could give you a leg up.
Financially and career track wise, this might also make more sense than starting over at entry-level programmer.
My understanding is that universities will look at your entire university level academic transcript, but that the most recent years will matter a lot more than earlier years. If you can do really well for at least a year and maybe two years where you are, then they will see that you have significantly improved your study habits. Universities know that many of us start off young and foolish, and get our act together as we mature.
You might want to contact admissions at some of the “good but not tippy top” schools in Canada and see what they say. As one example you might want to contact admissions at York university (in Toronto) and ask them for advice. You could also ask them about getting a second bachelor’s versus getting a master’s. Others on CC can most likely suggest other schools for you to look at.
If you are doing very well in your current program, then I think that there is a good chance that you can find a good university in Canada to transfer to.