P to the E to the Y

I just had a conversation with an upper year student who just finished is PEY and is pursuing a Specialist in Physics and Computer Science. Many interesting things popped up during the conversation, but one of them stood out from the rest; summer research.

It seems that the majority of us are just planning to finish a bachelors in Com. Sci and head out into the working force, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Everyone knows that the demand for computer scientists are growing dramatically and that there will be a ton of jobs available (especially since we graduated from U of T). But there will be a point where you will be fighting to get that promotion, or that salary raise in you job. This is where your past experiences come into play. Experience indicates that you have been exposed to ___ (whatever this topic is) and worked on it to a fair degree. You instantly become more trustworthy and responsible in the eyes of whomever you're working for. This is why PEY is very important. You are basically given a change to leave your studies for a year and go into the practical applications, while being paid around 40 thousand. Not only that, you become close with your co-workers and boss', which also give amazing recommendation letters. According to the com. sci website, over 50% of the students land a permanent job at the end of PEY (whether they take it or not is not the point). In general, I feel like PEY is something everyone should try. Though I haven't given it a shot, I'm pretty confident that it is something I will not regret.