It’s been a while since I have had much time to get to this blog…very busy with courses, research projects, and admissions of course.
So we’ve finished the decisions and they are being processed. As of today (May 4) the Ontario (Form 101) offers have been posted on Quest (and will be followed shortly by email and OUAC). The out-of-province (Form 105) take a bit longer to process and will probably show up on Quest by the end of this week (May 8). We are working on scholarship decisions, and those should be available next week I believe.
This year seemed to be particularly complicated. A thousand more applicants (about 11,000 total), and very strong competition for Biomedical and Software especially. The net result is that a lot of applicants got offers to their alternate choices, or not at all, even though they may have had very good grades. It’s unfortunate, but we only have so many spaces to go around.
The next step is for those with offers to seriously think about whether Waterloo Engineering is the right place for them, before the deadline in early June. There is one last open house on May 23 to get information to help with that decision. I’ll try to post some thoughts about the alternate offers in the near future.
A Professor in Waterloo Engineering 
Hi. I was wondering if acceptances are handed out later on based on offers rejected by students, or if offers are handed out later on at all. I really wanted to study engineering at Waterloo but I’m afraid I might be studying at another school now.
We aim to send out enough offers to fill all the spaces, taking rejections into account. Sometimes we come up slightly short, and will make additional offers in June from the waitlist.
Hello professor,
I am an international student from Bangladesh and I got denied by the department of Biomedical Engineering(my alternate choices were Mechatronics and Nanotech).I had 9 A*s and 1 A in my IGCSE exams and 5 A’s in my CIE AS level exams(Physics-92,Chemistry-91,Maths-90,Biology-87,Economics-87). I was also involved with lots of extracurricular activities.I believe that I had the credentials to get accepted and I did not expect this.What could be the possible reason(s) for this rejection? I really need to know this.
For international students, there are less than 200 spaces available in all of Waterloo Engineering, so the level of competition is even higher.
Hello Professor,
I’ve just completed my 12th grade in India and the results of the same are yet to be announced.
However clichéd it may sound, I was rather disspointed to note that I was denied an admission into Waterloo. I was confident that Id make the cut, considering the extra curriculars I had and the transcripts that I’d produced. I’d also sent in a letter from my school’s management that assured my final score of above 90%. I understand that offers are made using interim marks produced by the applicant. The problem is that, where Im from, interim marks aren’t considered important and are often dismal, owing to methods employed by schools to ensure optimal performance in the national final examinations. However I hope to score around 95% in my final examinations. The results should be out in the second or third week of May. Is there any chance that the Admissions Department will reconsider my application if I were to produce such results? What are the odds that I’d get into Waterloo if that were to happen?
A rather anxious and confused teenager.
We will reconsider in June if any spaces are available. We are aware of the grading methods used in India, so this was probably taken into account.
From talking to friends who have been accepted in the first round, their admission conditions are to keep an 80% or above average, and keep any of their prerequisite courses above 70%. Is it the same conditions for people who have been accepted in the second round?
Yes, same conditions.
Hello Professor,
I have recently been denied acceptance to the Waterloo Mechanical Engineering program. Do you know who I can ask if I want my application to be reconsidered for June? Is this process done before or after final marks come in? I am an Ontario student.
Thank you
You can request addition to the waitlist, which we will review in mid-June once we know for sure if any spaces are available. The contact is enginfo@uwaterloo.ca Historically, the odds are not very good however.
How does the waitlist work? Is it evaluated based on highest averages or is it based on a first-come basis?
The waitlist is ranked by the same admission scores used in the original decision-making, including averages and AIF factors.
Respected Professor:
My daughter was send Form 101 Refusal. We Live in [edited] securing overall grade of 96% with core science subject’s average of 94%. She was refused both of Civil and Environmental Engineering. My high schooler son is asking me that if 96% can’t even get them civil or environmental what else would. That too studying at … extracurricular, volunteer and paid jobs on her resume?
I can’t discuss the specifics, but in general unsuccessful applicants with higher averages may have problems with repeated courses, English proficiency scores, missing required courses, missing AIF, and similar things.
Professor
I wasn’t offered both my first and secondary options. I will graduate from a local school with 94.2% majors average. Need to know if I am already on the waiting list or do I have to let UW know?
You need to explicity ask to be added to the waitlist.
If I did not get my first choice , will they let me know either way if i got accepted for my second choice.
All the offers, including alternate choices, were released together.
How will we know if we get onto the waitlist?
You have to request to be added to the waitlist.
Hi!! I got 70 in my grade 11 English(ENG3U) but my average is 90
Physics: 87
Chem:94
Math:90
Accounting:98
Co-op:95
Law:90
So should I go for early acceptance?
And do I need to explain why I got less grade in grade 11 English?
Unlike the US, there is no “go for early acceptance”. You just apply and we make the decision in the timeframe we have in place. Explaining a low grade 11 mark is not absolutely necessary, but can be helpful to us at times.
ok thank you.
Hello Professor
Do you think a person considering to transfer into Waterloo would be better off going to Laurier or a college? Does the fact that Laurier is a university effect the chances of acceptance (ie. are universities weighed more than colleges)?
Thanks for all you help
It’s a case by case analysis, so can’t say either way. Whichever route, we would expect to see very good grades.
Hello Professor Anderson!
I see that this has been long past but I was wondering if you could help me with a few questions.
(1) How much competition difference between Computer Science and Software Engineering?
(2) I am in an American school, I got a 25 composite on the ACT, does this put me out of chance overall?
(3) I had a 4.0 throughout all 11th grade courses, Chem, Phys. AP Calc, English, if my 12th grade GPA is a little lower, say 3.8, how does this affect my Software Engineering admission?
Thank you!
1) Software Engineering is much more competitive for admission, because there are only about 120 spaces versus hundreds in Computer Science.
2) No, decisions are not based on ACT or SAT alone.
3) It depends more on the grades in the specific required courses.