This week we checked and saw that over 1,700 people had already submitted their “AIF”, so we’ll be starting to send them out to the reviewers. For those who haven’t started yet, I’ve updated our suggestions and information about the Admission Information Form. Nothing much has changed from past years, but I’ve just clarified a few minor things. You must submit the AIF to even be considered for an offer to Engineering.
One source of confusion in past years was the deadline and how we communicated it. So this year the official deadline for submitting the AIF for Engineering is March 18, 2016, and it will not be extended. However, if you are hoping to be considered for our early round of offers it must be submitted by February 5, 2016. If it’s not submitted by then, we will automatically put your application into the large final round in early May. (As usual, if you submit your AIF but don’t get an offer in the early round, you will still be considered again in May.)
A Professor in Waterloo Engineering 
Hi, Professor!
I am from India and have already applied for SE and CS at UWaterloo (including the AIF :P). That is, I also uploaded my high school transcripts and predicted grades on Quest (as a single .pdf). Now, my question here is, am I required to send (mail) the official transcripts to UWaterloo before receiving an offer?
Or, are they required only after an offer is made?
I believe that official transcripts will only be required if an offer is made.
Upon submitting my AIF all my quotation marks and apostrophes have changed to upside down question marks (in my essays!) Is there any way I can amend this? It seems to have been a bug in Mac’s “smart keyboard” function.
That’s a common problem, and we don’t penalize anyone for it since we are aware of it.
For the Admission Average, how many Decimal Places does the University of Waterloo take into account.
Say a students Admission Average is 94.5% or 94.83333…%?
Would that be 94.5% or 94.8 respectively?
Or would both be considered as a 95%?
The admission average used in ranking applicants is calculated to whatever the software uses (maybe 16 decimal places?).
Hello Professour,
Can applicants receive an early offer of admission for their second or third engineering alternative, or is it only applicable for the first engineering choice?
Thanks in advance!
We don’t do any alternate offers until the final round in May.
Hi professor,
After submitting my aif I realized that instead of noting grades of courses I’m currently taking as “IP”, I left those fields blank. Would this be of enough importance that I should make an amendment to state that those courses are in progress? Also would this negatively effect my application?
Thanks
No, that’s a minor thing and we will mainly rely on your uploaded transcripts or grades anyway.
Hello Professor,
I am a Canadian studying in India in the CBSE curriculum. Applied to SE and CS. Submitted my AIF and also my grade 9,10,11 and grade 12 predicted scores on Quest( single PDF) in mid December. I have received my grade 12 mid term report now and my Pre-board/ mock exam results are expected early February. How do I send these?
I’m not familiar with the mechanics of how applicants send things, so it’s better to check our website or email the myapplication@uwaterloo.ca help.
Hello Professor!
Is there any blog giving updates about things happening in the math faculty? Or CS program?
Not that I’m aware of. This is just my personal “hobby”.
Hi Professor,
I am an Albertan student applying for Computer Engineering and was wondering about a few things. First I know in other unis they give a slight boost to Alberta students. Does Waterloo do this as well? I was also wondering about the required courses. It seems on the Waterloo website that Alberta student’s averages are not calculated based on the 6 course rather only the 5 required courses. If you could confirm this that would be great!
We have no official policy to boost Alberta grades, but we know that Alberta students tend to do well here. Officially the admission average for Alberta is based on 5 courses. We add a sixth academic course into the average if it exists and has a positive effect on the average.
Sir, I wanted to ask if refusals can be made now or are all the refusals in May?
We can make refusals anytime, but the vast majority will be in May.
Hi Professor,
I couldn’t find a relevant post that is recent enough so I’ll just post my question here. I am interested in Biomedical engineering so I applied to it on OUAC, however, I noticed that it is not certified by CEAG. Do you foresee any difficulties in the certification, and any repercussions that may arise from the program remaining uncertified? (By the way, I’m a huge fan of this blog and it has been very helpful for me).
Thanks for all the help
I’ve been meaning to write on this topic but haven’t yet. No, our Biomedical Engineering program is not accredited by CEAB. This is because a program cannot be accredited until the first class is about to graduate, and all the courses have been taught at least once (so CEAB can review the content and results). Our Biomedical program has been carefully designed to meet all CEAB requirements. We are very experienced with CEAB accreditation, and have never had a program where accreditation was not successful, so I do not anticipate any problems for the first class or beyond.
Ok, thanks for the information.
I have a quick question regarding the AIF. With regards to the extracurricular section, if an activity is ongoing and will be for the foreseeable future what should we enter for the end date?
An end date like August 31 2016 would be fine to get the point across, that it is ongoing until at least the start of university.
Hello professor,
I am applying for ECE at UW. I am taking A level subjects Math, Physics and Chemistry. Last year January my family and I moved to another country due to my parents’ work. My report card for my first term in lower 6 was great; however, when I started in my new school my grades fell quite low because I’m my previous we didn’t learn the topics in the same order as the new one. I started to do better in upper 6 until November. A family member went missing. I got really worried and couldn’t focus on my exams. My report wasn’t too good. Teachers have told me that I am well behaved in class, I always hand in assignments and that I am a bright student. I know I can mention this in my AIF; however, I am curious whether it will make a big difference. Is there a chance of getting in?
Thank you in advance
I don’t know about any individual’s chances, but the best you can do is mention it and keep doing the best that you can.
Hi Professor,
Would the AIF markers recognize the grouping (like Group I to Group V) in the Waterloo contest honour rolls or would it be better to simply put my ranking?
Ranking is probably the clearest way to express it.
Hello professor,
This question is irrelevant to this post itself. I plan on doing a retake/repeat for Chemistry, and am doing this as for other universities. So do you guys automatically just take 5% off our overall average or take the first attempt?
We will use the first attempt if it’s above the required minimum mark.
Hi, Professor!
I submitted my application today, and I was wondering if the reviewers are going to be looking at the midterm marks or the semester 1 final marks for the early round of acceptances.
Thank you.
The marks in the AIF are not used for admission decisions.
Hi professor,
Would it be possible to edit the AIF once it has been submitted? On my AIF I stated that I never took courses outside of my regular highschool but I ended up deciding to attend a private school for a course.
There is an Amendment section that can be accessed.
If I plan on swapping a course I have next semester for another course, which one do I put for the AIF if I’m not sure if it can be swapped out or not.
It doesn’t particularly matter as we will figure it out from transcripts.
Hi Prof,
I was wondering if it was possible to change my first choice program on the AIF? I applied to Mechatronics engineering on the OUAC with Computer engineering as second, but now I’m thinking about making C.E. my first. Is this possible?
Also, would a person not be considered for their second choice program at all until all people who had that program as their first choice have been accepted/rejected?
Thanks!
You can change your top choice program through OUAC, and the alternate programs on the AIF.
Hi, Professor
I was wondering if these guidelines include the Architecture program. When do you recommend sending in the AIF for Architecture, based on when they send out invitations for Interviews? Thanks!
No, Architecture has their own timelines and requirements. Check their websites.
Hi professor,
I’m an IB student and I’m taking high level chemistry, which requires two grade 12 chemistry courses to be taken. Which one does Waterloo use to meet the chemistry requirement for my top 6? Also, could the other course be potentially used as my 6th mark? Thanks in advance.
If you’re in an Ontario high school, we use whatever mark is shown as SCH4U in the electronic upload from the school.