As usual around this time of year, we have processed a few offers for applicants who are currently in an Ontario high school. Generally this will fill less than 25% of the available spaces in each program, leaving the large majority of spaces for our final round of decisions in May when we have more complete data for a fair comparison. People who don’t get an offer at this stage are automatically carried forward for consideration then.
The selection process is a bit random at this stage, which is why I don’t like to commit very many spaces. Typically, people with offers at this point have consistently high grade 11 and 12 math, English & science marks, and at least 3 Grade 12 required courses completed. Also they probably ranked in the top end of all the program applicants, taking into account an AIF score (and optional interview score, if one was submitted). It takes us until mid-April to complete all the AIF and interview scoring, so at this stage it’s somewhat random whether those play a significant role or not for any one individual.
Eventually (by the end of April), we get all the Grade 12 marks and other scores, and then it’s much fairer to compare everyone on the same basis. Any high scoring applicants who missed out on the early round will get selected at that point.
For out-of-province applicants (OUAC Form 105), we’ll do a bit of a preliminary offer round in a few weeks when we have more data compiled from transcripts. It’s difficult to say exactly when (it depends on many things), but hopefully by early April to help out those with May 1 offer acceptance deadlines at U.S. universities.
A Professor in Waterloo Engineering 
Hi Professor，does it mean the early offer round has finished and we have to wait till May for student in 101？
Yes.
Hello Professor, I recently found out my school submitted OUAC marks on Feb 21st 2018 (date confirmed on quest). Were we considered for the early offers that came out on Feb 25th? I ask because I had worked so hard first semester, had consistently high grade 11 and 12 marks with 3 Grade 12 required courses completed and all of the indicators you mentioned above. It really bugs me that offers were already sent out as I feel as though I would have had a great shot of getting an early acceptance. It really feels like students with OUAC marks received on the 21st have been neglected. Is this something you are looking at, as I can’t possibly see how this is fair since not first semester marks have been processed by UW yet. I understand that some engineering programs are very competitive, which is why I can’t believe why early admissions were made without at least considering all Ontario student’s first semester marks.
We have a very narrow window of opportunity to process the first round of offers, and so we have to go ahead with what we have at that point. Every year there are schools with missing grade data when we have to start the process. That’s why we only make a limited number of offers and wait until May when all the information gaps are filled, including second semester grades. It’s not possible to make the early round “fair” because there are too many factors that we have no direct control over. So we concentrate on making the final result as fair as possible when all decisions are finalized in May.
Hi Professor,
Thanks for the information as always!
For the form 105 applicants, do only the first round of offers come in early April or are all the offers for 105 out by then?
Thanks in advance!
April is the first round. The rest of the decisions will be made in early May.
Thank you Professor.
If the rest of the decisions will be made in early May for the form 105 applicants, what should those applicants do if they are waiting for the decision from UW while holding offers from other universities by May 1st? Suppose if they accept offers from another university by the requested deadline of May 1st, can they withdraw previous acceptance and accept the offer from dreaming school of UW in mid or late May?
Your reply would be highly obliged.
It depends a bit on your circumstances, but generally people either: 1) accept the other offer, then withdraw if they get one from us, or 2) explain the situation and ask us for a decision before May. If accepting another offer will cost money that you will lose when they withdraw, people often pursue option 2.
Hello Professor,
Thank you for your unprecedented transparency in the admission process.
I am a 105 applicant. Many of my friends have already received engineering offers last week, but I did not, even though I have similar extra-curriculars and higher grades. I am now a bit worried. Is it probable that my application has not looked at yet, or would I just be a weaker applicant in comparison with my friends?
Cheers,
CA
It’s impossible to know. There are lots of files still to be reviewed, so that may be one factor.
Just because there are a certain amount of spots available in a program, does that mean UW can not send more offers than the threshold?
We send enough offers to fill the program spots, based on our estimates for how many people will accept the offer. Usually that means sending out more offers than there are spots, since not everyone accepts an offer.