New for 2017 admissions is our optional online interview process, described here. It’s optional, but I would highly recommend it. There are probably some questions about it, so here are a few comments and suggestions. Continue reading
Application Insights
Admissions 2017: How it’s going to work
An update on this popular post, with some revisions for the upcoming September 2017 admissions cycle. There are a few significant changes to note below…
Here is an overview on how the process works and the approximate timelines. As usual, this is specific to Waterloo Engineering admissions; other programs and universities will have their own unique variations. Also, make sure you look through our admissions webpages for exact deadlines and official requirements since this is just an unofficial, quick overview and I can’t cover every detail for every variety of applicant and situation. Continue reading
Chances for 2017
The 2017 Admissions brochures for Engineering and other programs have recently been uploaded. We have continued to include a table showing admission probabilities (“chances”) for different programs and grade ranges. Many people find it useful for getting a realistic impression of their chances at admission, and then they can plan accordingly. The online version of this table can be found here. This is based on the 2016 results and as usual we caution that 2017 may be different, since it all depends on the competition level (which is unknown in advance).
One difference this year: I’m going to break the chances data up into two categories, “Visa” (or study permit) applicants, and “Canadians and Permanent Residents” applicants. The tables mentioned above lump everyone together, but looking back at the last year or two it seems like it may be too pessimistic for Canadians and overly-optimistic for Visa applicants, as we’ll see below. Continue reading
Heading to Houston
New this year, NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling) is hosting three college fairs dedicated to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The first one is in Houston, Texas on Sunday September 25 2016 (for details click here). We’ll be attending to represent Waterloo Engineering and the other STEM programs. I see from the exhibitor list that our friends from the Universities of Toronto and Calgary are attending too, so there will be a bit of a Canadian contingent.
Why visit the U.S. and promote our programs? It’s true that we only have about 200 spaces in Engineering for non-Canadians, and several thousand applicants for those spaces, so the competition for admission is fierce. But we’re interested in having a diversity of applicants and finding the best from around the world. Also, over 1,000 of our student co-op work terms (i.e. paid internships) each year are now in U.S. companies. So it seems to make sense to start reaching out to potential applicants there using these NACAC STEM fairs as a starting point.
We look forward to meeting anyone from around the Houston area at the fair. Also, if there are interested people there who can’t attend the fair we’ll be available the following day, Monday September 26, for personal or small group meetings. Just email us at assoc.dir.admissions.eng@uwaterloo.ca to get details and set up an appointment.
Final Round for 2016
An updated posting…
The final set of offers are getting posted to our online Quest system, and then to the OUAC application centre (there is a day or two delay between the two). At this moment, a lot of the Ontario school applicant offers (Form 101) have been posted. The Form 105 offers (for outside Ontario) are being processed. The university hopes to have the majority of decisions posted by the end of next week (May 13). Because there are thousands of decisions to process (in addition to just Engineering), it can take a while for it all to finish.
A suggestion about communications…if you’re an applicant waiting on a decision, the best thing to do is to monitor your Quest account and your email until you see the outcome. It is not a good idea to phone or email the university at this point, as the staff don’t have any information to offer until the decisions are finished being posted. We know it’s difficult to wait, but phone and email won’t get a result any faster.
As a quick summary for this year, we had just under 12,000 applicants for about 1,550 spaces, or around 7.5 applicants per space. It’s actually a bit more complicated than that. There were about 6 applicants per space reserved for Canadians and Permanent Residents, and almost 17 applicants per space for the 200 spots reserved for visa students, so that competition is quite a bit tougher.
Overall, with our space limitations and the number of applicants, we will be turning away over 2,500 applicants with a 90%+ admission average.
Round 1 2016
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve finished our first round of engineering offers, and they should be all posted on Quest by now. As mentioned in other places, we aimed to fill around 25% of our spaces at this point, and the rest of the offers will be processed in early May. In the meantime, we’re waiting for the Ontario second semester grades to come in April, and we continue processing the transcripts and documents sent in by the other applicants (Form 105 applicants).
With the increase in application numbers, things seemed a bit more competitive again this year. But it will be impossible to quantify that until everything is over in May, so I can’t really comment any further.
So for those who recently got an offer, congratulations. Make sure you think carefully about the program, and whether Waterloo is a good fit for you. Maybe try to attend our open house on March 19, or come for a visit some other day.
For the 10,000+ people who didn’t get an offer, make sure your AIF (and any other required documents) are submitted, and just sit tight. We’ll have the rest of the decisions in early May. (note, for the AIF make sure it’s “submitted” and not just “saved” on Quest.)
February News and Plans
Just a short update on progress for our 2016 admissions.
- Applications are still coming in (until March 1), but it’s looking like we will have between 1,000 and 2,000 more than last year, so admissions will be a bit more competitive than last year.
- Plans are in progress for our open house on March 19.
- As described in the overview of the process, the Admission Information Form (AIF) reading is in full progress and we’re getting ready for the first round of offers. We will accept AIFs until March 18. Any submitted after February 5 might not be reviewed in time to have any impact on the first round of offers, but they will have their full consideration for the big round of offers in May.
- For the first round, some offers for Ontario applicants (Form 101) will come out in late February. Some for other applicants (Form 105) will probably come out in early March. We can’t give specific dates, it depends on how things go.
- With the increasing applications, I’m thinking that we will be fairly conservative with the first round and maybe only give away about 25% of the spaces. It’s easier to be thorough and fair to everyone if we hold back most of the offer decisions until early May. Most of the applications we consider in February will be deferred until May for a final decision, when we can see the whole picture.
English Proficiency Requirements
For applicants whose first language is not English we have a set of proficiency requirements. Details are on this website (English Language Requirements), but in summary we are looking for TOEFL scores of 90 and higher (with at least 25 Writing and Speaking), or IELTS scores of at least 6.5 overall (with 6.5 Writing and Speaking and 6.0 in other bands) (see that website for other test system requirements). For Engineering admissions, we’ve been pretty strict about the scores and regularly reject people who don’t meet them (no matter what their other grades are like). This is because our co-op work experience starts right away in first year, so we need students to be as fluent as possible so that they can have interviews, get jobs and have a successful work term with the employer. There is no time to try to learn better English as you start our program.
Some universities have programs that you can sign up for to improve English proficiency. We don’t, but in the last couple of years we have been testing a couple of special programs, called BASE and iBASE . You can’t actually apply directly for these programs, they are by invitation only, and are for applicants to our engineering programs who have excellent academic credentials but come up short on the English proficiency tests. So for these applicants, if they successfully complete the BASE or iBASE program they will be automatically enrolled in the engineering program they were aiming for. Let’s look at these programs in a bit more detail. Continue reading
Admission Myths and Misconceptions
There are always a few myths and misunderstandings we encounter when talking to applicants. Here are a few of the most common ones. As usual, these items are specific to Waterloo Engineering, and other programs or universities may be different.
- Waterloo should be ranked #1 on the OUAC application to be seriously considered. No, it really doesn’t matter at all to us how you rank us. We’ve sent offers to people who ranked us as #15 or 20 in past years (why do people apply to that many places!?). The ranking is just used for statistical and predictive purposes. Our philosophy is that if you applied and paid the fees, you deserve serious consideration like everyone else.
- You need a 95% average to get an offer. That would help, of course, but most of our programs do have lots of people admitted with averages less than 95%.
- We have a quota for female admissions. Wrong. We (and the engineering profession in general) certainly encourage female interest and participation in engineering, but gender is not used for admission decisions. In my opinion that would violate the spirit of human rights legislation.
- We have a quota for Ontario residents. No, there are no reserved spaces for Ontario applicants. Our spaces are open for Canadians and Permanent Residents of Canada, no matter where they are coming from.
- We have a quota for non-Canadians. Actually this is true, not a myth. We have only about 210 spaces in Engineering for “visa students”, and the rest (about 1,350) are reserved for Canadians (or Permanent Residents).
- Visa students are taking away spaces from Canadians. No, not at Waterloo. Those 210 spaces are not government-funded, so if we didn’t fill them with visa students, then they wouldn’t be available to anyone at all. Visa students are charged much higher tuition fees to make up for the fact that there is no government funding to support those spaces and associated costs.
- People can apply for early admission. No, there is no early admission application process. People just apply, and we might decide to send a few of them offers in March (which is “early” for us). Most offers go out in May.
- People apply with their “top 6” grades. No, you just apply and we receive all your grades electronically (from Ontario schools, universities, and CEGEP), or you arrange for your transcript to be sent to us. There is no need (or ability) to select certain grades for us. We will pick out what we want.
- The admission average is based on the “top 6” grades. For us, “top 6” is somewhat of a misnomer. For Ontario applicants, the admission average is based on the 5 required Grade 12 courses plus the highest other 4U/M course. It’s possible that those 5 required courses are not your “top” grades. Also, a number of other school systems don’t have 6 courses in the admission requirements, so “top 6” doesn’t apply to them.
- The timing of when you submit your application can affect your chances. No, our systems are set up to ensure everyone has a fair review and chance at admission by the time the final set of offers come out in May. As long as you meet the deadlines and submit the required stuff, your application will be given equal consideration like all the others.
Admissions 2016: How it’s going to work
We are getting ready for our first major Open House event on November 7, and that reminds me that I should do an update on this popular post, with some revisions and clarification for the upcoming September 2016 admissions cycle. No major changes from last year.
Here is an overview on how the process works and the approximate timelines. As usual, this is specific to Waterloo Engineering admissions; other programs and universities will have their own unique variations. Also, make sure you look through our admissions webpages for exact deadlines and official requirements since this is just an unofficial, quick overview and I can’t cover every detail for every variety of applicant and situation. Continue reading
A Professor in Waterloo Engineering 