Application Insights

Chances for 2016

/ profbillanderson / 116 Comments

As frequently requested, here is an updated version of a popular post.

The 2016 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.  It seems that many people find it useful for getting a realistic impression of their chances at admission, so that they can plan accordingly.   The online version of this table can be found here.  This is based on the 2015 results and as usual we caution that 2016 may be different, since it all depends on the competition level (which is unknown in advance).  In 2015 the level of competition continued to increase, but maybe it will go down in 2016, since we know that’s the general direction of the demographics in Ontario. Continue reading →

Canada versus U.S.

/ profbillanderson / 7 Comments

"Flags-of-usa-and-canada" by Makaristos - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flags-of-usa-and-canada.jpg#/media/File:Flags-of-usa-and-canada.jpgUsually, when Canadians speak of “Canada vs. U.S.” here it is with reference to a hockey series.  However, in celebration of Canada Day (July 1) and Independence Day (July 4) holidays, here I’m going to point out a few differences in terminology and other things that you might run across when looking at engineering programs at Canadian and U.S. post-secondary institutions. (these are based on my observations, and there will be exceptions of course, because this is a huge and complex topic) Continue reading →

Decision Time

/ profbillanderson / 36 Comments

We are approaching the June 1 2015 (midnight) deadline to accept the offers we have sent out this cycle.  Quite a few have already accepted, but others are maybe still weighing their options.  A couple of years ago I posted a decision matrix method that is sometimes used by engineers and others to compare options in a somewhat objective way.  Might be worth a look.

Probably the most difficult decision scenario is for those who got an offer to an alternative program, or whose interests have recently changed to another program.  Perhaps they are thinking about accepting the offer, then going for a transfer to the program of more interest.  Our general advice:  do not accept your Waterloo Engineering offer if you do not think that you will be happy with that program!!  You cannot count on a transfer happening, due to a variety of issues including lack of space.  It’s impossible to say for certain, but here are some projections for transfers between programs based on recent years and space availability.

Very unlikely:  transfers into Software, Biomedical, Systems Design, Mechatronics, Nanotechnology.  Space is tight, and a lot of people want to transfer  to these.

Might be possible:  transfers into Chemical, Computer, Electrical, Mechanical, but depends from year to year on space.

Often possible:  transfers into Civil, Environmental, Geological, Management.  These have a little bit more flexibility for space.

For those who have already inquired about switching programs, we will start looking at that in mid-June once we can see what the exact space situation is like.

Reviewing Results

/ profbillanderson / 90 Comments

After finishing the offers for the current cycle, we start to review the statistics to prepare material for the next (2016) cycle, including an update to the “probabilities table” like the one shown in a previous post and in our applicant information.  We have compiled the preliminary results from the 2015 cycle and these are shown below, where “Probability” is the percent of applicants with an admission average in the given grade range who received an offer to their first choice program.  These are raw admission averages, without any other bonus or factors.  The results show some surprising changes from what we have seen in the past and expected.   Continue reading →

Final Offers 2015

/ profbillanderson / 27 Comments

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.

First Rounds of Offers for 2015

/ profbillanderson / 82 Comments

We just finished processing our first round of offers for applicants who are Ontario high school students. These should be appearing via Quest, OUAC and email.  As usual, we made enough offers to fill up to 1/3 of our available spaces in each program (more specifically, those spaces reserved for Canadians and Permanent Residents).  These are applications where we have enough data and it’s clear that they are competitive, based on previous experience.  We’ll be processing some non-Ontario applicant offers in the next few weeks (these take a lot more effort to analyze and sort through).

Some universities give out a lot more earlier offers for Engineering, but that’s simply because they have a lot less competition for spaces and can just go ahead with whatever they have. Continue reading →

Update February 2015

/ profbillanderson / 59 Comments

Things are moving along nicely for our Engineering admissions.  The Ontario high school applications are submitted (a few continue to trickle in), and the out-of-province applications will be winding up and closing at the end of February.  Here are a few observations and comments:

  1. Overall application numbers look similar to last year, possibly a few percent higher.  I would anticipate competition levels for most programs to be similar to last year.
  2. Applications to our new Biomedical Engineering program jumped significantly to around 900.  Since there are only 50 spots available, we’re going to have a tough time deciding.  Interesting observation:  according to OUAC statistics, there are about 6.9 applicants per available space for medical schools in Ontario.  We have 18 applicants per available space for Biomedical Engineering!
  3. Our AIF readers are busy evaluating what has been submitted to date (some 6,000+).  AIFs not submitted by now may not get read in time to be considered for the first round of offers.  However, as long as it’s submitted by mid-March it will be OK for the final round of offers in May.
  4. We’re waiting for the Ontario school grades to be available and downloaded, and then we will do some offers in late February.  As usual, we generally aim to give away less than about 30% of the available spaces at that time.  The rest are held until May when the second semester grades are available.
  5. The applications from outside Ontario are being analyzed as fast as we can (it’s all “manual” work).  In early March we will take what information we have and do a few offers, but again most will come in May.
  6. We’re making plans for our March Break Open House.  A very worthwhile event, especially if you’ve never visited the Waterloo campus before.

Picking the Perfect Program

/ profbillanderson / 15 Comments

The 2015 admission season is getting going, with various deadlines coming up.  First is the Ontario applicant deadline (January 14), followed by the out-of-province deadline (around March 1).  (Just a note, the January 14 deadline is not really a deadline, more like a recommendation as far as we are concerned; if you miss it there is no particular effect.)

When it comes to applying to Waterloo Engineering, this is the first hard part, i.e. picking the program you want to apply to (since we don’t have a general first year).  I’ve posted stuff about this in past years (see here, and here), so this post just contains a few additional ideas.  This is quite important however.  You don’t want to end up in a program you don’t really like.  While it is technically possible to switch programs, in recent years it has often become more difficult because of capacity limits in many programs, and there have been people looking to switch who couldn’t.

Let me summarize my ideas and observations in two categories:  good and bad reasons to pick a certain engineering program (the specific program doesn’t matter, so I’ll leave it blank). Continue reading →

Admissions 2015: How it’s going to work

/ profbillanderson / 140 Comments

Here is an update on past years’ very popular post, with some revisions and clarification for the upcoming September 2015 admissions cycle.

Here is an overview on how the process is going to work 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 →

Back to Summer School

/ profbillanderson / 55 Comments

A previous post some time ago “Boosting Grades at Summer School” looked at the implications of doing summer school, and found that there was a small difference in the average grade of those who did summer school versus those who didn’t.  While this is one way of looking at it, there is another way which is possibly better for admission purposes, so that’s what we will do here, with some interesting results. Continue reading →