Although Grade 12 English (or something equivalent) is one of our admission requirements, we sometimes get applicants who question what it’s good for, and why should it hurt their chances of admission if they got low marks in that subject. After all, engineering is just about physics, calculus, problem-solving, writing code, designing bridges and other hardware, …, isn’t it? Continue reading
Engineering Education
Looking at Admission Essays
I came across these examples of admissions essays at Johns Hopkins University a while ago: http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html
They are interesting, engaging, witty, nicely written. But frankly, I’m glad we don’t make our applicants submit essays. I think I much prefer our Admission Information Form. Much more brief, to the point, quicker to read (sort of what an engineering report should be).
I know from other reading that there are various concerns with these college admission essays. How much of it is the work of the applicant, versus parents or admissions consultants? Was it purchased or plagiarised from somewhere? (There is a Turnitin for Admissions service that some universities use to check for that.) Does a good essay translate into a good engineering student? Lots of questions, and not so many answers.
Some of our applicants complain about having to fill out our AIF. I suspect that they would like submitting an essay even less.
Chances for 2014
The 2014 Admissions brochures for Engineering and other programs have recently been uploaded. Last year, for the first time, we included a table showing admission probabilities (“chances”) for different programs and grade ranges. It seemed to be well-received and many people found it to be useful, so we revised and updated a new one for 2014. Below is a copy of it (sorry about the image quality). This is based on the 2013 results and as usual we caution that 2014 may be different, since it all depends on the competition level (which is unknown in advance). Continue reading
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to speak at University of Waterloo
Here is an interesting development, for those on-campus in September.
WATERLOO, Ont. (Wednesday, August 14, 2013) – Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter and one of the youngest tech executives in Silicon Valley, will address students and local entrepreneurs at the University of Waterloo this fall.
Dorsey, who launched his second successful startup, Square, in Canada last year will tell a 675-strong audience about entrepreneurship and how Square created a culture that inspires anyone to be an entrepreneur and leader.
The 36-year old will also meet some students and entrepreneurs at a private lunch to discuss entrepreneurship and see firsthand the quality of Waterloo students.
“Jack Dorsey started a new communications movement when he launched Twitter and changed the world for millions of people. He’s continued to blaze the technology trail with Square, which is starting to transform how we make payments. ” said Pearl Sullivan, dean of engineering at Waterloo. “Waterloo is recognized as a leader in technology and innovation. We are very honoured that Jack Dorsey is making our University the first stop on his Canadian visit. We live and breathe entrepreneurialism here at Wat
via Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to speak at University of Waterloo | Waterloo News.
Pre-University Homework
For those who just finished high school and are starting university in September, here is some homework to complete over the summer. It’s specifically for those starting Waterloo Engineering, but might be useful for other programs and universities too. It’s not compulsory, and you won’t get any marks for it. But if you do it, you’ll find yourself ahead of the class and much less stressed in September/October and beyond. Continue reading
Considering an Alternate Offer
When people apply to Waterloo Engineering, they apply to the program of most interest but can also identify a second and third choice on their AIF. That way, if they are not quite competitive for the 1st choice, we can still consider them for one of the other two. We assume that the choices are ranked in descending order of preference, so we try to get the 2nd choice if possible, then the 3rd. This year, about 300 people got one of these alternate offers to their 2nd or 3rd choice (a typical number each year). Some people are quite happy with their alternate offer. Others, not so much. Those holding an alternate offer will have to decide what to do with it, so here are a few questions that commonly come up. Continue reading
Our New 3D Printer
Our new 3D printer, a Fortus 360mc rapid prototyping machine, was officially launched today in our Engineering 5 building. I haven’t actually seen it, but there is a website link that describes what it is and how it works. I will certainly have a look in the near future, because I can already think of a few custom parts I could make for my research projects. I just need to teach myself AutoCAD first.
Apparently the 3D printing costs are some of the cheapest available, and anyone can submit a job, whether faculty, staff, or students. Some of the student design teams have already been using it, and I bet it will be popular with a lot of student research and design projects.
Meeting Your Waterloo: Our Students
One of the best ways to find out about a university and its programs is to meet and talk to the people that are experiencing it every day. This includes our faculty, who can give broad and experienced insight into curriculum, careers, and the engineering profession. But many applicants find it easier and more interesting (sorry faculty!) to talk to current students, who were applicants themselves just a few months or years ago. There are several ways for people to connect with our current students. Continue reading
University Rankings: Round 3 – QS
The 2012/2013 QS World University rankings were recently released. As with previous posts, I’m going to focus on the faculty-specific rankings, not the general overall ones. The 2012/2013 Engineering & Technology top 200 rankings are available here. Let’s summarize the methods and results for Canadian engineering schools. Continue reading
Repeated Courses and Why We Care
Admission to our Engineering programs requires the completion of certain Grade 12 courses (or equivalents in various other school systems), specifically Functions, Calculus, English, Chemistry and Physics in Ontario. For many years we have discouraged the idea of re-taking any of these required courses to boost marks and get a competitive edge for admission. In recent years, this has taken the form of a penalty of around 5% points off the overall average of the required courses if one or more are repeated (the higher grade is used). The net effect is that unless the repeated course(s) add at least another 30 percentage points to the total, repeating a course is not worthwhile for competitive advantage in admissions. In many cases, repeating course(s) will knock the application out of the competition completely. Other universities seem to have a range of approaches, from accepting repeats without question to ignoring the improved grade completely. So, we’re somewhere in between. But why use this penalty approach? Continue reading
A Professor in Waterloo Engineering 