We continue looking at some admissions data for some Ontario engineering programs, based on the CUDO public database. As a bit of background, applicants to Ontario universities all apply through a central system (OUAC) shared by the universities (which is where this data comes from, I assume). In this system, an applicant can rank their preferred choice of program and university. Presumably, applicants rank as first choice the university they most desire to attend. Let’s see from the data where people tend to want to go, and how many end up there after the admissions process is all done.
Continue readinguniversity admissions
Entrance Average Breakdowns
In a recent couple of posts we’ve looked at the overall entrance averages for some Ontario engineering programs, and the specific proportion of admitted students that had a 95%+ average. Let’s look at the full breakdown of the proportions of admitted students with averages of 75-79, 80-84, etc. This data gets a bit too messy to plot across several years, so I’ll just look at 2021, the most recent year available on the CUDO data website.
Continue readingAdmitted With a 95%+ Average
The previous post showed the overall averages of students admitted to engineering programs (based on CUDO and Ontario school data). Since CUDO provides the data broken down into grade range bins, let’s look at one in particular. This is the bin for admitted students with an admission average of 95% or higher. The graph below shows the proportion (%) of admitted engineering students that had a final admission average greater than or equal to 95%, from 2017 to 2021 (the last available year)
Continue readingWomen in Engineering Trends
The Common University Data Ontario (CUDO) website has lots of accessible information about Ontario universities, and it’s been quite a while since I looked at it. Since there’s nothing more fun for engineers than compiling and looking at data, I’ll post some now and then. Today, let’s start by looking at female, full-time enrollment in some Ontario engineering programs, and how it has trended over the past few years.
Continue readingSubmitting Your Admission Information Form 2017
Updated version of a past post for the 2017 admission cycle, as there have been a few small changes.
The Admission Information Form, or AIF, is the primary vehicle for applicants to tell us about themselves. Our admission decisions are mainly based on grades, but the AIF information can help us distinguish between people who have similar grades, and we award up to 5 points onto the admission average for outstanding applicants. Let’s go through the various parts of the AIF and see what is involved. Continue reading
Canada versus U.S.
Usually, 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
Admissions 2015: How it’s going to work
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
Why Do We Care About High School English?
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
Employment After Graduation?
The universities in Ontario contribute data to the “Common University Data Ontario” (CUDO) database, and this can be interesting to look at when considering applications and offers. You can select several universities and a specific piece of data, and do some side-by-side comparisons. One of the questions we often get from applicants and parents is about employment prospects after graduation from Engineering. Everyone worries about graduating and not being able to find a job, so let’s look at that specific piece of information for several universities. Continue reading
How to Get an Early Offer
Lots of applicants are keen on getting an “early offer”, which for Waterloo Engineering is typically in the early March to early April timeframe (the final offer round is in early May). There is no particular benefit to getting an early offer, other than relief from the stress of uncertainty. Actually, there is a downside: a few people with early offers relax too much and lose out on scholarships (which are decided in May) or sometimes even lose their offer when their final grades come out. But most are OK, so how to get one of these early offers? Following is a list of things to do: Continue reading
A Professor in Waterloo Engineering 