I wanna work in big tech and make some eventually, eventually using what I learned in university to make a startup that’s adjacent to healthcare.
UofT benefits because of the raw academia I could learn that could fuel the startup. A lot of people form startups here.
Waterloo benefits because it is almost literally a pipeline for big tech companies and startup founders.
Hey everyone, I’d like to give an update to how Waterloo admissions work for CS. I’m also a grade 12 and spoke with a lot of CS students as well as seen a lot of people get accepted. I’ve seen a bunch of changes to how it works through skimming at data, looking at patterns, and asking AOs good questions.
*Grades aren’t the only big thing anymore.* Before, if you didn’t have a 98 average, you wouldn’t even be competitive for CS. I’ve seen people get in with 96, 95s. The lowest I’ve seen which I think is an outlier is a 94. When I spoke to that 94, they had some insane ECs. So once your average is say a 96-97, you can consider yourself safe in terms of grades ONLY, not the program itself. So you’re all supp app now.
*It depends on if the admission officer team likes the AIF.* So this is the time to stack on being a *well-rounded* student. Hosting hackathons is cool and all, but I saw someone with one big project, then have a bunch of other ECs (even business competitions and cultural clubs) and he got in. I really mean to emphasize that you need to be WELL-ROUNDED. That means you have to have a lot of variety, breadth and depth, not just depth at a niche.
*It’s essentially becoming a lottery.* Whether we like it or not, CS at Waterloo is basically a lottery when stated colloquially. It’s not compared to Mac Heath Sci (3% vs 4% acceptance rate) but it’s still really bad. When you have so many highly qualified high 90s good extracurricular students, it makes sense to see a lot of them sadly get rejected because the level of brutal competitiveness is insanity.
I would like to also say that CS/Math faculty is not compared to Eng faculty at Waterloo as Engineering has a formula in which they accept people based on AIF score, video score, grade, and adj factor, Math leans less on that.
The one big difference is that you’re encouraged to write extracurriculars in your AIF. Mac will actually deduct points (according to an AO my friend spoke to, take it with a grain of salt) if you mention too many ECs. So Waterloo looks more “who’s done more stuff” and Mac looks for “Who can tell the best story”.
*These programs are lotteries.* If you don’t get in, it’s okay. Their admission criteria is literally designed to filter from the best of the best. If you get lucky, congrats. If you don’t, *it’s okay.*
Relax guys, if you even qualified to be a competitor at Waterloo CS, then you’re already amazing and you’ll make it ahead in life. Waterloo is just brutal, period.
Feel free to ask any questions.