u/Kaeyxx

Hi, I’m a Grade 12 student who applied to University of Waterloo Planning this year and got accepted with around an 87 average after Ontario midterms.

My top choice is still WLU BBA (still waiting to hear back), and if I get in I’ll probably go there. But Waterloo Planning is one of the programs I’m seriously considering because I heard the job opportunities and co-op are pretty good, and it’s not super STEM/math-science focused.

Honestly, I’m just someone who wants a stable job after undergrad and to enjoy life a little. I don’t really have some huge dream career. I mainly applied to business because I’m terrible at STEM (like genuinely bad 😭). Most of my math/science marks throughout high school were around 60–80.

English is also my second language, so I never thought I was especially talented academically either. But I did really well in business courses — 97 in Grade 12 Business Leadership and 94 in Grade 11 Marketing — and those were definitely the classes I enjoyed the most.

The thing is… I honestly know almost nothing about Planning besides “urban planning/cities.” I can’t really picture myself in the program yet, so I wanted to ask people in the program about their experience.

- How is the program overall?
- What are the co-op jobs usually like?
- How are the job opportunities after undergrad or maybe after a master’s?
- Is the degree flexible, or are you basically limited to becoming a planner?
- How are the profs and the people in the program?
- Is the workload stressful?
- Did you actually enjoy your time in the program?

Sorry for all the questions 😭 I just really want to make sure I’d be okay spending the next 4–5 years there if Laurier doesn’t work out.

I’d really appreciate any advice or honest experiences!

Hi, I’m a grade 12 student from Ontario, I’m still waiting for a decision from my first choice Wilfrid Laurier University BBA, but if I don’t get in, I’ll probably need to choose between:

- UTM Management Studies (alternate from Commerce)
- UW Planning with co-op

My top 6 average is 87%.

I’m more interested in business overall, but I also care a lot about campus atmosphere/social life. Honestly when I visited Waterloo, the environment felt kind of stressful/depressing to me compared to UTM.

The reason I applied to Waterloo Planning is because the co-op and job stability seem really good, and urban planning sounds interesting, but I’ve never studied anything related to it before, so I not sure if it is something I want to do in a long term.

I’m also wondering:

1. how realistic is it to transfer from UTM Management Studies into Commerce later?
2. how flexible is Waterloo Planning if I decide I want to move toward business-related careers later?

I’m not very strong at calculus(65%)/functions(70%) type math either, but data(84%) related is fine. (Probably)

Would appreciate any honest advice from current students or anyone who considered similar options.

Hi, I’m still waiting for a decision from Wilfrid Laurier University BBA, but if I don’t get in, I’ll probably need to choose between:

- UTM Management Studies (alternate from Commerce)
- UW Planning with co-op

My top 6 average is 87%.

I’m more interested in business overall, but I also care a lot about campus atmosphere/social life. Honestly when I visited Waterloo, the environment felt kind of stressful/depressing to me compared to UTM.

The reason I applied to Waterloo Planning is because the co-op and job stability seem really good, and urban planning sounds interesting, but I’ve never studied anything related to it before, so I not sure if it is something I want to do in a long term.

I’m also wondering:

1. how realistic is it to transfer from UTM Management Studies into Commerce later?
2. how flexible is Waterloo Planning if I decide I want to move toward business-related careers later?

I’m not very strong at calculus(65%)/functions(70%) type math either, but data(84%) related is fine. (Probably)

Would appreciate any honest advice from current students or anyone who considered similar options.