Our Fall Open House is approaching quickly. This weekend over 5,000 visitors will tour the Faculty of Engineering. Many of these visitors are parents interested in finding out more about our university. For prospective students within driving distance of our school, this is a great opportunity to learn about the programs we offer. You will also get to meet some of our dedicated students, staff, and faculty. Best of all, you can tour our classrooms, labs, workshops, and study spaces.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the Fall Open House this year. I am currently at the airport waiting to fly to Seattle. I will be participating in an event for guidance counsellors that focuses on Studying in Canada. I will also be representing the University of Waterloo at the NACAC Seattle National College Fair. This is a two day event that attracts thousands of local high school students.
Waiting for my plane…
For students in the greater Seattle area, the NACAC Seattle National College Fair is an opportunity to learn about studying at the University of Waterloo. I will attempt to answer questions on all programs that our university offers. Having studied and worked at the university for more than half of the years it has existed, I have a reasonably good understanding of most programs that we offer. Thankfully, I have materials to help me answer the hard questions.
I sometimes get asked why we recruit in Seattle. The answer is simple. We attract some excellent students from the region. We have also been making an effort to recruit from regions in the U.S. where our co-op students work. In these regions, our university is recognized as one that educates some of the best university students.
We attract both domestic and international students from the greater Seattle area. It is not uncommon for an alumnus to drop by our booth with a son or daughter interested in returning to study in Canada. Approximately 50% of the students we recruit from the U.S. pay domestic fees and are considered domestic students. Students pay domestic fees if they are a Canadian or permanent resident OR if they are dependent upon a Canadian or permanent resident.
I look forward to meeting excited applicants and some old friends on my recruiting trip. I will try to post a few photos of the trip when I return next week.
Our recruiting cycle for Fall 2023 has begun. We have started receiving inquiries from prospective applicants regarding Waterloo Engineering. If you are a Grade 11 or Grade 12 student interested in attending an Ontario university in Fall 2023 or Fall 2024, plan to attend the upcoming Ontario Universities’ Fair to learn more about the University of Waterloo and its programs. This year, the Ontario Universities’ Fair will be held in-person at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. For those unable to attend the in-person event, there will be three virtual sessions held on October 11th, November 9th, and December 1st that may interest you.
It is once again time for my most popular blog post of the year. In this blog post, I will attempt to answer the question:
“What are my chances of receiving an offer of admission to an undergraduate engineering program at the University of Waterloo?”
As I have pointed out in previous years, this is a difficult question to answer since every applicant is different. When selecting applicants that are likely to succeed in our undergraduate engineering programs, grades remain a significant consideration. Excellent grades in high school can be a strong indicator of future success in university. However, grades are not the only consideration.
Our admissions process uses several assessment tools to select applicants. We require all applicants to complete an Admission Information Form (AIF) which we use to assess skills, employment experience, volunteer service, course work, extracurricular activities, and notable achievements. We strongly recommend all applicants complete an optional online interview which we use to assess motivation and resilience. Interview scores are used to assess applicants for certain entrance scholarships. Our assessment tools help us gauge applicant interest in our programs and applicant fit for our programs.
We assess all applicants that we believe are potentially admissible. For our engineering programs, applicants are required to have an admission average of 85% with no grades lower than 70% in any of our required courses in their final year of high school. We then use a combination of the admission average with our other assessment tools to individually select applicants. Students with higher admission averages are more likely to be selected for admission but they are not guaranteed to be selected for admission. Our assessment tools give applicants with lower admission averages a chance to compete for spaces in our engineering programs.
Using the Ontario Secondary School applicant data for the Fall 2022 admission cycle, I have produced two graphs that show the probability of an Ontario Secondary School (OSS) applicant receiving an offer of admission to undergraduate engineering programs at the University of Waterloo. I have grouped our engineering programs as follows:
OSS Tier 1: Biomedical and Software
OSS Tier 2: Computer, Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, and Systems Design
These groupings are the same as the previous four admission cycles. Clearly, not all programs grouped together have exactly the same admission offer probabilities. Groupings are necessary for the purpose of a statistically significant analysis.
The first graph summarizes the probability of receiving an admission offer for Canadians and permanent resident students applying from the Ontario Secondary School system given a particular admission average. The vertical axis represents the admission probability and the horizontal axis represents an applicant’s admission average. The admission average is calculated using the grades reported by OUAC. The admission averages are shown prior to the application of adjustments.
The graph is similar to the ones from previous years. The admission averages have continued to increase. We had more OSS applicants last year and the grades of applicants tended to be higher than previous years. Fewer applicants with averages in the 85% to 90% range are receiving offers of admission. Inflation appears to be a problem that is affecting more than just the economy. Last year, 477 applicants to Waterloo Engineering from the Ontario Secondary School system had averages of 98% or greater at the time of admission consideration. We only allow students to apply to one Waterloo Engineering program so this means at least 477 high school students in Ontario had averages of 98% or greater last year.
The second graph summarizes the probability of receiving an admission offer for visa students applying from the Ontario Secondary School system given a particular admission average. I was very hesitant to post this graph this year as we did not have enough data to produce a meaningful result. The vertical axis represents the admission probability and the horizontal axis represents an applicant’s admission average. The admission averages are shown prior to the application of adjustments.
Waterloo Engineering attracts a very small number of visa applicants from the Ontario Secondary School system. The graph exhibits some clear artifacts due to the lack of sufficient data. In general, one should assume that all admission probabilities increase as admission averages increase. Demand for qualified visa applicants continues to outpace the supply of qualified visa applicants.
I used the same approach this year as I did in the previous year. It is important to remember that these graphs may not accurately predict the Fall 2023 admission cycle. In any given year, admission probabilities may increase or decrease. A drop in applicants can cause probabilities to increase. A surge in applicants can cause probabilities to decrease. Applicants should not read too much into the admission probability graphs. If you are truly interested in a program, you should apply.
Now that the application deadline has officially passed, I can confirm that we received a total of 14,548 applications for admission to undergraduate programs in the Faculty of Engineering. There are a total of 257 applicants that appear twice in the count. This happens when an applicant applies to both the architecture program and an engineering program. Some architecture applicants, but not all, apply to engineering programs. Applicants are not allowed to submit applications to two or more engineering programs at the University of Waterloo. This means that there are 14,291 individuals who have applied to one (or more) of our programs.
I have also received the official undergraduate intake targets for the Fall 2022 admission cycle. Table 1 summarizes the new admit targets for the Fall 2022 admission cycle.
Plan
Domestic
Visa
Total
Architecture
70
5
75
Architectural Engineering
82
8
90
Biomedical Engineering
85
5
90
Chemical Engineering
123
20
143
Civil Engineering
100
15
115
Computer Engineering
190
45
235
Electrical Engineering
100
20
120
Environmental Engineering
65
10
75
Geological Engineering
24
4
28
Management Engineering
80
10
90
Mechanical Engineering
185
25
210
Mechatronics Engineering
185
25
210
Nanotechnology Engineering
105
10
115
Systems Design Engineering
85
5
90
Software Engineering
110
15
125
Total
1,589
222
1,811
Table 1: New Admit Targets for Fall 2022
Intake targets should not be confused with class sizes. The number of students enrolled in our first year programs will often be slightly larger than the intake targets. There are some students who are required to repeat first year. However, our class sizes often differ from the number of students enrolled. Some departments blend students from several programs in first year classes and some departments subdivide classes into separate co-op streams in first year. There is also the practical issue of admitting the right number of applicants to achieve the intake targets. These issues can lead to our class sizes being smaller or larger than the intake targets. In first year, typical class sizes in our engineering programs range from 80 students to 140 students.
Intake targets can be controversial. We have some programs that are in very high demand and other programs where demand is lower. I often get asked why we do not increase the targets for high demand programs. There are many factors that affect the intake targets. Some of the important factors include the following:
Applicant demand
Availability of qualified instructors
Availability of support staff
Class sizes
Lab room capacities
Long range plans
Government grant funding
Co-op employment opportunities
Post-graduation employment opportunities
Effects on other programs
No significant changes were made to our intake targets for this admission cycle. No new programs were added. No existing programs were removed. Small changes were made to the targets for Biomedical Engineering and Systems Design Engineering in an effort to ensure that the first year classes in these programs do not exceed 100 students.
I am sure that many of my blog readers would like to know exactly how many applicants applied to each program. This is not information that I feel comfortable sharing. There are a number of reasons for my reluctance:
Applicants should always apply to programs based on their interests, not based on their likelihood of receiving an admission offer.
Application numbers are not a good indication of the competitiveness of a program. A program with 100 strong applicants may be more competitive than a program with 200 applicants.
Some applicants will withdraw their applications between now and our final admission round in May. This may happen when an applicant receives an offer to another university that they prefer to attend. It can also happen for other reasons such as an illness delaying completion of high school degree requirements.
Some applicants will not complete the Admission Information Form by the deadline. These applicants are removed from the applicant pool.
On the subject of the Admission Information Form, February 18th is the hard deadline for submitting the Admission Information Form for applicants who have applied to undergraduate engineering programs. I just wanted to remind our applicants of the importance of completing the Admissions Information Form (AIF) on time. Every year, we have a handful of applicants that miss submitting the Admissions Information Form (AIF) by the deadline. Applicants who do not submit the Admission Information Form (AIF) are not be eligible for admission. If you have not already submitted the form, I encourage you to do so soon. You do not want to risk missing the deadline due to a computer problem or unexpected illness.
I will leave you with an image of South Campus Hall at the University of Waterloo. I took this photo about a week ago on a day when the sun was shining. It shows the welcome sign that faces University Avenue as you enter the campus. I have no doubt that many of our undergraduate students saw this sign for their first time this past week as in-person classes resumed on campus.
The holidays are now over for most of us. Application deadlines are approaching quickly. We now have enough application data that I can provide a quick update on Engineering Admissions for those who are interested.
The general trend has been that domestic applications have been strong this year. We have received more domestic applications this year than we did at the end of the admissions cycle two years ago in 2020. However, we have not yet exceeded our record breaking year in 2021. There is a good chance that we will approach the numbers we saw in 2021 for domestic applications. As you might expect, a greater percentage of our domestic applicants are students from Ontario. Out-of-province applications have been coming in slower this year.
My tutorial classroom in Fall 2021 prior to the start of an in-person class.
It does not surprise me that out-of-province students are a bit more reluctant to apply to study in Ontario this year. Our province has been dealing with waves of COVID-19 cases and we have a vaccine mandate in place that makes our university unattractive to some applicants. Also, our classes are currently online while some universities in the U.S. and elsewhere are offering in-person classes. It is hoped that we will be able to resume in-person classes soon. We were able to offer some in person classes and tutorials in Fall 2021. Right now, we must heed the advice of our medical professionals who have clearly told us that our hospitals are operating at capacity. I have tremendous respect for our medical professionals. They have been working under very difficult circumstances and they deserve recognition of their efforts. They haven’t had any chance to recover from the previous surges and many of them are dealing with family members, friends, and coworkers who are ill. Let’s hope that things improve soon.
Our international applicants will be happy to know that international applications are down sharply this year. We may eventually reach the application numbers that we achieved in 2020. We will definitely not approach the application numbers we achieved in 2021. There are many factors that could be contributing to the drop in international applications. Certainly, it is more difficult to recruit international students when travel is not possible. One-on-one meetings with potential applicants are the best way to encourage students to apply. Also, the University of Waterloo usually benefits from media stories about the success of our students in international competitions. The ongoing pandemic has limited in-person competition involvement at the international level.
There may be many other factors at play. Many Canadian universities and colleges rely upon international students to address budget shortfalls when domestic tuition is capped. Waterloo Engineering has tried to avoid this trend by maintaining stable international student targets at a level below 15% of our student body. A blog post by Alex Usher at Higher Education Strategy Associates provides some interesting insight into international student numbers. It is worth a careful read as it provides graphs that clearly show the increasing percentage of international students at universities and colleges across Canada. For engineering programs, it is typical for international students to represent 25% of the student body.
You might be curious how these application numbers affect you:
If you are a domestic applicant, nothing has changed. Many of our engineering programs have competitive applicant pools. Applicants to these engineering programs will be individually selected for admission. You will need to ensure that you put time and effort into the completion of your Admission Information Form. I highly recommend completing the Online Interview to improve your admission chances.
If you are an international applicant, your chances of being admitted are slightly better this year than last year. Make sure you have completed your application. We can only admit students with complete applications. Applicants who do not submit their Admission Information Form cannot be considered. Also, monitor your e-mail regularly to check for inquiries from our Admissions Officers. Sometimes, they will reach out to international applicants for additional information needed to process an application.
If you are a prospective applicant, it is a better year to apply than last year. To apply, visit the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre. We are still accepting applications until February 1st. If you are a prospective international applicant, this admission cycle might offer an excellent opportunity to gain admission to Waterloo Engineering. This is particularly true for some of our engineering programs with less competitive application pools.
I unfortunately will not be able to respond to specific questions about the competitiveness of individual programs at this time. Our Engineering Admissions Team is working very hard to ensure that our admissions process goes smoothly this year. I realize many applicants have anxiety about the admissions process. Having a better estimate of your chances will not reduce your anxiety, unfortunately. The only resolution is receiving an offer of admission. Many applicants will have a resolution at the end of March 2021 when we send out our first round of admission offers for Waterloo Engineering.
The Road to Engineering 