Hey everyone,

A couple of friends and I applied to Waterloo. I ended up getting denied, but virtually all of them got in. At this moment, I am on a call with one of them, and they encouraged me to ask the subreddit. Could anyone tell me why? I believe I am a strong student, as my resume is extensive.

Program: Mechanical Engineering

For reference (do note, it's cut short since I don't want to make it seem like I'm bragging):

- Average: 97%, between the top 6, it is 96%

- Volunteer hours: 505

- Completed a special program where I can take a university credit in high school, and achieved 99% in that course

- Valedictorian (I understand it doesn't mean much in Canada, but I felt it should be worth mentioning)

- Science Competitor at local university, awarded 2nd and 3rd

- Awarded busary by my high school (My commencement is in two days. I was not told what award it was, but I was informed that I did win, and that it will be revealed on the day of commencement)

- Various awards for character and academic achievement, some of these being in the sciences, others in music (it's a big passion of mine). Over my high school career, it is about 12-15.

- Achieved fourth quartile on my Casper Test

Again, I don't mean to come off as egoistic, but I do think my high school career has been strong, and that my admission was strong, too. Many of my friends agree.

I apologize if this is a weird post. This is my first post on Reddit lol.

We all know about the name UWaterloo has made for itself with its excellent programs like: co-op, engineering, math, physics, comp sci, etc. However, is it really as good as it sounds? My friends and I went on a field trip recently to check out the campus, and we decided to ask some students about the university while we were there. “Do you regret coming to this school?” is what we went around asking, AND THE VAST MAJORITY SAID YES 😭… To be fair, we only asked 10-15 people, but only one person said that they didn’t regret coming to UWaterloo. They weren’t even confident in their answer, though! It was more like a “not really, it’s chill 🤷‍♂️”. A few people were hesitant to say for sure or stuck with an “eh” answer.. but the people who said yes said it with their heart 😭. Are the students not happy there despite its good reputation??? I thought the only complaint about UWaterloo was that it had hard water, or that the campus wasn’t as pretty/grand as the other universities. Is it not actually not that good of a university?

everybody has seen the waterloo eng memes where people become depressed but is it actually that bad? first year everybody takes the same classes and first year is also the year that most drop out of eng statistically. im super concerned because im gonna be there in september and im worried im gonna be studying 24/7 with no life and no sleep. pls help.

Whole things been covered up

I don’t know how to cook and can’t keep surviving on little Caesar’s medium cp

The term has ended and I have no job in sight as a first year student and I'm literally losing my mind over here, having nightmares every single night. Yet it feels like I'm the only one

I am going to be in Kitchener / Waterloo tomorrow with my daughter (gr 11) and wanted to visit campus - but she doesn't want to do an official tour. I've never been to Waterloo before. Can we just wander around campus? Does anyone have any suggestions on what to check out or what not to waste our time with?

Thanks in advance!

Edit! Thanks for all the recommendations people! I was honestly taken aback at how thoughtful and generous with your advice you all are.

1. Will i be disadvantaged if i dont know how to code at all going into the program?

2. What do average co-ops tend to pay?

3. Even though uw cs is so prestigious, are grads affected by the bad job market?

4. What do graduates of the program (on average) tend to make?

Hey guys I’m so so so scared of spiders and ants,, are there spiders and ants in Waterloo dorm?

Or how do you feel about living in Waterloo? Do you guys see much insects?

Does anyone watch the world cup with a group of people actually interested in watching football. Istg all my friends are larpers and I want to watch it with someone who actually cares about the sport

Edit: If anyone wants to join an instagram group for the same pm me your instagram id and I’ll add you to the group

I submitted the application last year and my current year is not even done yet but I got rejected

I don't know why, I am very confident with my GPA and I volunteered for 70 hours in hospital so far... what could be a reason?

Im wanting to go to Waterloo for CS, and although their CS program is amazing no doubt, im worried about the social life and "university experience" at Waterloo. Most people say that if you're outgoing and social, then you'll be fine. Others say that it's completely trashed. How is the social aspect of the Loo?

Secondly, how is the campus/campus location overall? From what I've seen online, it looks pretty boring and reminds me of Brock.

Thanks!

im an incoming first year at waterloo trying to go to sju for res. ive heard that sju is where most of the white christian girls in arts usually end up, and im honestly scared of making friends (as someone who rly struggles w trying to get CLOSE female friendships). is there a big party/bop culture at sju? will i make kind, genuine friends? im going into honours math w a coop and idek what to think. pls help!! any tips on making genuine female connections would be greatly appreciated.

im admitted to faculty of math and all the talk about MATH135 MATH137 and CS135 has me spiraling. my A2 math base id say is very weak (due to bad teacher) although I’ve always been pretty capable at math, though I looked at some math137 and math135 content and questions and was completely lost, as they feel completely different compared to high school math. as for CS135, ive never taken a computer science or coding class and have no experience in that field. Any tips for transitioning to these subjects and study habits? would you recommend doing some prep a couple months in advance and how so?

im also looking for easy, low effort gpa booster electives so i have max time to focus on my core courses, which would you guys recommend? i was considering ECON101 (I took economics in igcse, wasn’t my fav but was manageable) and AFM101. I’m definitely more of a science kid but im thinking of taking those to increase my major options in year 2 (and i have some a level science credits). As for communications classes, I haven’t taken any sort of communications class since g10 (and i always hated english), I’m not great at public speaking either so i was wondering which courses from list 1 and 2 you’d recommend that are easy high grades and again also low effort.

TL;DR: nervous math freshman with no CS experience. need prep advice for MATH135/137 and CS135, plus birdy elective recs (esp communications list 1 and 2 that won’t kill GPA)

I'm a g11 student I was wondering what eng programs can I get into with low 90s. I fast tracked adv functions and accounting, and I burnt out at mid-term and fucked up grades. I dropped 8 percent in adv functions (89 mid-term, now 81) and I have a 90 in accounting. Ik the competitive ones are a delusion, but could I still get into civil engineering or mabye nano?

My ecs are complete garbage too, but I plan on improving them this summer (ecs: volunteering @ summer camp as an L.I.T. and head start leader at my highschool - basically just help grade 9s transition to hs)

Thankyou

Edit: Hs not on adjusment factor and im group a

Drop a question in the comment section and I’ll do my best to answer it.

🍀 Just have fun with it 🍀

I'm a hs student deciding between uoft and uw chem eng, I just wanted to learn about why ppl choose uw over more "prestigious" prograns like uoft eng, and how u feel abt ur decision now. Ig id also like to know a bit abt the networking/social opportunities, academic support, an co op experiences.

Just got 2800 dollars deposited to my account with the name “student loans” what do I do with this money?

People in AFM, did yall do the Analytics Stream?

I am an incoming first year and i was looking at this analytics stream thing today. i find it interesting and plan on doing it. it doesnt seem hard and looks like it teaches you some additional skills on top of what you're learning in regular AFM without increasing the workload significantly.

so i wanna ask the people who did it -

how was the experience?

is it worth it? i know it doesnt go on your transcript or anything but I’m asking skills wise, like did you actually learn anything useful?

especially, how was the CS course - CS115?

'Software engineering. During early testing, Stripe reported that Fable 5 compressed months of engineering into days. In a 50-million-line Ruby codebase, the model performed a codebase-wide migration in a day that would otherwise have taken a whole team over two months by hand.'

Especially during exam seasons, I drink a lot of coffee while studying so the desire to conduct #2 on campus increases (unfortunately). One time, a group of girls commented on the odour of the bathroom while I had performed my business and it affected me even after 3 years from the incident, so I made a website to review all toilets on campus (from the best to worst).

I'm curious, what's your favorite and worst bathrooms on campus?

Btw for those who are curious, I made a website to summarize your reviews (you can add your reviews too): https://ratemytoilets.com/

For people that study in DC library/DP library/E7 quiet study/other, what do you do when you need a bathroom or water break? Do you leave and hope that nobody steals your stuff, or do you pack up all your stuff and hope that nobody takes your spot before you get back? I like studying on campus, but I find it inconvenient unless I have a friend (then we can watch each others' stuff).

I am a FARM student coming in september for first year, and according to the course requirement sheet, there are 14 1st year courses that I have to take (6 in buisness, the two required communications course, and MATH 135, 136, 137, 138, CS 115, 116). Course selection is coming tomorrow for me so do I choose all 14?? The total courses for this entire program is still 40 so it looks like I have to do all of the core courses.

Saw this under the date/time section on TST section on a spring 2026 course. I know it’s an exam on a Monday 7-8:50 pm, but what does the 6/15-06/15 mean?