Dean of Arts Office:
PAS building, room 2401
Tel 519 888-4567 ext. 48246
Arts Undergraduate Office:
PAS building, room 2439
Tel 519 888-4567 ext. 45870
Arts faculty and staff resources
Arts computing support for students, faculty, and staff
Our Advising Team is ready to help you make the most of your university experience. Let's get started!
Did you transfer from another university or college? Follow the course selection steps below!
Did you transfer to Arts from another University of Waterloo faculty? Your next steps are different. Contact your Arts academic advisor about course selection for your first term as an Arts student!
Review the Important Dates and Activities below for deadlines and due dates.
Follow Faculty of Arts SPECIFIC DATES regardless of other published dates you may encounter.
Date | Activity |
---|---|
After accepting your offer |
Join Waterloo Arts Discord channel and start connecting with current and incoming students! If you haven’t received your server invite and wish to join, email arts@uwaterloo.ca. |
May 27, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. EDT | |
July 4-11 | Submit your course choices during the Fall New Student Course Selection Period. |
Week of July 4 |
Start checking your Waterloo Microsoft 365 account daily. All email communication from the University of Waterloo will be sent to your @uwaterloo.ca email account. To set up your account, see the Accessing your Microsoft 365 account page. Waterloo undergraduates have access to an Office 365 account including Outlook (email), Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Teams. If you have trouble with the Microsoft 365 login, visit the FAQ page. |
July (date TBA) |
Arts Ready Day - This event will be held in person, as well as live streamed. More info coming soon! |
July 19 |
View your Fall class schedule in Quest. Don't see all of the classes you requested? You can make changes to your schedule starting on July 21. |
July 20 |
Add your Arts First course (ARTS 130 or ARTS 140) and, if needed, adjust your fall schedule.
|
Early August | Fall fees listed in your Quest account. Learn how to view your fees and account summary. |
August 22 |
Fall fees due (to be paid). Learn how to pay your fees. |
Late September |
Winter course selection in Quest.
|
After you receive your offer of admission, you'll receive an email from an Admissions Officer outlining transfer credits you've been granted from your previous studies.
Transfer credits are relevant to your degree in several ways:
You may see a mix of specified and unspecified transfer credits.
For additional questions related to transfer credits, see the FAQs below.
All new Arts students are required to take both Arts First courses, ARTS 130 (Inquiry and Communication) and ARTS 140 (Information and Analysis), in order to fulfill the Undergraduate Communication Requirement.
After you've decided which courses you want to take, email a list of your course requests to your academic advisor who will review and approve them.
Campus of registration | Program | Academic Advisor |
---|---|---|
Main Campus |
Honours Arts and Liberal Studies Honours Arts and Business |
|
St. Jerome's | Honours Arts, Honours Arts and Business, and Liberal Studies | |
Renison |
Honours Arts and Liberal Studies Social Development Studies |
If your advisor has approved your course requests, you must log in to Quest and request your courses at any time during this period.
If you have not received a final transfer credit assessment by this time, contact your admissions officer in the Registrar's Office.
You will be able to view your class schedule in Quest beginning July 20. If you need to make adjustments to your schedule, you can do so when the Fall New Student Drop/Add Period begins on July 29.
Current Waterloo students will have access to Quest to add courses as of July 24. This means available spots in classes will fill quickly, so we recommend you adjust your schedule as soon as you can.
You cannot be admitted to a major until you have completed 10 courses, with two of those courses being in your major.
Students can use transfer credits to fulfil the first requirement — 10 courses total — but usually need to take at least two Waterloo courses in their major subject before they are eligible to declare their major. You need to establish an average in your major subject, and transfer credits do not include your grades or an average.
Check that your final official transcript has been received by the University. Final official transcripts are usually available about three weeks after term ends. We strongly recommend you send your final grades to our admissions team as soon as possible.
In addition to a final transcript our admissions team might also require course outlines to assess for transfer credit – if so they will communicate with you directly. If you have submitted your final transcript (and if appropriate, course outlines), then your courses are likely being assessed for transfer credit by the department that teaches the relevant courses at Waterloo. If you have any questions, email our admissions team.
Yes, all students in the Bachelor of Arts degree program must complete two Arts First courses, ARTS 130 and ARTS 140. The exception is where a transfer student has already completed a BA degree from another Canadian University.
If you are transferring to UWaterloo with less than 4.0 units of transfer credit, co-op may be an option for you and this is something you should discuss with your academic advisor. Transfer students coming in with more than 4.0 units of credit are likely ineligible for co-op in Arts, however there are alternatives such as the EDGE certificate program. If you have questions about co-op you can contact your admissions officer and your academic advisor.
Yes, this academic plan is known as Liberal Studies.
This depends on how many courses you plan to take each term, how many terms you want to take each year, and how often the required courses for your major are offered. Meeting with the major advisor to talk about your plans and availability of courses is a good idea.
Make sure to read about your next steps as a transfer student and attend orientation events designed specifically for transfer students.
View our list of course selection resources.
You can also contact your academic advisor, visit the Arts Undergraduate Office, or connect with our Student Ambassador Team!
Dean of Arts Office:
PAS building, room 2401
Tel 519 888-4567 ext. 48246
Arts Undergraduate Office:
PAS building, room 2439
Tel 519 888-4567 ext. 45870
Arts faculty and staff resources
Arts computing support for students, faculty, and staff
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within our Office of Indigenous Relations.