Admission Information Form (AIF)

Waterloo Engineering is a world-class, globally competitive engineering program with a large number of applicants for a limited number of spots.

The AIF, which is required for admission, helps distinguish among many applicants with similar (excellent) grades and enables us to select students who have the necessary skills and experience to succeed.

If you apply to Waterloo Engineering and don't submit your form, you will probably not get an offer, even if you have a 99% high school average and meet all the other requirements.

Your friends or relatives may claim that they received an offer in past years without the AIF, and this may be true, but that is no longer the case.

Engineering admissions blog

If you're applying to Waterloo Engineering and haven't seen this blog, you're missing out. The Road to Engineering has great insights about Engineering admissions, including the Admission Information Form.

Highlights and tips

All Engineering students are in co-op, so you apply for jobs starting in your first year. If you haven't had a job before, how can you demonstrate your employability?

• So-called "soft skills" like communication and collaboration count – not only for the co-op jobs, but also for the many projects and labs you'll be in with your fellow students.
• Responsibility and commitment over time are factors. In many cases, an activity that you carried on for a longer period would be looked at differently from something that was just a couple of weeks long. Quality over quantity.
• Use the "Additional Information" fields to highlight what's special or different about your extracurriculars, awards and employment.

Visit the Faculty of Engineering Admission Information Form web page for further details.

The Admission Information Form is required for admission because of the high volume of applications that we receive and because we are looking for well-rounded students who have had meaningful experiences outside of the classroom. A student who can do well in school while also engaging in other activities is more likely to be successful at university.

The Faculty of Mathematics looks mainly at four categories of information.

Courses

If you repeat a required course or take a course outside of your regular day school, you may jeopardize your chances of being admitted to the Faculty of Mathematics. You should take all your courses in regular day school and do well in your first attempt.

Did you take more than the minimum number of courses required for admission? There's no penalty for only taking the minimum number of courses but the ability to do more may improve your chances of admission.

Non-academic activities

We're keen to learn about your activities outside of the classroom, as we place a high value on well-rounded students. We evaluate performance and involvement in clubs, sports, music, arts, leadership, volunteerism, and employment. No one activity is more important than another. What we're looking for is excellence outside of the classroom that complements excellence within.

Math contests

Contest participation is not required for admission, but strong performance on math contests can help earn you a place in the Faculty of Mathematics and writing the Euclid Contest and/or the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest is an important factor in awarding most of our Math scholarships.

The Canadian Computing Competition is most relevant for Computer Science applicants, but if you wrote it, don't hesitate to include your score even when applying to other programs.

Other information

If there is other information that you think we should know about, tell us in the appropriate places on your form.

The process

A team of readers, consisting mainly of retired high school math teachers, scores most of the submissions. There are many advantages to using this group; they understand high school students and they have a passion for math.

The scorers are trained and then evaluate submissions. You can never hurt your chances with the AIF.

Highlights and tips

• Show us how you are involved in activities outside of the classroom and in the world around you.
• Demonstrate the ability to manage multiple activities and priorities while performing at a high level.
• Use the "Additional Information" fields to highlight what's special or different about your extracurriculars, awards and/or employment.
• Even if you haven't already been writing the mathematics contests, strongly consider writing the Euclid Contest and/or the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest.