First-year student roadmap

We'll send you an email from our office in the first week of June welcoming you to the Faculty of Science, which will contain important information about your chosen program and upcoming dates/deadlines.

The course selection period runs from July 2 to July 9. During course selection, you are able to indicate all the courses that you'd like to be enrolled in for the upcoming term. We will select all of your required courses for you, but if your program has room for any electives, you will need to select those on your own.

To see which courses you'll be taking in your first year, and whether or not you need to select an elective, check out our Required courses page. Other helpful resources can be found on our Course selection resources page.

On July 17, you'll be able to view your class schedule in Quest. Your schedule tells you when and where your lectures, labs, and tutorials will take place in the Fall term.

Starting on July 18, you can now start modifying your schedule to add, swap, and drop courses. You should NOT drop any of your required courses, but can swap into different lecture, lab, and/or tutorial sections. You may change your elective course(s) to a different choice.

If you need help making any changes, follow these step -by-step Quest instructions. Be sure to email science.advisor@uwaterloo.ca if you need any advice for the changes you want to make.

September 4 marks the first day of the term and your first week of classes at Waterloo!

September 17 is the last day to add new courses or swap into different lecture, lab, or tutorial sections.

If you need help making any changes, follow these step -by-step Quest instructions. Be sure to email science.advisor@uwaterloo.ca if you need any advice for the changes you want to make.

The course selection period runs in late September. During course selection, you are able to indicate all the courses that you'd like to be enrolled in for the upcoming term. We will select all of your required courses for you, but if your program has room for any electives, you will need to select those on your own.

Remember to review the Required courses page to see which courses you'll be taking in the Winter term and if you need to select any electives. If you made changes to your Fall term courses and aren't sure how they impact your Winter term courses, be sure to speak with an academic advisor. Other helpful resources can be found on our Course selection resources page.

In mid-November, you'll be able to view your class schedule in Quest. Your schedule tells you when and where your lectures, labs, and tutorials will take place in the Winter term.

Starting in late November, you can now start modifying your schedule to add, swap, and drop courses. You should NOT drop any of your required courses, but can swap into different lecture, lab, and/or tutorial sections. You may change your elective course(s) to a different choice.

If you need help making any changes, follow these step -by-step Quest instructions. Be sure to email science.advisor@uwaterloo.ca if you need any advice for the changes you want to make.

January 6 marks the first day of the term and your final semester of your first year. You're halfway there!

January 17 is the last day to add new courses or swap into different lecture, lab, or tutorial sections.

If you need help making any changes, follow these step -by-step Quest instructions. Be sure to email science.advisor@uwaterloo.ca if you need any advice for the changes you want to make.

The course selection period runs in late January. During course selection, you are able to indicate all the courses that you'd like to be enrolled in for the upcoming term.

Starting in Spring 2025, required courses are no longer selected for you. Remember to review the Required courses page to see which first-year courses you may be missing.

Be sure to speak with an academic advisor if you are unsure about Spring classes.

The Spring add/drop period begins in late March with individual appointment times in Quest. See How to view appointment time for the beginning of drop/add. 

May 5 is the first day of the term!

May 16 is the last day to add new courses or swap into different lecture, lab, or tutorial sections.

If you need help making any changes, follow these step -by-step Quest instructions. Be sure to email science.advisor@uwaterloo.ca if you need any advice for the changes you want to make.