I believe that you would need high 90s after first year in order to transfer. It's achievable :)

@@matthewjiao7233Thanks for your suggestion but how much difficult it is to score high 90s and if I didn't get high 90s then would I be able to transfer to any other university?

@@aryanmodgil8687 it's different for everyone! Tbh I don't have any experience with transfering universities so I can't help much there.

That is so false lol. My school it's so difficult to get high marks it's based on the high school you go to. That's why each school has an adjustment factor because some schools are easier to get 90's than others.

54 if I can still remember

@@matthewjiao7233 that’s solid not bad

Hi, just a person passing by. I went to a high school outside Ontario, but still got into Waterloo CS. I think location of your school is neglectable, your average matters the most!! If you have high 90’s, it shouldn’t be a problem at all

@@brianbrian4899 Oh okay! Thanks for the response!

CFM falls under the faculty of mathematics so I'd like to think cfm has pretty similar admissions criteria. I don't believe there's an adjustment factor.

@@matthewjiao7233 thank you! And one more question, like you said you attached the link of your projects in aif. I also did something like that(completed some machine learning and algorithms courses on Coursera and did some projects during the process) I mentioned it in aif but did not attach the link of certificates and projects. Now I have already submitted aif but do u think it is fine to make an amendment to add these details? (Waterloo recommends only making an amendment when the information is important so I’m not sure if it’s good)

@@beihaozhou3174 I think it's fine, as long as you explain those projects in the AIF it should be good

@@matthewjiao7233 thank you for ur suggestion it helped me a lot! Hope I can have the opportunity to see you at Waterloo this fall:)

@Yuvraj Dwivedi Thank you

@matthew Jiao

Im not familiar with the system for international applicants, but for Ontario applicants, it seems that cs accepts from the mid to high 90s range.

Advanced functions

Nope

@@matthewjiao7233 can I ask what was your alternate choice?

@@aryamoghaddam529 computer engineering. From what Ive heard, SE doesn't do deferrals (less at least)

on their site they say that it doesn't hurt ur app and can only be positive or neutral.

I think it depends on your high school, but SE has a smaller cohort so leaning towards "yes"

Ontario

make a list of potential questions and prepare responses for them in a Google doc. You can peek at your notes during the interview this way!

@@matthewjiao7233 thanks bro! im out here stressing about my waterloo aif rn

I believe so

Messenger works!

@@sparetime2335 messenger!

@@sparetime2335 yep

yeah! just give it your all

I don't think they'll affect you so long as you have the 4u requirement

XD you can find hackathons on Devpost! There's basically at least one every week.

Experience matters, but if you don't communicate that experience well on the AIF it might as well not matter. I think you should code to make smthing you think is cool rather than for the sake of admissions. Getting started now will definitely help if ur interested in doing software I'm the future, no doubt. Also, gr 11 isn't late, ur being too hard on urself!

tldr; uni advice, life advice, and some typically withheld tidbits of info. Lol I started coding in first year at loo. I did take ICS3U, but that was with Quick Basic and Visual Basic, so it doesn't necessarily count. You don't need to master a language. You just need to show an interest in computer science and software beyond the scope of academics. For SE, side projects matter a lot more than grades (assuming you have 98+). For CS, grades matter more. SE cutoff is 97. CS cutoff is 94-95. Both will accept students with slightly lower grades if the ECs make up for it. Maybe you sold a project to Microsoft or something. Every kid is doing the Math/CS contests. To make your application stand out you need to appear unique among the rest of the nerds applying. You should play a sport competitively (outside of school or in school). You should have a part-time job. You should have multiple leadership positions in clubs. It'd be best if your school wasn't adjusted academically (only applies to Eng. programs). Being a Canadian citizen also helps for Eng (they have quotas on internationals). More than 50% of the Math faculty is international so they don't care. Most importantly, you need to have excellent communication skills. Amazing verbal and written skills. If your AIF reads horribly or if you come off as pompous or desperate, don't bet on admission. Don't focus your AIF on praising Waterloo (they know they're the best school in Canada for co-op, entrepreneurship, Math, Engineering, CS, several others; it's a fact) Focus on your goals and how SPECIFICALLY Waterloo will help you achieve them. Once you get in, none of this high school stuff will matter. There will be kids who had 98s in high school who are getting 60s in university, or even failing/barely passing their way through their degrees. Your average doesn't really matter (unless you want Bloomberg (74) or Thomson Reuters (80)) beyond your first co-op term. You just need to graduate, and you'll be set for life. Also, experiment with your co-ops. Work in different industries, jobs, tech stacks, etc. Finally, don't underestimate yourself. You may not believe this, (at your age I certainly wouldn't), but you can be ANYTHING you want to be or do/learn ANYTHING you want to do/learn. All it takes is a rock-solid work ethic, knowing/drilling down daily on your specific goals, and believing you are achieving them.

1. Android studio/java 2. plain js

@@matthewjiao7233 if you dont mind me asking what do you use to code? a surface pro? im planning to learn coding and i'd like to know some basic resources that helped you get started. thanks

@@adababogadabo5668 acer swift 3 atm

Bayview Secondary School. The engineering faculty will take your admissions average and subtract it by your school's adjustment factor, done to all applicants (the purpose being, some high schools are harder/easier). I don't believe cs has adjustment.

A good strategy imo is to fast track and take as many 4U courses as you possibly can. I also think taking breadth is important so you don't limit your options.

@@matthewjiao7233 thanks Matthew for the advice I was already planing to take 4u courses thanks again

@@matthewjiao7233 By the way do you have any like study advice in general for school

@@yak654 If you study the notes you take, then you'll know that material well. But if you didn't take the best notes to begin with then that's a major limitation. I would make sure to record everything your teacher says that might be important even if you think you'll remember it because when test day comes, you might not!

@@matthewjiao7233 thanks Matthew I will try to follow your advice to achieve my goal of getting good enough grades to get in to Waterloo’s Cs program

It depends on the applicant pool you're competing with. You can look at Waterloo's website where they indicate grade ranges.

Hmm hard to keep track?

@@matthewjiao7233 estimate? If u can't remember, how much ecs do u recommend to have before applications?

@@ashwinsanthosh7942 if I recall, I had about 20ish on my AIF (clubs, hackathons, projects, volunteering, etc..). I think you should focus more on depth of ec rather than number.

Isolated, the effects of writing any of Waterloo's contests are always non-negative. Meaning they CANNOT lower your chances in admissions. However, the price to pay is in sweat/time/energy if you do plan to prepare for these. I think you should do Euclid regardless!

HTML, CSS, JavaScript

@@matthewjiao7233 but what template did you use?

​@@ashwinsanthosh7942 If you're referring to matthewjiao.netlify.app/, I didn't use a template! I'm not a fan of using templates for "personal" websites.

@@matthewjiao7233 thank you soo much!

@@matthewjiao7233 did you buy a domain name?

There's a lot uncertain with admissions so I can't say I'm qualified on chancing. Just do your best, then top that with another 30% energy.

@@matthewjiao7233 What if your school isn't running any clubs, contests, sports teams etc. Due to the pandemic, will that affect my chances of getting in?

@@nihshanksharma4597 you're compared to the rest of the applicant pool so I'd say if everyone's affected equally then your chances don't drop. That said, you can always work on projects outside of school.

@@matthewjiao7233 Do grade 11 marks matter or do they only look at 6 grade 12 academic courses?

They matter for early admissions if you don't have the required gr 12 marks yet. They don't matter after early admissions since your gr 12 marks take priority. It's possible for extreme fluctuations in gr 11 to gr 12 marks become a concern. This year though, it may all be different due to covid.

nope

Hiya! I assure you that said statement is not the case! It's NOT a requirement to have coded before to get admitted into CS and seldom is the case where people get admitted just because they know 20 languages. Most people who've accepted their offer to CS have at least a little bit of prior experience but that can be said with any university program. In my opinion (everything I'm about to say is my opinion so don't take it too seriously!), the CS courses from high school are very different from the side projects you might do on your own and you should definitely try to get your feet wet just to get a taste industry (this is also incredibly important if you're interested in finding a waterloo co-op job or any job and to my knowledge, first-year courses at waterloo don't seem to prepare us well for this. It feels like a "we've taught you all we know (not really) now go out and find a job even though you're probably not qualified but they'll pay you less so it's okay!" kind of thing). You should take part in a few (or many) hackathons with your friends. These can be great side projects and are also loads of fun (and free food!!!!!)! That said, the CS courses from high school are more than sufficient to allow you to keep up with first-year CS courses (CS 135/145) at waterloo so I think you'll have no problems there. Now onto what you're probably more interested in LOL. Admissions into CS is kind of like a black box because the math faculty doesn't really release exact criteria (for example: everyone with 95+ get's an offer [is not a true implication]). However, as students, we can find heuristics to help us estimate what we need to receive an offer (mind this does change with the applicant pool each year). Generally speaking (and again emphasizing that these are only my thoughts on the matter) your admissions average is most important beyond everything else and every little bit helps (there's no safe % and these days especially with inflated grades in high-school (also university it seems) you really can't afford to not try your best). I think the AIF (waterloo's admissions information form) is second here. You'll need to spend some time to really nail down the "essays". Also on the AIF are extracurriculars which seem to matter a lot too. Admissions average and the main AIF have the greatest weight on admissions. And on the side if you're up to it try to score well on the math/computing contests from the CEMC/waterloo. (these are just my 2 cents but...) contest scores only help if you do very well on them so allocate your time wisely if you do decide to prepare for these. In summary: work hard but don't let your work prevent you from enjoying yourself though! good luck

@@matthewjiao7233 Wow! Thx for that insane reply, I really learned a lot. My main question is how can I outshine the other applicants with much more knowledge in programming? Cuz now isn't a lot of time for me to suddenly start doing a whole bunch of CS extracurriculars (I'm in Grade 12 rn). Like do I tell them that I am really interested in CS but I don't have much experience? Would that be a drawback, compared to the more experienced applicants? Cuz the reality is that I REALLY am interested in the applications of CS and AI into 3D animations (my dad is a 3D animator for the Disney channel) and I really believe that AI is the way to go for the future of animations. But I don't have any REAL coding experience...

@@Adam-gw8jt I think that's a great idea. Write about what you're passionate about, period. You don't have to "outshine" the applicant pool in terms of coding experience, just shine a different shade. Convey to the person reading your essay that you'll be a great fit at Waterloo!

@@Adam-gw8jt Hey man! I'm kinda in your shoes rn and I was wondering what happened? ;]