Should I retake ENG4U?

[mirhagk]

I finished this year with a 67% in ENG4U, and I'm doing one more year of high school where I'm taking data management, a CO-OP, a peer leadership, Earth and Space science, and retaking Calculus (I went into exam with a 91 and came out with an 83, so I'm going to redo since I know I can get higher, so I'm aiming to get high 90's in it).

I have computer science with 98%, computer engineering with 95%, advanced functions with about an 87% I believe, and physics with a 93% I believe.

I am planning on applying to university of waterloo for computer science (hopefully co-op) and I wanna know if my english mark is going to be a big deal. (My computer engineering mark cancels out the english mark average wise, so my average shouldn't be too highly affected). Basically will they look at individual marks, and if so will the 67% in english be a deal breaker?

If I redo english I'm not even sure if I can get that much higher, whereas if I redo Calculus I know I can get a 90 minimum, and my goal is to get 99 (100 is impossible lol) and my teacher said that it was entirely realistic, so long as I actually do guide work next year. If I redo english then I can't redo Calculus (timetable conflicts) so what should I do?

More Info: Also have done euclid contest and all earlier ones, and have done CCC this year, and plan on doing it again next year. Also have gotten to finals in ECOO this year, and will likely do the same next year, so the AIF bonus should be pretty good I think.

[Sur_real]

yeah, english is really important so try to get a decent mark in it.

Also, you should try to aim for all your marks to be around the same (eg. 6 80s giving 85 average is better than 3 90s and 3 70s giving 85 average)

[apython1992]

That mark would definitely be a deal breaker, which is too bad because your other marks are great. Definitely take english again.

[z_cross_fire]

I had a 69 mid-term when I got accepted to UW CS Coop (tough teacher). Also, my other marks were not as high as yours (except for Calculus = 87, and Adv .Functions = 93). So, it might not be a problem. But, it is still better to re-do it and get better marks.

[apython1992]

If you're taking the extra year anyway, don't take the chance. Use the opportunity to secure yourself a spot in the program.

[Raknarg]

See, for waterloo, it's not that fact that your enlish mark will bring your average down, its the mark itself. I just took careers this year, and I looked at a 2011 booklet for Waterloo with Computer science. Not only do they ask for an average above 85, they ask for ENG4U SPECIFICALLY to be above 80. I would seriously reccommend retaking english.

I know you probably hate it: I hate it too. But I've found that a lot of computery, sciencey or mathy people hate it, but could do very well if they liked. Dont just give up on it, go back to that class and actually try your best.

[crossley7]

A 67 will likely look bad against you. Even if they see the 70 something it would be a significant improvement. And if you are there anyway, you may as well improve the mark that looks the worst. The english will likely hurt you much more than calc will at this point

And a sidenote, what school are you at? Trying to figure out which schools ahead of us at provincial ECOO will still be there intact next year (we got 17th with all grade 11's this year and came minutes short of solving number 4 after some bugs)