low english mark, pls help

[jackcnd]

i'm in grade 11 and i want to apply for the computer science program at U Waterloo next year, but i have a very low english mark, around 68%.
does Waterloo still take the top 6 marks and average them?
if they do, does english have to be included in the 6 marks?
without english, i could probably get around a 90 average.

thanks

[Tony]

English is one of the required courses, it has to be included in the application.

While the published requirements talk about last year's entrance averages, individual marks are considered. English appears to be more so than others. That is, some students with an otherwise admissible average (English included) were turned down because of a low English mark.

You should put more effort into your English mark. You are better off having a solid average across all your subject, than a few high + few low marks.

[jackcnd]

Tony @ Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:52 pm wrote:

English is one of the required courses, it has to be included in the application.

While the published requirements talk about last year's entrance averages, individual marks are considered. English appears to be more so than others. That is, some students with an otherwise admissible average (English included) were turned down because of a low English mark.

You should put more effort into your English mark. You are better off having a solid average across all your subject, than a few high + few low marks.

what if i have a low english mark (60s) and still manage to get in the mid- 80s average?

[Tony]

Tony @ Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:52 pm wrote:

That is, some students with an otherwise admissible average (English included) were turned down because of a low English mark.

[BigBear]

Your grade 11 marks are not included in your top 6 4U or 4M courses.

Grade 11 marks will appear on your application and will be considered for early admission.

[jbking]

My grade 9 English grade was 68, but my average going to Waterloo was in the 90s. Part of the reason was that my grade 10 English teacher managed to give me the algorithms for writing essays which took my grades up, way way up. Breaking down the parts of an essay so that I knew the point of each piece and how to combine everything did wonders. Are you struggling with a similar part or something else completely different?

[Superskull85]

I don't want to discourage you from applying to a school you want to attend. However, if are not able to get a sufficient mark in English for Waterloo, there are other schools that will accept you even if you don't have the highest English mark.

You probably know this, but you shouldn't aim for going to just one school, and one school only. You should always have a "backup" school to apply to just in case. When I was in grade 12 (I came back another year) I picked 4 universities that I wanted to attend (some more than others) and made sure I was taking all the courses necessary for my applications to these schools, and than in my last year I tried my best to meet the the minimum requirements, and beyond, for each school.

Because I had looked into different schools I was able to pick a university that best fits me, and not the school that was considered to have the best program for Computer Science. I ended up attending McMaster University and have loved the university so far.

Again I would encourage to follow your dreams, but always have a backup just in case you cannot attend any one university, even though you tried your very hardest.

[Prabhakar Ragde]

I have students in my class at Waterloo right now who acknowledge to me that their weakness in English is the main source of their difficulty with the subject. There is a reason that Waterloo Math includes English in the top 6 average.

Don't just work on your English mark. Work on your communication skills in general.

[Dark]

Don't worry about grade 11 marks, I had like a 65% average in grade 11 with only 3 marks above 70%, just try in grade 12 for a decent average and you should get in. I got in with low 80s and a 73% in ENG4U, you should be fine.

Also, the average of ENG4U, MHF4U, and MCV4U must be >= 75%, so keep that in mind...