UWaterloo CS offer - My story

[Myopical]

I know the deadline of admission passed for more than a month ago, and people are already planning and preparing for their studying in the universities.

I wanted to write this because I want to share my story of getting the offer, as well as to encourage individuals who might be interested in CS and planning to go to Waterloo in the future.
First of all, I was a student who was (still is) very interested in computers, even in early stages of my life. In high school, I took all the computer science courses from grade 10 to 12, as well as other technology courses such as communication technology and computer technology. All the courses were fun and I really enjoyed them. The time for selecting university drawn near, and I've already heard so much about how Waterloo is really the top-notch university for computer science.

Life is not always smooth. I went on EInfo and searched for Waterloo programs. At first I thought I wanted to go into Software Engineering. I looked over the requirements and they required Chemistry 12. I never took chemistry in high school, not even in grade 11. I started panicking to the point that I actually forgot to check the computer science program for Waterloo, and I thought that it would require the same thing. Chemistry 12. I ended up applying for the Business and Computer Science double degree + the Accounting and Computer Science program, as well as computer science programs in other universities, one in McMaster.

As time went on, May was passing quickly, and I received no offers from Waterloo. I was sure that I will never get any offers from Waterloo at all. Reasons? During the second semester, I actually dropped Accounting 12 because I really had no interest in the course and it was dragging my other courses' marks down. It was the only course I dropped in my entire high school life too. Another reason is that, my English 12 mark turned out to be.... 71 final. My Waterloo dream was surely crushed.

I started planning to go to McMaster, and my family even wanted to move there with me. Just 5 days before June 2nd, 2011 (the deadline of admission), I went on OUAC to check, and to my surprise, I received an alternate offer from Waterloo, Honours Computer Science Co-op. It was very very lucky for me to get this opportunity, and I definitely will not let it get wasted. (And yes I did get the offer with a grade 12 English mark of 71, no retakes, no nothing)

[z_cross_fire]

I got in Honours Computer Science Co-op with a 69 in English. I win.

[mirhagk]

What's the minimum english mark to get accepted?

[unoho]

they say 75 or above for engineering... but i guess there's always 1 or 2 exception.

[mirhagk]

oh crap.... My english mark is terrible. I guess I need to retake it then....

[unoho]

i took my english class in summer school cuz i was sure if i took it in regular day school, i would barely get a 65. i think that's one of the best decisions i ever made!

[mirhagk]

Maybe I'll do that. My school is work at your own pace, and I hate some aspects of the class so much (poetry) that it took me a full year to complete the class. And I still only got a sixty something.

[Velocity]

English is easy. My english mark is a 93 atm. I would be glad to tutor you for free (only if you're interested)

[Velocity]

Response to my last post, you might think it is low but in my school English and French are very serious. The tests are extremely difficult and the teachers are ... pardon my french (bitches). I am also taking university AP english.

[Velocity]

Response to my last post, you might think it is low but in my school English and French are very serious. The tests are extremely difficult and the teachers are ... pardon my french (bitches). I am also taking university AP english.

[manwinder]

sucks for me, i got a 65 in english in summer school, in a online course, i have applied to waterloo

[bscit]

I am so happy to read this really boosts my morale.
And I am fucking happy that my english teacher was one of those easy teachers. I got a freaking
+6% BONUS FTW. I ended up with a 89 in english.

[mirhagk]

It should be irrelevant your mark in english because your mark matters more on your circumstances than on your skill, there's a yearly conference thing that HWDSB has I believe (my teacher was talking about it last year) where they attempt to see how standardized marking is by having teachers mark the exact same work. Math and physics had a standard deviation that was the lowest, with like 2-3%, while the opposite end of the scale with a standard deviation of something like 20%. In some cases a teacher would mark >95% while another marked the same work as a fail.

Not only that but english in high school is almost completely irrelevant to what it should be, which is writing skills. They don't teach you about proper essays (non-hamburger), and they spend on the analysis time on looking at figures of speech rather than looking at effective lines, and ineffective lines. They need to drop essay analysis in grade 11/12, and instead analyze the essays to find ways to improve the essay, giving students actual skills they can use.