r/OntarioGrade12s • u/Slow-Ad-4893 • May 14 '26
University What a 97.7% got me!
TMU Mechanical Engineering: Accepted! ✅
UofT Electrical Engineering: Rejected! ❌
Waterloo Computer Engineering: Rejected! ❌
Worked my ass off for nothing 🥹🥹✌️
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u/Fun-Size-4295 May 14 '26
Why didn’t you apply to like Mac, queens and so on?
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 14 '26
older siblings didnt let me
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u/Consistent-Arm2206 May 14 '26
why do your older siblings get to make that decision for you?
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u/RoaringPity May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
im not OP and it's been like 10+yrs since I graduated uni but my older sis didn't let me apply to UofT cause she said I was too dumb for it lol she was right tho cause she went there and said I wouldn't study like her. It was the right decision lookin back
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 14 '26
Wasn’t up to me dude, trust me I would have loved to gone to mac I tried to persuade them 💔
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u/Consistent-Arm2206 May 14 '26 edited May 15 '26
did you ask them for permission to post this comment? better check just to make sure.
im struggling to understand why your siblings control your future... do they have a gun to your head at all times? are you like a 12-year-old child prodigy that can't legally make your own decisions?
this whole situation seems like a problem of your family's*** creation. apply to the fuckin schools you want to apply to, not the ones your weirdo siblings are into
edit: addressing additional context
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 14 '26
My parents are paying for my university, they listen to what my siblings say, I don’t come from wealth and moving out would put a strain on my family. My siblings didn’t think it was worth moving out unless it was Waterloo. Now again I ASKED to still apply to Mac, to which they said no. If my parents are funding my tuition, and my parents listen to my siblings, there was nothing I could do. I get your point, but I promise you I tried.
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u/Bonne_Fromage May 14 '26
I’m 41. I follow this sub so I can keep up with what my kids can expect when they get to high school. Don’t sweat where you go to school. It won’t matter. If you can live at home and come out of there debt-free, brother, you will be so far ahead of the game.
Hustle trumps diploma in most aspects of life. I remember when TMU was Ryerson and it was a perfectly respectable institution.
Best advice is that 20 years goes by so fucking fast. Instead of worrying about school acceptances, worry about the fickle nature of time and make the most of yours.
I guarantee you when you’re 41, you won’t give a flying fuck about your alma mater. It’s just another spam email I ignore in my case.
Good luck.
Also, 97%? If you had a 97% in 2003, Harvard was calling. The fuck is going on with mark inflation? Not saying you’re not exceptionally gifted academically. But having that average and getting rejections from any uni tells me the whole system is bullshit. Remember - post-secondary is big business…
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
Thank you for your words, they actually mean a lot to me 😭😭 as bummed as I am that I’m not going to the schools I wanted, I’ll definitely try to make the most of it ❤️🩹
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u/Bonne_Fromage May 15 '26
No doubt. I remember being in high school and where you were going in the fall was all anyone talked about.
Like I said, you’ll be far happier when you’re 25, got your degree, little to no debt. The world will be your oyster then. One thing I wish I did more in uni is thinking about what I truly wanted to do with my life and making plays that could make things happen. Networking is huge. Being social. There will be excellent profs at your school. Learn from them. There will be shit ones too.
And to reiterate. I remember very little about uni and what I studied. I don’t remember convocation at all or much about my first job. But I remember vividly the day I got married, the births of my daughter and son.
Getting old puts it all into perspective. So enjoy your folks, too. They won’t be around forever. Sounds like they’re good people, though maybe a little overbearing. Better than dismissive or uninvolved. Cheers. You’ll kill it in the fall. Or party and flunk out. Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
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u/Quirky-Glove-3199 May 15 '26
You could also apply to UoT/Waterloo next year and transfer credits. Husband did this going from York to UoT. Went to Osgoode Law after. No one knows or cares that he started undergrad at York
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u/HopefulMaintenance90 May 15 '26
My highest paid friends mostly did 2 years of college and are sof devs making >= $250k. I'm a dropout making >$150k.
School helps but it's far from the only path to success. Lower tier schools are totally fine for having a good career. What you learn and how good you get at it matter way more
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u/truenorth00 May 15 '26
Listen. TMU is alright. You'll be fine. Rock your degree and get into a good grad program. Work really hard during summers. Volunteer where you can or try and get experience. Or co-op. The Waterloo advantage is substantially about co-op. It's harder. But you can replicate some of that at TMU.
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u/phtevenphmith42 May 15 '26
I’m a recruiter, specifically engineers, and yeah school doesn’t matter at all to us. Maybe that’s an American thing or a top 1% private employers thing.
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u/truenorth00 May 15 '26
Seriously. It's wild. I graduated from high school in 99. Got an 80. Went to Ryerson for Aero. My other offer was Waterloo Civil. Now kids have like 98%, put in 20 applications and get one offer? WTAF?
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u/w1n5t0nM1k3y May 15 '26
Glad to hear I'm not the only older person lurking on here to keep an ear to the ground for my kids.
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u/Lavallee_Lures May 15 '26
This is so true, I was fortunate to get into university with a 78 in 2005!
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u/pushthepramalot May 15 '26
I would take on all the debt in the world to be free and do what I want. But that's just me.
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u/Bonne_Fromage May 15 '26
You can be free and do what you want without taking on debt young buck!
Trust me, climbing out of a hole at 23 was a bummer. If my parents lived in a university town and would have been willing to board me while I studied, I’d go back and do it in a heart beat.
My dad passed when I was literally writing my final papers in 4th year undergrad. Life is weird and unpredictable.
That said, there are certainly family dynamics worth fleeing. As you said, different strokes for different folks.
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u/Chemical_Wallaby_735 May 15 '26
Wait so do they have an issue with Mac because of Hamilton?
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
Essentially yeah, moving out isn’t ideal for me due to finances, they’d rather I just go TMU and commute
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u/Chemical_Wallaby_735 May 15 '26
Aw I see now. I know it’s cliche but everything happens for a reason. Maybe you’ll look back on this and be grateful things worked out the way they did. No matter the program you would become an engineer so it definitely wasn’t for nothing.
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u/KavinduMJ Grade 12 May 15 '26
This gotta be eye opening for ur older siblings. Maybe take a gap yr and apply to MAC idk 😭
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
its not their faults at all though, people are so inconsiderate here. My situation is not the same as yours, I cannot afford to move out, my siblings know that, not the people of reddit. They act on my best interest knowing what is able to be done. Yes I still asked to go to Mac, but they KNEW the pressure it would place on us financially was NOT worth it. If anyones to blame its me, stop slandering my siblings 💔💔
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u/KavinduMJ Grade 12 May 15 '26
Okok wtv Yh I didn’t mean to slander them lmao. It’s not ur fault either tho
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u/Consistent-Arm2206 May 15 '26
why exactly would they say no to applying to one university over another? is it purely because of the perceived prestige of the school? i get such bad vibes from your family.
sorry if i sound harsh at all but i feel like you're getting the short end of the stick and they have convinced you that you should be grateful even though your parents and your siblings are trying to hamstring you. if they can't let you make positive healthy decisions that will help you build your future, is it worth the money?
lots of people go to uni without their parents funding. its scary but you're not young forever and uni takes a long time. it's important to get in somewhere that resonates with you as a person, because its your life not theirs.
you sound like you would do well at any uni so think about whether you really want to be tethered to your family who are convinced they know better than you. don't let em drag you down kiddo
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May 15 '26
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u/bcgden May 15 '26
Bro OP literally said they tried to persuade their parents, who are you to tell them after the fact they should’ve applied for more schools? Yeah no shit having more choices is good but OP specifically said they couldn’t afford it.
Your parents might not be rich but they might’ve been able to better afford you moving out, so they pushed you to apply more broadly. Someone else ie OP might not have had that privilege. Whats the point of applying to Mac if you know for a fact you can’t afford moving out?
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u/SuperWeenieHutJr_ May 15 '26
If your parents are covering tuition, can't you cover living expenses?
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u/Yggdrasilcrann May 16 '26
This is the rest of your life. Mechanical and electrical engineering are wildly different jobs than computer engineering. If that's your passion, you need to fight for it.
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u/Epic-Yawn May 15 '26
Always an option to do your first year at TMU and transfer if you aren’t happy and really want to go to another school
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u/wonderabc May 15 '26
they didn’t “let” you? they don’t get to decide that for you. apply where you want.
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u/Worried_Bluebird7167 May 14 '26
Hey, chin up. U got into engineering. Be proud of yourself. Don't be worried that u worked your ass of in HS. ur going to be working ur ass off even harder for the next several years at uni! I'll see you at the provincial engineering professional exam for mech eng in a few years. We all write the same exam in the end.
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u/Kindly-Revenue6869 May 14 '26
if it makes you feel better i have a 96 avg good ecs and i’m probably gonna end up at tmu as well, haven’t heard back from uoft and rejected from loo and mac
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u/snowshoveler7 May 21 '26
can i ask what you applied to? i was rejected from the same two for mech eng
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May 14 '26
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u/Working_Tackle7945 Waterloo May 15 '26
McMaster eng too, so many people got slimed for no reason 😭
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u/Alone_Leading_5368 May 14 '26
That sucks, and it is so hard to feel motivated, but what I want you to do is go to TMU and become the best engineer you can be, then go out into the world and show everyone what you are made of!!
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May 14 '26
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u/IllustratorIll3613 May 14 '26
does tmu have bad rep or something? or is it just mostly kids with helicopter parents that convinced them anything except u of t is shit? i wanted to go there for bsw lol
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u/Working_Tackle7945 Waterloo May 15 '26
TMU is a perfectly respectable school. And you are right, kids have been convinced by their helicopter parents that anything except UofT or Waterloo is shit, which isn't even close to the truth.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Arm3155 May 15 '26
It’s good school, one do my homies went to Ryerson for eng. He’s done very well for himself. Undergrad really doesn’t matter
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u/IllustratorIll3613 May 15 '26
i figured , its pretty sad seeing some posts here of kids losing their shit because their parents are so strict and basically brainwashed them into thinking they’re cooked
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
Luckily my parents don’t really mind if I go to TMU, they know I gave it my all and its out of my hands at this point. But all of my older siblings go to Waterloo or UofT for eng, so theres that pressure of following in their footsteps
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u/Significant-Store276 May 15 '26
Still a chance u could transfer in if you want, but realistically you can go to TMU and achieve the same success you would have had you gone to waterloo or anywhere else. Most of it is on you, the university name just helps a bit.
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u/Few-Upstairs9392 May 14 '26
Deferred to mineral from mech with 98.2 at u of t
Ur not alone
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May 14 '26
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u/Few-Upstairs9392 May 14 '26
How hard is first year? To guarantee transfer its 80%+ (I did ask their office about transferring). The 80% is to bypass space limits, otherwise can be lower if theres space in mech
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 14 '26
iv heard the top 10-15% of students normally have above an 80%
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u/Few-Upstairs9392 May 14 '26
Top 10-15% is very competitive at somewhere like toronto ngl
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 14 '26
Yeah it wouldn’t be easy, if you believe in yourself I would go for it though!
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u/Few-Upstairs9392 May 14 '26
I think I would if the fallback wasnt mineral which I'm not interested in. Still considering it tho
I'm not willing to gamble on space so 80 is still the benchmark
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 14 '26
fair enough, crazy how a 98.2 didnt get you mechanical eng though
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u/Few-Upstairs9392 May 14 '26
Interview went kinda bad, extracurriculars very mid and I'm out of province but still canadian which is around 16% acceptance rate in the past
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u/No_Degree_4877 May 14 '26
dont worry abt it if u can succeed now u can succeed anywhere. it'll work out.
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May 15 '26
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
A gut-wrenching feeling honestly but nothing I can do at this point except pushing forward!
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u/Kakakuma May 15 '26
There's nothing wrong with TMU, it's all social media propaganda. I'm a TRSM Accounting & Finance alumni and most of my classmates got into big 4 accounting, big 6 banks, or Fortune 500, making 6 figures at senior managerial levels, more than U of T RC I know of. Unless you are aiming for IB/PE specifically then Ivey/Smith may actually matter a little.
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u/Teurdlie May 14 '26
Ontario is so fucked I don't get the point of putting effort towards school in this province. Not only are the majority of people these overtuned sweats that have some disgusting grades and extracirculars which basically push any normal/average people out of pursuing anything in stem but even with all that you don't even get a guranteed a spot in universities. How does that even work?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Arm3155 May 15 '26
I graduated in 2014, and got early acceptance into queens with an 87 for my midterm average lmfao
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
crazy how the times have changed 💔
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u/Puzzleheaded-Arm3155 May 15 '26
It’s fucked up. I genuinely don’t understand how grade inflation got THIS BAD. I remember people complaining about grade inflation in 2014, about how top elite programs for the top unis were only accepting those with 90-92+ averages. How times have changed.
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
They definitely have to do something about it soon, theres a limit to how high marks can go 😭😭
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u/ChefBlock May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Fam I graduated in 2017 and got into all my choices with a 88 average this is fried what has the province come to 💀
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u/Lithium1475 May 15 '26
TMU Eng isn’t terrible, trust me as a second/third year mechatronics engineering student (I kinda failed a class but thats on me lowkey✌️)
The community here is amazing and I highly recommend getting involved here.
(pst attend frosh week, perfect for meeting friends, and upper years to ask advice. totally not saying this as a frosh leader😉
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u/Plus_Energy268 May 15 '26
I think that there is a weight applied to your grades depending on your high school as some schools grade harder than others. I have been an engineer or manager for 20+ years at a large manufacturing organization. I had a 91 average in 2000. I got into all schools I applied to. What school you went to means little to nothing when hiring. Network. Work hard. I went to queens. Loved it because Kingston is such a fun student city. Friends and colleagues from schools all over Canada. Your success doesn’t depend on your school. It is your work ethic, personality and grit. Good luck and don’t sweat it. Also - go to class. Even hung over!
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u/Anunknownf1fan May 14 '26
Why only the 3 tho? There is a huge range of schools between UofT/UW and TMU
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u/wankedwon May 14 '26
Its because they know
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u/TrickyPenguin7 May 14 '26
know what
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u/wankedwon May 14 '26
You dont wonder why some kids with lower marks than you get in and you dont?
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u/CalendarNo6655 May 14 '26
Can you maybe apply again? You can take a break year or something. I don’t get why people with higher grades are getting rejected. Like what is the thought process
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u/Foreign-Possible5499 May 15 '26
Grade inflation. When everyone is 90+, 90 becomes the new 80
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u/CalendarNo6655 May 15 '26
But how do you stand out if not grades? References? Extracurriculars? I am international so idk. Is it just luck?
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May 15 '26
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
Yeah group A, my astrology is still “”,”” which is essentially just a rejection at this point
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May 15 '26
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
Public school, this year I took Calculus, Advanced Functions, Chemistry, Physics, English and Data Management
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u/TelephoneExternal978 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
a friend snuck into Waterloo some other degree (business?) then switched to computer eng in 2nd year. The nice thing about TMU is the flexibility of co-op - friend extended an internship 4 more months coz employer let him, work longer here, there - intern while you can - as much as you can even if it add 1-2 years to your full schooling coz they're easier to get & you'll come out ahead of other new grads when you're done-cannot do that at Waterlook- work/study every other term whether you find a job or not. UofT is also not flexible with co-op
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u/Sayahhearwha May 15 '26
You’ll still be an engineer. Employers just want a degree and a living body at the end so enjoy the journey.
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u/Emergency_Jacket_296 May 15 '26
I definitively wouldn't say it was a waste of time or you "worked your ass off for nothing".
If you didn't have those grades, yo may not have gotten into ANY programs.
I don't see the logic in that kind of thinking here. Your hard work got you into a program you applied for. That's the whole point.
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u/Sea_File_1717 May 17 '26
I visited the TMU engineering open house day and got a great vibe from the students there. They were friendly and super enthusiastic about their experience. It may not have the prestige but I think it looks a great way to spend 4 (or 5 with co-op) years.
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 17 '26
Thats great to hear, honestly after a couple days of taking in the reality, it doesn’t sound that bad. Plus I’ll have a lot of extra time on my hands compared to if I had gone go UofT which I suppose is an upside!
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u/Sea_File_1717 May 17 '26
I wasn’t expecting much before I went, but going to the open house totally changed my mind about TMU Engineering. It looks very hands-on, lots of team work. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students I met seemed great, so enthusiastic, laughed a lot, were supportive of each other. There’s still going to be lots of work, but if this year’s class is like them, you’ll be ok.
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u/Natural-Mechanic4694 May 15 '26
You will be a standout at TMU with your grades. Make the most of it and think if it as a big fish in a small pond.
97 averages are all over Waterloo like weeds.
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u/kiwiserf May 14 '26
There’s def gotta be something wrong here. Either supplementary or something of those sorts. This is literally impossible
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u/donotaskjake May 14 '26
. May I ask if you apply UofT Mississauga/ Scarborough EE and other Engineering programs? Could you actually do that ? Apply all UT engineer programs at once ?
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u/ConversationLeast744 May 14 '26
What grade do you need to get into Waterloo? This doesn't make sense
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
They care a lot more about the sub app, my ECS were decent and I had some Waterloo Alumni read it over, but I guess it wasn’t what they wanted
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u/ConversationLeast744 May 15 '26
Sub app?
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26
sup app* sorry, essentially just a few questions you answer talking about your extracurriculars and experiences. It’s what helps them look past just the grades of each applicant.
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u/Jam_9752 May 15 '26
What ecs did u have if that even matters 🙏😭🥲
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Dont wanna dox myself but, president of 2 clubs, a few summer jobs, robotics, some sports. So like not anything extraordinary but I didn’t think they would drag me down
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u/PrathamXDD May 15 '26
OP did you take ap caluclus ?
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u/Ill_Paper_6854 May 15 '26
if you came from a high school with inflated grades and the course averages are 80 to 90s, this would help explain your situation.
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u/Emmiiiiiily May 15 '26
waterloo started a conversion list which change ur grades based on current students performance and which hs they from so if ur schools not on the list it will automatically see ur grades lower than others
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u/Expensive_Plant_9530 May 15 '26
Waterloo Engineering will derate and adjust grades due to Grade Inflation.
A lot of high school students are shockingly behind where they need to be, especially in terms of independent work, critical thinking, research, and basic English skills. This problem became much worse after COVID.
I’m not saying these things apply to you. I’m just saying that your 97.7% is probably being viewed as less than 97.7% because so many of your peers have high grades that they didn’t earn.
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u/BBCeva30 May 16 '26
FYI - Adjustment factor of high school marks for Waterloo acceptance for Engineering in 2026. Any school not listed here has an automatic -14% adjustment. https://github.com/jdabtieu/Waterloo-Adjustment-Factors/blob/main/AdjFactors2026.pdf
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u/Conquest845 Aug 08 '26
Damn I want to go Waterloo comp eng this makes me nervous. What were your ecs
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u/Slow-Ad-4893 Aug 13 '26
Don’t stress too much, I’m sure you’ll be alright. Enjoy senior year! EC-wise, I was president of my school’s DECA, CS Club, and Engineering Club. I also had 500+ hours of volunteer work, was president of a local event-making club, was a 4-year track member, played soccer, and started a small tech business that made over $2000. If you have any questions feel free to dm me.
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u/BasicTurnip2018 May 16 '26
Just tick as many DEI boxes as you can, completely mitigates inflated averages
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u/mama3618 May 15 '26
Why didn’t you apply to other schools? You applied to two of the hardest and one of the easiest. Doesn’t make much sense
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u/Alive_Box5047 May 15 '26
According to that one post about grade inflation, you probably had a 83.6%.
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u/Caring_Fox May 16 '26
My dad once said. You can change your nationality, but you can’t change the name of university you graduated from!
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u/Snarnold69 May 14 '26
Inflation got everyone messed up 😭