Waterloo acceptance

[canadiancal]

Was wondering what would be considered a competitive GPA to be accepted to Waterloo. The minimium requirement is 3.0 or 75% for application. Would a professional degree or advanced degree (masters,phd) with strong extracurricular involvement be considered comparable to an applicant with a higher GPA?

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[ucbsowarrior]

Was wondering what would be considered a competitive GPA to be accepted to Waterloo. The minimium requirement is 3.0 or 75% for application. Would a professional degree or advanced degree (masters,phd) with strong extracurricular involvement be considered comparable to an applicant with a higher GPA?

3.6+ gpa
360+ oat

 

[jefguth]

I'd say more of atleast a 3.7 GPA and 330 AA OAT

 

[JC1984]

I'd say more of atleast a 3.7 GPA and 330 AA OAT

Yep, Waterloo is all about marks.

 

[gsinccom]

waterloo's website is down. Do U.S. citizens attend Waterloo or is it just a canadian school? What are the pros/cons on going there as a U.S. Citizen...why or why not should I consider it? thanks

 

[jefguth]

Save you application fee. Waterloo gives priority to Canadian residents...and with the number of Canadians studying optometry in the USA, there is very little cance a US student would get in regardless of their stats.

 

[powerpuff]

i was just wondering if anyone knows anyone who actually got accepted into waterloo with a 3.0? basically, i am debating whether or not to apply to waterloo or not (and just save myself the rejection and application fee!)

 

[powerpuff]

oops forgot to mention..i'm canadian

 

[JC1984]

i was just wondering if anyone knows anyone who actually got accepted into waterloo with a 3.0? basically, i am debating whether or not to apply to waterloo or not (and just save myself the rejection and application fee!)

No one that I know of, and from what I heard, someone with an 85 avg got rejected last year. I'm from Waterloo myself and I got an interview last year only to end up being rejected. I don't have above 85%.

Hey, does anyone know why they don't post Waterloo stats on opted.org? My friend joked that it's because their entering avg and oat scores are like 3.8 and 380 and that would discourage many people from applying. I found that funny too, but I feel like it might be true..........

Ok, I'm bitter about Waterloo.

 

[pre_opt_sku]

i was just wondering if anyone knows anyone who actually got accepted into waterloo with a 3.0? basically, i am debating whether or not to apply to waterloo or not (and just save myself the rejection and application fee!)

I know people who have gotten in with low 80's and also know of people that have gotten rejected with low 90's. Like any other school, there is great consideration given to OAT scores, extra curricular experience, volunteering, exposure to the field, etc... I'm not speaking from first hand experience, but I have had friends go to the waterloo opt program.

 

[jefguth]

I don't think anyone with a 3.0 would have been accepted in recent years. My average was 84% (3.7-3.8) with AA 340 and TS 360 and I was rejected. However, some people i know that had the same OAT scores and slightly lower GPA's made it in. Extra curricular experience plays a part too, but I venture to guess its not that big a criteria given some of those people I know at UW had next to no experience in optometry, and very little volunteer experience since high school.

 

[ML1983]

Hey Jeff, it's me, Matt. (Jamie's friend).

Anyways, I agree with Jeff. I doubt anyone with a 3.0 would get in. Like JC1984 hinted at, they probaly put 3.0 to get extra cash flow. Instead of putting the cut-off to 3.5 and OAT 350, they make it lower so more people apply. I also heard the interviews are useless, because they do not base much on it. My advice, if you have a 3.0, stay away from Waterloo and don't give them your $75. ($63 for you Americans)

 

[Looman]

I'm in first year of opt at waterloo right now, and I did 3 years of undergrad here as well. My OAT scores were similar to jefguth but my average was in the high 80's. I had no optometry experience, or major volunteer work, so its all about marks.

 

[powerpuff]

jefguth: you stated you had a 84% average (3.7-3.8)? I thought that it was a straight 4.0 to percentage conversion..ie. 3.0/4.0 = 75%? Maybe I was wrong...?

 

[jefguth]

No, its not a straight conversion. You have to convert every grade on your transcript to the 4.0 scale and weigh each according to the credit value for each course. Basically, if you have an average of 80% with say 5 grades of 85, and 5 grades of 75, then your GPA will =(4.0*5 + 3.5*5)/10

The GPA scale is also not simply the fraction that equally 75, 80, 83 or whatever percent. Its weighed so that A's are worth more, and low crappy grades are worth very little.

I don't really remember the scale but its somthing like this:
A = 85-100% = 4.0
A- = 80-84% = 3.7
B+= 77-79% = 3.5
B = 73-79% = 3.3
B-= 70-72% = 3.0
etc...

You can find the correct scale on the OMSAS website

 

[JC1984]

No, its not a straight conversion. You have to convert every grade on your transcript to the 4.0 scale and weigh each according to the credit value for each course. Basically, if you have an average of 80% with say 5 grades of 85, and 5 grades of 75, then your GPA will =(4.0*5 + 3.5*5)/10

The GPA scale is also not simply the fraction that equally 75, 80, 83 or whatever percent. Its weighed so that A's are worth more, and low crappy grades are worth very little.

I don't really remember the scale but its somthing like this:
A = 85-100% = 4.0
A- = 80-84% = 3.7
B+= 77-79% = 3.5
B = 73-79% = 3.3
B-= 70-72% = 3.0
etc...

You can find the correct scale on the OMSAS website

Depends though, some schools like ICO is

80+ = 4.0
70-79 = 3.0
60-69 = 2.0
50-59 = 1.0

good for people that have 80s, bad for those who have those dreaded 79s!!

 

[l2en]

Depends though, some schools like ICO is

80+ = 4.0
70-79 = 3.0
60-69 = 2.0
50-59 = 1.0

good for people that have 80s, bad for those who have those dreaded 79s!!

are you guys serious?? i go to the U of A and in most if not all my classes, you need at LEAST a 90% to get an A. And some classes like psychology have a cut off grade of 87%+ just to get an A MINUS.

 

[JC1984]

are you guys serious?? i go to the U of A and in most if not all my classes, you need at LEAST a 90% to get an A. And some classes like psychology have a cut off grade of 87%+ just to get an A MINUS.

Well, I'm just talking about how they calculate marks of their applicants. I think it's a different scale for their students.