So you want to go to Waterloo

This pretty much applies for any uni, but the title here is catchy, and I get most questions from people asking me how to get into Waterloo cuz I go here. Just a collection of links + advice.

A lot of people ask me for advice, and then I bombard them with a ton of info, and they don’t utilize it well. Don’t do that. These are pretty helpful links. Take time to comb through them and dive down the rabbit hole.

Some of my related notes (these also link to other helpful links as well):

• My guide to high school (and general youth)
• Taking AP Classes

Billy Bishop is the director of admissions for Waterloo and literally writes all of his thoughts (and some stats) on his blog. It’s a massive fumble to not read this: https://theroadtoengineering.com/author/wdbishop94/

I don’t really understand the internals of the scholarship process to be honest. Just sell yourself well, and understand that it is truly a lottery in some senses.

Also, I share my university + scholarship applications pretty liberally, shoot me a message if you want them.

I often get messages like:

I have x% with IB, been part of these extracurriculars, volunteered here, etc. What am I missing in my profile?

This is quite saddening, because it’s unproductive to be doing things you don’t necessarily like in hopes for outsized return in the form of opportunity. In fact, you are working backwards. What are you currently interested in that you aren’t doing? Is there anything that you feel like you could pour your heart and soul into if you had more time. I assure that it is more worthwhile to do those things instead of figuring out what is “missing”. My general recommendation for people interested in tech is to go to a hackathon—you will learn the strategies to make things fast from more experienced individuals and get to apply them to your own projects. It’s also quick testing waters to see what you might be interested in.

Overall, it’s easy to get distracted in this race to university, but I promise that if you stay curious and hardworking, and try to obsess over things that you actually enjoy, you will become a person that everyone wants to learn and work with. You’ll be both happy and providing value to your peers and potentially humanity!