How is the AIF graded?

The grading of the AIF is done holistically, in the sense that it is not graded based on set criteria where if you meet them, you will get a mark for it. The grading is conducted based on certain criteria that the "readers" look for and then give you essentially a rating. The "readers" of the AIF are typically engineering alumni (graduates) from the University of Waterloo who dedicate their time to help out with the grading of the AIF. This is because they are professionals in the field of engineering and they have been through the rigorous engineering program at the University of Waterloo, so their judgement is sound in terms of what would make a good student for the program. The criteria that the readers use to mark the AIF are listed below (we'll go over how to meet this criteria successfully below):

1. Quality/Presentation

   Did you display proper grammar usage and writing style? Is there effort and time put into the writing? What the overall impression and tone of the writing is?

2. Purpose

   Did you display real enthusiasm for the field of engineering? Are your ideas realistic in the professional engineering world?

3. Commitment

   Did you display signs of long-term commitment to the program? Is your writing mature and professional? Do you display good time management skills?

4. Employability

   Do you have experiences (volunteer, work etc.) that prepare you to be succesful in finding co-op placements?

5. Excellence

   Do you have evidence of excellence in your areas of interest? (music, sports, volunteering, business etc.)

After reviewing your AIF for these crtiteria, the readers give you a mark out of 5 as mentioned before. Some of you might be thinking that this type of marking method is unfair, however, they ensure to review your AIF with multiple reading as well as compare it to others in order to stay consistent.

AIF Score Comparison

For reference, I have included a histogram from previous years on AIF scores. As you can see in the graph, there is a Gaussian or "normal" distribution of the scores which shows that the grading is done accurately as this is what you would expect from the large sample size of applicants that apply to the University of Waterloo. Most people score a 3, which signifies an average applicant that does not stand out too much in terms of their AIF. They probably have "standard" extracurriculars and their writing was good but did not stand out amongst others. However, scoring a 3 is not necessarily a bad thing as if your marks are good and your interview went well, you still have a good chance of getting accepted. People that score a 5 or close to 5 usually have some type of significant award or they have acheived a high standing in an academic competition such as the Waterloo math competitions etc.

Types of Questions

Here's a more general summary of the questions asked on the AIF. For the exact wording of the questions, click here. In terms of the the types of questions asked, as mentioned before, they ask about the extracurriculars you have done and how much time you devoted to them. They also ask why you want to pursue engineering as well as what you want to do as an engineer. They also ask how going to the University of Waterloo will help you achieve these goals and the types of things you want to do at the University of Waterloo. You also get an opportunity to explain in drops in grades or why you might have taken a course outside of regular school (Waterloo doesn't like if you take courses in private school or summer/night school so make sure that you have a good reason if you do). Here are some examples of possible questions that you can also find on the University of Waterloo website:

• What extracurricular activities have you participated in? What did you learn?
• If you took courses outside of your regular day school, why?
• Tell us what you've learned through any volunteer experiences.
• Have you completed any of Waterloo's math and science contests?

Strategy

While these are not guranteed methods that if you follow, you will do good on your AIF, we can provide some techniques to ensure the best way to write your AIF.

1. Don't write in the actual AIF form

   By this we mean that don't write out your answers in the actual AIF form as there is limited space that you get for each question. They indicate how many characters or words you have for each question, so its good practice to write out your answers in different document that has grammar and spell checking. This is because it's very important to make sure your grammar and spelling is good. Also, using a different document, you can send it to some of your peers so that they can proofread it as well just to ensure that you don't miss anything. Personally, I used Google Docs to write mine and checked it over using Grammarly and had my older brother read it over as well. However, you shouldn't blindly trust Grammarly as there are times where it gives you suggestions that don't make sense.

2. Be Genuine

   The people who read your AIF have been reading a lot of other AIF's as well so if you write generic statements that they probably hear all the times such as "I want to be an Engineer because I grew up playing with Legos and I love to build...", there is a good chance that you won't be marked well as there is nothing that stands out. However, at the same time, you don't want to over exagerrate as they can probably see right through that. You want to be true to yourself and try to think of how you stand out as a person. Also, don't write too formally as this might get boring, you want to write professionally, but still maintain the interest of the reader. As an example, when asked why I want to be an engineer, I answered the question by saying that more or less, I have always been the "handy man" for my family and our close family friends, whenever they had any type of problems, I would be the first person they call as most of the times due to the way I think and understand how things work, I am able to figure out how to fix it or atleast figure out the problem. This made me want to pursue engineering as at the core engineers are problem solvers that provide solutions and that's what I have been doing almost my whole life already.

3. Be Unique

   In your AIF, try to highlight extracurriculars that are unique and show real interest. Don't just highlight all the things that you did as this doesn't make you stand out. If you have some unique interests, try to really push those as they will make you stand out. For example, alot of people play sports during highschool, so don't push that too much unless you are really involved in it and can show evidence of that. Try to push unique clubs/teams you joined and the things you did for them and always try to connect it back to how it will help you as a Waterloo Engineering student. As an example, I was part of globlal Islamic missionary group in my local mosque in which we used to go out every month and stay overnight in different mosques around Canada. The group had a very big emphasis on letting the youth lead, so, most of the time we would plan our own trips and organize everything in terms of where we are going to stay, what we're going to do, how we're going to prepare meals etc. So, I highlighted that in my AIF and connected it to how it developed my leadership and interpersonal skills.

4. Take your time

   Theres no need to rush when writing your AIF as it doesn't matter when you submit as long as it's before the due date. There is no added benefit of submitting it early, so make sure you take your time when writing it and answer to the best degree you can!

Other

In order to actually complete your AIF, you will need to obviously apply to the University of Waterloo. For Ontario residents, when you apply through OUAC, you should get an email from the University in a few days for your Quest login, this is where you will find the AIF form. Typically, they give you 2 months to complete it as the deadline for applying through OUAC is around end of December or beginning of January and the AIF is due around the end of February. So, you get a good amount of time to complete it. You can also get more time, if you apply through OUAC earlier, however, 2 months is more than enough time to complete it. Below I will provide some additonal resources that you can check out for more information on the AIF. Another "good" resources to checkout is the University of Waterloo subreddit here. I say "good" because you have to remember that there is anonymity on a website like Reddit so some people might not give the best advice or might even give you wrong advice, however, there is still alot of valuable information you can find on it as well ask your own questions that others can answer.

Resources

Here are some resources from which I gathered some of my information from as well as resources that typically have a lot of good information in general about Waterloo admissions.

• University of Waterloo Website

  This one is kind of obvious but still is one of the best resources as it is official and will have the most accurate information about admissions and the AIF. There is alot of information on there but you have to look around sometimes to find what you are looking for.

• Professor Bill Anderson's page about AIF

  This is a page about the AIF form and is where I got a lot of my information about the AIF from. It is also where I got the graph on the AIF scores from. Again, alot of useful information about the AIF on here.

• The Road to Engineering

  This is a blog by the Professor Bill Bishop who is in charge of engineering admissions at the University of Waterloo. He has regular blog posts in which he talks about various things that are important for people trying to gain admission into the University of Waterloo. He also posts graphs about chances of acceptance in relation to admission averages. He also has a comment section under each one of his posts in which he answers all of the questions personally. This was an extremely useful resource for me when I was applying to the University of Waterloo as there is so much good information on here that is 100% accurate as its coming straight from the head of admissions.