Written By Stephanie Pugh

When Waterloo University makes its decisions for admitting students, they don’t just look at grades! If you are applying to Waterloo, then it is likely that you will have to fill out the Admission Information Form (AIF). To learn more about what to expect with the Waterloo AIF, keep reading!

What is the Waterloo AIF?

It’s a short-answer online form that helps the University of Waterloo admissions committee learn more about you. Other universities may request personal statements or essays, but Waterloo utilizes the AIF instead!

All programmes in the Faculties of Engineering and Mathematics, as well as Architecture, Computing and Financial Management, Conditional Admission to Pharmacy, Optometry, and Pharmacy, need the AIF as part of their admission procedure. For all other programmes, it is not mandatory, but it comes highly recommended.

What Do I Write About in the AIF?

The AIF is basically an opportunity for you to tell Waterloo more about yourself, your extracurricular activities, and your accomplishments!

Essentially, Waterloo wants to know why you would be a great fit for the program you are applying to. So, in your application, you should make connections to the activities and practices you have completed in your life, to the expectations of the program you are applying to.

For example, if you are applying to a Science program, then talking about that Science Fair competition you won would be a great idea!

Some sample questions that you could expect to answer on the Waterloo AIF include:

• If you took courses or lessons outside of your regular day school, what did you take and why?
• What extracurricular activities have you participated in? What did you learn from them?
• Talk about your volunteer experiences, and what you’ve learned through them!
• If you’re applying to any math, engineering, science, and computer science programs, have you completed any of Waterloo’s math and science contests?

Prepared students are always the most successful during application time! We recommend that you pre-prepare your answers for the AIF so that you can check for spelling, punctuation, and grammar before submitting!

Write down some of the accomplishments you have completed that relate to your program of interest, and start a list of the most memorable experiences you have made from your volunteering experiences. If you have ideas ready in advance, then writing your answers on the AIF will be a much easier process!

How do you submit the AIF?

1. Create an account in Quest, Waterloo’s online student information system.
2. Once you have created a Quest account, you can log in and you will be directed to the AIF. Remember to complete the questions before the AIF deadline! Note: the AIF is not accessible on mobile devices. Also, make sure to click <submit> on each page when completing your form in Quest in order for your answers to save! Confused? Here are some helpful links!:
   1. Watch Waterloo’s videos about how to complete your AIF!
   2. Follow these Step-by-step screen shots on Waterloo’s Quest website to walk you through the process.

Deadlines to Submit your AIF

Here is a chart of the AIF deadlines for the upcoming 2022 school year!

It is recommended that you submit your AIF as early as you can.

Need Support with Writing your Waterloo AIF?

If you want some support through the AIF process for Waterloo, then you’ve come to the right place! Take our FREE quiz to see if you qualify for GrantMe in just a few minutes.