Hello, I’m an aspiring mechanical engineer applicant from America finishing up my junior year, and I’m attempting to understand if I meet or can meet the prerequisites for the mechanical engineering program. I have taken both normal chemistry and pre-calculus and achieved a B in the first semester and an A in the second semester for both. To my understanding, this doesn’t meet the prerequisite criteria, but for my senior year I plan on taking AP chemistry and AP calculus AB. Depending on the grades that I get in these courses, would I then meet the established prerequisites, or is it that only the grades in the less advanced classes for each discipline are relevant? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I believe that when they say “A- in each math and science” they do mean each grade you receive must be at least A-. Of course, cutoffs can change from year to year, so it is still worth a try, but probably not a likely admit.
My son (international applicant from US) had all As in high school except for a B in one semester of precalculus in junior year. In senior year (the fall grades sent to McGill), he earned A in both AP Calc BC and AP Physics C. His school doesn’t give +/- grades. He was admitted to materials engineering (which according to their web site requires “B- in each math and science”), but rejected from mechanical engineering.
The good news was that he was accepted to both UBC and U Toronto with scholarships. They are more holistic. So if you are interested in studying in Canada you might try those universities too. There are other excellent universities in Canada as well, but those are the only ones where my son applied. (He also applied in the US and will be attending UCB.)
I see, that’s unfortunate, but thank you for the information. If I may ask, what was his profile like to be admitted to UBC? That’s my second choice
Well, he had all A grades except for the one semester B in precalculus. He had 3 AP classes before senior year: Chem, Bio, and US History and he scored 5 on each of the exams. His senior year AP classes were Calc BC, Physics C, US Gov, Econ, Latin, plus a non honors senior English class and orchestra. SAT 1460 (680 E, 780 M) and he submitted it. He was admitted in the first round for both UBC (applied science) and U of T (materials). Hope that helps, good luck! We really liked UBC when we visited.
1 Like
Thank you, my academic profile isn’t quite as strong as his but it’s relatively close, I’ll do what I can from here.
Are you a Canadian citizen (making it financially much more attractive to attend a Canadian university) or are you also looking at possibilities in the US?
Also, if that’s your real name, you may want to change your username for privacy. How Do I Change My Username?
I am a Canadian citizen yes, going to any school not in Canada wouldn’t be feasible otherwise. Idm my name being put out here but I appreciate the concern.
Meant to say “going to any school in Canada wouldn’t be feasible” I’m tired haha