<p>I'm planning to apply to an engineering program: either University of Waterloo, McMaster, or University of Toronto. It shouldn't be that big of a difference in the States.</p>
<p>Anyways, I can't write particularly well, although my marks in my math and science courses will pull me up. Last year (junior), I got 84 in physics, 90 in chemistry, 93 in biology, 91 in math, and 72 in English (a bit unrelated: 85 in world religions, which is mandatory at my Catholic HS, 90 in law, and 92 in computer science). These were all taken at the university level (I'm not too sure what the US equivalent is). The admission requirement is around the low 80s, but the high 80s would be a safe zone for me. The problem is that my English teacher next semester is the hardest one in my school. I had her in my freshman year and I got a 64 final.</p>
<p>How do you think the universities will look at my English mark? What if my English mark ended up being in the mid 60s?</p>
<p>I'm unsure what the university criteria is like in Canada, but if it ends up in the mid 60s...do the websites say anything about the average or minimum needed for acceptance? I'm going to assume you're a Canadian so you don't have to take the TOEFL. Lucky.</p>
<p>There's a big difference between freshmen and senior English, too. Hopefully you've improved and she's become a little realistic about standards for English.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that most of those institutions would recalculate your GPA based on relevant classes....meaning math/science</p>
<p>Even most of the american engi schools that I have toured have had reps say that English grades won't get you rejected "per se" as long as they aren't super morbid. Try to up your english grades - but not at the expense of your science/math grades.</p>
<p>If that's true (they recalculate GPA based on relevant classes) I'm bloody screwed since my chem grade is horrible. <em>shrug</em> Oh, well. I got 5 for IB Chem so I'm happy-ish with that.</p>
<p>Yeah, some American universities are okay with B's and such in English, especially if you get high marks in classes like writing intensive classes like history or something like that. Is the religion class heavy on writing?</p>
<p>Perhaps you could ask your counselor about Canadian universities and how they look at English marks?</p>
<p>I hope what you say is true. This has really calmed my nervousness.</p>
<p>I won't boost my English mark at the expense of my 3 maths and 3 sciences. I've never studied much for maths and sciences (didn't study for math exam, and only studied for 5 minutes about names for chem exam which wasn't even asked about).</p>