University of Waterloo vs Wilfrid Laurier University: Admission, Deadlines, Fees Compared

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Waterloo and Laurier share a city but not much else. Waterloo, founded in 1957, is known for co-operative education and for Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science programmes that admit competitively; tuition runs CAD 58,000 to 75,000 a year, and most programmes share a February deadline with Engineering closing earlier. Laurier, founded in 1911 and known for business and social science, charges a wider range, from about CAD 36,624 a year for Arts and Human and Social Sciences up to CAD 69,886 for its double degree Business Administration and Computer Science programme run jointly with Waterloo. Both ask for IELTS 6.5, but Waterloo's TOEFL floor is 90 against Laurier's 83, a real gap for an applicant relying on TOEFL. Waterloo's tuition sits above Laurier's for most equivalent subjects, and its computer science and engineering seats are harder to secure given the competitive admission Waterloo names directly. A student choosing between a technical, co-op heavy degree and a business or social science one, in the same city, is choosing between these two. Check each one's own deadline page, since Engineering deadlines move earlier at both.