Despite being one of the most sought-after engineering programs in North America, Waterloo’s Software Engineering program peaks at number two on our list. One top admissions support specialist admits he’d be “intimidated” by the fact that if he had up to a 95% average he’d still only have a 10% chance of getting in



UBC commerce program receives about 4,500 applications each year but only takes on about six percent of applicants, while U of T’s Engineering Science program had a cutoff rate of 91% this past year



The toughest undergrad program to get into receives approximately 3,500 applications each year—but only accepts about 160 students



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Canadian universities attract hundreds of thousands of applications each year, but acceptance rates into a few “elite” programs can be a bit trickier to get into.

“McGill typically has really high entrance averages, I think it’s the highest on average in Canada,” Alex Dorward, co-CEO of *University Hub, Canada’s leading provider of university admissions support, tells Yahoo Canada News. “I believe 89.7% is the (approximate) entrance average across all of their courses. Engineering specifically, and within that mechanical engineering, has a top six admissions average minimum for the program of 95%.”

Dorward and University Hub co-CEO Joel Nicholson further help break down the top five most difficult undergrad programs to be accepted in Canada—purely from a perspective of acceptance rates and entrance averages:

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5. Mechanical Engineering, McGill University: McGill’s mechanical engineering program has a top six admissions average minimum for the program of 95% (“a pretty high average just to get in,” noted Dorward) —but it’s based on the top six grade 12 level grades using McGill’s calculations. Applicants have to have taken a minimum of six pre-university courses, but four of these courses (and all pre-requisites) have to be taken at the 4U—fourth-year University-preparation courses—level. Typically students have eight grade 12 level classes, and many universities calculate the average based on their best six grades and drop the two worst ones.

“Basically, if your program requires calculus, even if calculus is your worst mark—it will still include that calculus grade as part of your top six,” said Dorward. “So that 95% is even a greater accomplishment than the typical top six 95%.”



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