Wilfred Laurier BBA Program Admission Requirements

Are you interested in applying to the Business Administration (BBA) program at Wilfred Laurier University? Are you wondering what marks are required? What about extra curricular activities? Need advice on how to get through the supplementaries? Well who better to ask than a student who recently graduated high school and actually got into the program! Below is a questionnaire I put one of my students through. I’ll let Chase take it away :)

Chase

What were your marks in all of your grade 12 courses? Grade 11 too if possible.

Grade 11:
Intro to Financial Accounting (BAF3M) – 94
Physical Geography: Patterns Process Intro (CGF3M) – 76
Understanding Canadian Law (CLU3M) – 95
English (ENG3U) – 94
Functions (MCR3U) – 82
Healthy Active Living Education (PPL3O) – 94
Chemistry (SCH3U) – 78
Custom Woodworking (TWJ3E) – 94

Grade 12:
Principles of Financial Accounting (BAT4M) – 93
Intro to International Business (BBB4M) – 96
Canadian and International Law (CLN4U) – 93
English (ENG4U) – 86
Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U) – 86
Advanced Functions (MHF4U) - 90

When did you receive your acceptance?

February 25

What subject(s) are you best at? Weakest at? Was it always like this? What are your favourite subjects?

Throughout high school, my favourite subjects, also among my strongest were international business and accounting. I enjoyed these courses because the material interested me along with the knowledge that I wished to pursue a career in accounting. My least favourite subjects throughout high school and also my weakest were geography and chemistry. I did not take an interest in these classes making it more difficult to set time aside to study/practice. I have always enjoyed math courses and have found decent successes (other than grade 11, study habits began lacking).

Did you have a tutor(s)? If so, for what courses?

During grade 12, I used allthingsmathematics during the second semester. The videos were very helpful in understanding calculus and its concepts. Apart from allthingsmathematics, my mother is a math major/teacher from university (28 years ago), which was extremely helpful for all years of high school math.

Did you work during your grade 12 year? If so, how many hours per week? How did it affect your studying?

During grade 12, I had the opportunity to work for my brother on certain nights when my school load was light. On average, I worked only 5 hours a week which gave me a little bit of income over the winter, while focusing on school. This did not affect my studying due to the flexibly I had with my schedule and the limited hours.

What were your study habits like? Were they the same everyday?

My study habits throughout high school were always quite good, as I am a student that must practice/study to become good at the course material. I always completed textbook review or any other questions that teachers would recommend as these are often the questions that make the test/exam. Although my study habits changed throughout high school and were good (most of the time), I found the best strategy for myself in grade 12. The most useful strategy for me was to stay up-to-date on the homework, ensuring that I would not fall far behind. As the test would approach (4 days away) I would redo all homework question while asking any questions I was unsure about.After this (2 days from test) I would begin studying the textbook review and again asking any questions I was unsure of. This strategy allowed me to slowly re-learn any of the material that had slipped my memory, while ensuring that I would not need to cram the night before the test. Often times I was well prepared and would not need to do extensive studying the night before the test.

I would almost always study at home, away from friends, while listening to music. If the house was going to be full and loud, I would plan on studying at the public library. I would start studying soon after getting home from school and aim to be done at a reasonable time. I am good at managing study time and do not like procrastinating, so my parents would not monitor my studying.

Although everyone has a studying strategy that works best for them, I think that splitting the studying into multiple nights is very helpful as it helps slowly re-introduce the material and helps avoid last minute cramming. I also think it is very important to take breaks and do some physical activity which would help clear my mind. Listening to music while studying would also help me find enjoyment.

What extracurricular activities did you participate in? Did it affect your studying?

Throughout high school I played rep hockey for my town which is extremely time consuming. Hockey would often occupy 4-5 days of the week and can make finding time for studying difficult. I would always ensure I knew my schedule ahead of time to plan how my studying could fit around hockey. I also played on the school golf team all four years of high school and school hockey in grade 12. When I missed school, I would make sure I read the textbook and tried to understand the lesson I missed.

Briefly describe your 3 closest friends (or the 3 people you most talked to and spent the most time with) during your grade 12 year. Did they have any affect on your results in grade 12?

Friend 1:

  • High 70’s average
  • Plays hockey and golf (often times we play together).
  • Struggles finding motivation in school, I would often help him by telling him it’s time to start a project.
  • Repeating Advanced Functions and Data Management for a victory lap.
  • Wishes to pursue a career as a real estate agent. (I think.)

Friend 2:

  • Low 90’s average
  • Plays hockey and golf (often times we play together)
  • Part of running and cross-country skiing team at school.
  • Very good time management skills.
  • Deferred acceptance to Laurier Business.
  • Both of us had very similar grades so it created a friendly competition.

Friend 3:

  • One year younger than me.
  • Mid 80’s average
  • Plays hockey and is part of school track team.
  • Shared interest in other sports that we don’t play.
  • Good time management skills.
  • Uses same studying strategy.
  • Completing grade 12 next year. (wishes to pursue career in business.)

What advice would you give to someone when they’re preparing for the supplementaries in the application process (interviews, forms, etc)? What mistakes did you feel you made in this process? How would you have prepared differently to avoid these mistakes?

While preparing for supplementary applications, ensure that you are thorough while writing at a high level. Although some schools do not require supplementary applications but still offer them for certain programs, I suggest that all should be done, just in case it comes down to it. I made the mistake of continually putting my online interview off. This caused me to stress about it until the last day it was due and to rush through the recording. If I had to do this again, I would complete all the applications well before the deadline.

If you were able to go back to the day before Grade 12 started and give yourself advice, what would it be?

Advice that I would give to students entering grade 12 is that outside of school, marks do not mean everything, but when it comes to school, marks are mostly EVERYTHING, as without good marks it is a long shot to get into a preferred school. Enjoy grade 12 because it is the last time you will see many of the people that you spent 4 years with.Don’t leave applications and supplementary applications until the last day because most take a substantial amount of time and these are extremely important to being accepted into many programs.