Co-op Application FAQ

Each spring, we announce the overall first-year GPA that BBA and Economics students needed to achieve to be eligible for an admission interview.

In 2025, candidates for Business and Economics Co-op need to achieve an overall first-year GPA of at least 9.0 out of 12 to be eligible for an admission interview. (The actual average GPA of students to whom we offered admission in 2024 was 10.3.) 

We consider all first-year courses completed between September and April in your first year; you must have five full credits.

If you don’t meet the minimum GPA, consult the Grade Requirements. 

Note: Most students begin their first year studies in September. If you began your first year at Laurier in January, please note that you still need to complete ten half-credit courses by the end of the spring term.

Students in the Faculty of Arts (in a major eligible for co-op) must achieve a first-year overall GPA of at least 7.0 out of 12.

Read more at Faculty of Arts Co-op Grade Requirements.

Students in the Faculty of Science must achieve either a first-year overall GPA of at least 7.0 out of 12 or a GPA of at least 7.0 in their honours discipline courses and at least a 6.5 GPA overall.

Read more at Faculty of Science Co-op Grade Requirements.

In order to qualify for an admission interview in 2025, computer science students must acheive an overall first-year GPA of 7.2 out of 12. Applicants must also obtain a minimum GPA of 7.2 out of 12 in the Fall term of Year 2.

You must achieve the overall GPA requirement by the co-op application deadline to be granted an interview.

Read more at Computer Science Grade Requirements.

Data science students must achieve a first-year overall GPA of at least 7.0 out of 12. Interviews will take place in late November or early December of your second year.

To qualify for admission, you must also obtain an overall GPA of 7.00 after completing term 2A in the fall.

Read more at Data Science Grade Requirements.

Students in Geography and Environmental Studies must achieve a first-year overall GPA of at least 7.0 out of 12. 

Read more at Geography and Environmental Studies Grade Requirements.

You must be enrolled full-time (at least four courses) and in third year of your Honours Computer Science program as of September. You need an overall cumulative GPA of at least 7.0 by the end of your second year, or a GPA of at least 7.0 in your computer science courses and at least 6.5 overall. You must have completed at least 10 credits, and no more than 14 credits (including transfer credits), within two academic years, to be eligible to apply.

Meeting all eligibility requirements does not guarantee admission due to available space.  If there are more eligible applicants than spaces available, students with the highest overall GPA in their first 10 credits will be offered admission.

Read more at Professional Experience Program Grade Requirements.

The only entry point for UX co-op is at the beginning of the fall term in third year. 

You must be a Liberal Arts student enrolled full-time (at least four courses) in third year of the User Experience Design program as of September. You need an overall cumulative GPA of at least 7.0 by the end of your second year to be granted an admission interview. You must have completed 10 credits, and no more than 14.0 credits (including transfer credits), to be eligible to apply. You must complete at least one academic term in full-time studies directly after your work term.

In addition, to be eligible for co-op, you must have completed or received credit for the following courses; UX100, UX103, UX115, UX212, UX211, UX205, UX200.

You must also provide a portfolio that highlights your design process and past work. If you are eligible for an admission interview, we will ask you to send your portfolio to coopadmissions@wlu.ca by the first Monday of classes (September 9). We will ask your academic department to assess your portfolio.

Read more at User Experience Design Grade Requirements.

For all programs except PEP and UX, we consider first-year courses completed between September and April in your first year. 

Note: Most students begin their first year studies in September. If you began your first year at Laurier in January, please note that you still need to complete five full credits (or ten half-credit courses) by the end of the spring term.

For PEP and UX, we consider your first 10.0 credits completed in your first and second year.  You must have completed at least 10.0 credits within two academic years.

See the Admission Requirements page for more detail, including transfer and AP courses we consider.

You may retake courses in the summer. We may, however, give more credit for academic achievement to students who achieved the minimum GPA cut-off by the end of the winter term.

We will not consider marks we receive after the application deadline. Before taking courses through another school, check whether they will provide you with marks by our deadline.

See Courses Taken After the Winter Term for more information.

We hold interviews from late August through mid-September for applicants to Arts Co-op, Business and Economics Co-op, and Science Co-op. Staff members will begin contacting students who are eligible for an interview in August. You will be asked to pick a time for your interview.

We hold interviews in late September for applicants to User Experience Design Co-op.

Interviews with applicants from Computer Science or Data Science will take place in October or November.

(As in the next answer, all interviews will be via Teams, so you will need Internet access and a device with a webcam.)

We conduct all admission interviews virtually, on Teams. Please arrange to have access to the Internet and a device with a webcam.

How to use MS Teams for your co-op admission interview.

You will find lots of information about admission interviews here. 

Be sure to watch a webinar about the admission process for students in for your program; you will find the webinars in the Application Review Guide secton of the Application Review page.

We are not able to conduct practise interviews with candidates, and neither are staff members in Laurier's Career Centre.

Yes. If you are granted an admission interview, you will need to provide a resume three days before your interview. Please follow the instructions for submitting your resume, and see the sample resume for your program.

Four categories (weighted equally):

• Paid work experience in the last three years
• Volunteer service and extracurricular activities in the last three years
• Academic record in your first year at Laurier (GPA)
• Performance during the interview

Consult Step 2: Application Review for all the information you'll need for your interview. 

We look at your paid work experience in the last three years. For most applicants, this is from the beginning of grade 11 to the end of O Week in second year.

Many candidates work full-time each summer, and some have part-time jobs year-round.

In 2024, most of the candidates to whom we offered admission had paid employment in at least the most recent summer.

If you have any gaps in your employment, please be prepared to tell us how you spent your time. We want to hear about courses and volunteer work, and about any skills or knowledge you gained and that you could apply to co-op jobs.

To find work in the summer, apply to postings through the Career Centre's Navigator database, and also check out job sites such as these:

• Youth-Job Bank
• Portal to agriculture and food jobs
• Indeed.ca
• Job Bank
• Monster.ca
• Workopolis

The admission process is very competitive, as we interview many more students than we can admit to co-op. We assess both the quality and the quantity of work experience. If you have related experience in an office or in a supervisory role, you may have an advantage, as long as you are able to tell us about your role effectively during the interview.

Try to build on the work experience you have obtained already, and search for relevant work experience during your first year or during the following summer.

Even if you don't have relevant jobs, please tell us about your roles, responsibilities and how you gained skills.

On the resume you provide to the Co-op Office before your interview, please include each employer's name, phone number and email address along with the job description. Follow the sample resume template.

We expect students to present their skills and experience truthfully and factually, as per the Non-Academic Student Code of Conduct. We reserve the right to verify any information provided and any student who is found to have misrepresented himself or herself will be ineligible for enrolment in the co-op program.

You should be able to list all the roles you held during senior high school and university. If you did more than attend meetings, explain how you contributed to each organization.