Business and Economics Grade Requirements

Updated October 1, 2021.

We announce the minimum overall first-year GPA in July each year. Applicants from Business and Economics must achieve the minimum to be eligible for an admission interview.

The minimum overall first-year GPA required for students applying for admission to Business and Economics co-op for admission in 2021 was 9.1 out of 12.

The average GPA of all students admitted to Business and Economics co-op in 2021 was 10.6.

Admission Interview Information

The application deadline is the first day of classes in September of your second year.

You must achieve the overall GPA requirement by the application deadline to be granted an interview. You must be enrolled full-time in second year as of September.

Learn more about the admission interview process.

GPA Information

Your minimum overall GPA includes all the courses you completed at Laurier in the fall and winter terms of your first year.

Although we will also consider courses taken after the winter term, we 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 Monday of the second week of classes in September. Before taking courses through another school, check whether they will provide you with marks by our deadline.

Course and Credit Requirements

You must complete five full credit courses (ten half-credit courses) by April of your first year. 

(Economics students: Although the Economics Deparment does not require you to complete five full credits by the end of first year, you must complete five full credits to be considered for admission to co-op.)

If you complete fewer than five full credits by April, you must have completed at least ten half-credit courses by the end of the Spring/Summer term. Please note that we will consider only:

• courses you repeated
• courses required for progression to second year
• courses needed to meet co-op requirements for completing five full credits during first year.

You must meet the requirements for progression to second year by the end of the spring/summer term.

If you complete more than 7.5 credits, you are not eligible for co-op as you are too far along in your studies.

Courses Graded as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

When calculating your GPA, we will include only those courses for which we see a numeric grade. We will exclude grades from courses such as UU150 that provide only a grade of either satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

We will, however, include courses graded as "satisfactory" when counting the number of courses you have completed.

We may give you slightly less credit for your marks than we give students who provided numeric grades for all ten half-credits.

Note: If you completed UU150 when it still provided numeric grades, we will include your grade when calculating your GPA.

Assessing Credit Courses

When determining your GPA, we will include only those courses for which we see a numeric grade. We will exclude course letter grades that you have chosen to convert to a “credit" notation.

Please review the information in this section carefully to learn how we evaluate CR courses. The Co-op Office is not able to give advice to individual students. The university offers information about converting courses to credit, including the deadline for converting a grade and the process for petitioning a change after the deadline. (You must provide the Co-op Office with your grades by the deadline for applying, which in 2021 is September 13. After this date, we will not consider updates about grades for courses converted to credit.)

Note: We consider grades as one of four factors while making admission decisions. We give equal weight to grades, interview performance, work experience, and volunteer and extracurricular experience. We will give special recognition to students who provide numeric grades for all required courses and to those who provide numeric grades for all ten courses. In other words, if you have high marks, it is in your best interest to provide numeric grades and not to convert your grades to a "credit" notation.

We will first review your overall GPA for the fall 2020 and winter 2021 term. In addition:

• If you elected to convert one or more grades to the credit format, we will recognize you as having met academic requirements, along with all other students with the same GPA.
• If you provide numeric grades for all required courses, we will recognize you as having exceeded academic requirements, compared to other students with the same GPA.
• If you provide numeric grades for all required and elective courses, we will recognize you as having reached the highest academic achievement, compared to other students with the same GPA.

If you have questions about your marks or progression requirements, please consult an academic advisor.

Didn't Meet the GPA Requirements?

If you don't meet the GPA in 2021, we will grant admission interviews only to students who achieved the minimum GPA required by the application deadline.

If, however, you fail to meet the minimum GPA and petition the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics to reconsider any of your grades, please let us know your new grades as soon as possible. Ensure that you submit your petition to the Lazaridis School by Sept. 15, so the petitions committee can make a decision by Nov. 1. We will not consider requests we receive after Nov. 1, 2021.

If after your petition, you meet the minimum GPA, we will offer you an admission interview, and will make decisions very soon after. To be eligible, you must also have met the application deadline.

Note: To have a grade reassessed, you must have evidence that an error was made. Follow the grade reassessment protocols outlined in the calendar. To pursue a review of your grades for courses through the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, complete the Grade Appeal Request.

ENTR 310

ENTR 310 is an elective for BBA students that can only be applied to Years 3 or 4 BBA program requirements. It is not counted as part of the year one or two credit count and co-op does not include your mark from this course in calculating your GPA for year one when considering your eligibility for admission to co-op.

Registering in ENTR 310 after year one conflicts with many co-op requirements and options for enrolment are limited. Approval will not be given for students to complete the course during any term where you are scheduled to be on a work term.

Co-op Sequences

Students in sequence one including those in economics may enrol in ENTR 310 during the spring academic term of 3B before your third work term.

Students in sequence two may

• enrol in ENTR 310 during the spring academic term of 3A before your first work term or
• complete an eight-month work term beginning in the fall after 3A, before enrolling in ENTR 310 during the spring academic term of 3B.

If choosing any of the options above, you must secure your work term before you depart for Israel in August.

Exam Period Conflict

The Israel trip will conflict with the final exam time period. You must file a petition, in advance of your trip, to defer your conflicting exams to the deferred exam period at the end of September. Requests for exam deferrals outside of the deferred exam period cannot be accommodated.

You must obtain pre-approval from your employer and your co-op coordinator to attend the deferred exams during the September deferral period.

Alternatively, you may want to inquire about enrolling in ENTR 310 during the spring term of 4B.