Since Waterloo is one of Canada's as well as world's best universities, there is no easy way getting admitted here. Waterloo’s admission averages range from low 80s to mid-90s. These can vary depending on the number of applications received as well as the number of spaces available in each program. You should already assume that the grades of students who apply will be generally very good. Your requirements will also differ with your nationality or where you’ve studied previously. But most importantly, you should know that grades alone won’t get you inside Waterloo as they take a good look at many other things. Thus, there are some aspects to work on if you're an Indian student wishing to study here:

• Grades: At Least a minimum of 90% in grade 10 and grade 12 exams. (High school and Intermediate)
• First or Second Division standing in one of the following.
  • All India Senior School Certificate awarded by CBSE.
  • Indian School Certificate awarded by CISCE.
  • Other pre-university certificate awarded after 12 years of academic studies.
• English proficiency: Very important to have an IELTS score of 6.5 or TOEFL iBT score of 90.
• Admission Information Form: You will need to write an exceptional AIF. This questionnaire gives you a great chance to display everything about you that makes you unique. You can share your extracurricular activities, work experience, volunteering activities and other initiatives. 
• Euclid Mathematics Contest: Strongly recommended to write the Euclid Mathematics Contest and/or the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest. Results of the contests will be used in scholarship decisions and possibly admission decisions for programs in the Faculty of Mathematics.
• Additional Factors: An online video interview may be needed, which allows the university to virtually meet you and get a sense of who you are and get a better idea of you.

These are the general requirements. Please note that some programs will have different criteria depending on the competition, degree type and program specification. There will not be one way to prepare for your application as the university looks at your whole profile and then takes a decision.

While GRE is an important factor in MS Computer Science admissions at Cheriton School of Computer Science, there is not a defined cut off. This is because the University of Waterloo accepts or rejects a candidate on the basis of their overall profile. So you should simply not rely only on your strong GRE score as this doesn’t guarantee you admission. This being said, a high GPA, strong academic background with a good GRE score increases your chances of getting admitted. 

On an average, it will not be wrong to claim that 75th GRE score percentile is a good GRE score. In simpler words, 161 or higher in GRE quant and 157 or higher in GRE verbal will be a good score. Lower than this will make enrollment in a top University like Waterloo much difficult.

The score of GRE quant and GRE verbal contributes towards the overall GRE score, so it recommended to aim for 75 percentile or higher in quant and 60+ percentile in verbal. The competition will be higher since this is a very sought-after subject. If you're from India then the competition is even higher as there are so many talented students applying.

So assuming your high GPA, it's better if you do better in Quant as compared to Verbal. This is because the subject of computer science is more oriented towards quant.

The University of Waterloo has a good scope and facilities for Biological science when compared to Concordia University. Moreover, it is one of the top universities with a good employment rate and average salary. QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020 has ranked University of Waterloo at #25 and Concordia University #301-500. 

Both the university has a good placement rate with a 96.46% employment rate for the University of Waterloo and an average salary of $92,889. Concordia has an 87% employment rate with an average salary of $62,993.

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020 has placed Waterloo’s Biological Sciences program at #251-300. Particulars for Biological science are:

The University of Waterloo is ranked #9 in Canada and #201-250 in the world whereas Concordia University has been ranked #22 in Canada and #601-800 in the world by The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021. Overall, The University of Waterloo is the potential choice for Biological science.