The selection process of the University of Waterloo’s CS transfer for Winter 2021 was completed this week. A large group of my peers including me, who thought that we are sure to enter the CS program with an exceptional grade (as high as 99% for several students) in CS 136/146, were shocked to find that we were rejected due to the reason that “they don’t have space” in the CS program. We find the situation unusual and problematic, and think the reason unacceptable.

In fact, a considerable number of students who were accepted to the Honours Mathematics program chose to attend UWaterloo simply for the opportunity of transferring to CS. They work as diligently as if not more than students in CS in the first-year CS courses. However, the reality is that the CS department has admitted the number of students that is beyond its normal capacity in previous years, thus discouraging and limiting math students to transfer to CS. As far as we are concerned, only those who got 100% in CS 136/146 were accepted into CS, whereas a group of students who got exceptional grades are rejected. We believe that this is not students' fault for not having a perfect grade in cs 136/146, but an unfairness induced by the incompetent planning of the university administration and the misallocation of university resources.

We speculate that even though the number of students enrolled from high school in the CS department has far exceeded the number of students enrolled in previous years and the tuition rose, the scale of the CS department has not expanded. As a result, the spots for CS transfers dramatically declines. However, if the number of enrolled students increases, is it not logical and reasonable to also raise the number of CS transfers, rather than to reduce it?
The fact that students cannot transfer to CS through their own efforts and excellent results is disconcerting, and as such, they are deprived of the right to access and explore their subjects of interest in the university. Although the University of Waterloo has promised students online courses of high quality, we see that the CS department has not added enough educational resources, which directly leads to the lack of space for the CS department.

Our petition is not in anyway against the CS department or UW, but in the purpose of seeking for better solutions for the CS transfer process, CS admission process, and the resource allocation of CS departments in general. Below are some of the actions we would like to propose.

1. Make the admission and transfer requirements and various related data transparent
2. The ratio between number of students CS transfers students and the number of registered CS students should match for each semester. For example, if the university enrolls 100% more students than previous year, the number of CS transfer students should rise accordingly.
3. The CS department can keep the online system of the CS class to ensure that the students at school have enough educational resources.
4. Remove or lower restrictions on certain courses that only students with CS-related majors can enroll