BA/BS in Combinatorics and Optimization is a bachelor's degree in Mathematics programme offered by University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada. The programme is delivered on campus. Tuition for international students is CAD 29,259 per semester (CAD 3,125 per semester for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Bachelor's Degree
Field:Mathematics
Delivery: On Campus
Local tuition: CAD 3,125 / semester
International tuition: CAD 29,259 / semester
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo leads to a Bachelor of Mathematics in Combinatorics and Optimization within the Faculty of Mathematics, at the undergraduate level. The curriculum covers enumeration, combinatorial designs, graph theory, linear programming, nonlinear optimization, operations research, and combinatorial optimization, with stated applications in cryptography, electronic security, software development, social media, and risk analysis; the first year combines mathematics and computer science, and upper years include graph theory, algebraic enumeration, integer programming, and applied cryptography. Students can add minors in Pure Mathematics, Computing, or Statistics. The program is offered as a co-op option, alternating study terms with paid work terms roughly every four months, or as regular full-time study, delivered on the Waterloo campus. It suits students interested in software development, data analysis, and work with financial institutions, with career paths including quantitative analyst, risk analyst, actuary, and software engineer roles, reflected in past co-op placements such as business technology analyst and quantitative trading associate.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Direct entry from Ontario high school; applicants apply to Mathematics and choose Combinatorics and Optimization as their major at the end of first year. Required: six Grade 12 U/M courses including Advanced Functions, Calculus and Vectors, any Grade 12 U English, and one other 4U course, with Grade 11 Introduction to Computer Science recommended. Admission is competitive: the Faculty of Mathematics selects individually, with an admission average trend of the mid-80s. The Admission Information Form (AIF) is required for admission; writing the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest or the Euclid contest is optional but required for certain Faculty of Mathematics scholarships. International and non-Ontario applicants follow the equivalent OUAC route with the program's prerequisite subjects. Applicants whose secondary education was not in Canada or in English follow the same OUAC route and must meet Waterloo's institution-wide English proficiency requirement: IELTS Academic 6.5 overall (6.0 minimum band, 6.5 in writing and speaking), TOEFL iBT 4.5 overall with 5 in writing and speaking for tests from 21 January 2026 onward (90 overall with 25 in writing and speaking for earlier tests), PTE Academic 63 (65 in writing and speaking), or Duolingo 120 (125 in Literacy and Production).
Application Details
Start Date:September
Application Deadline:Waterloo admits first-year students for September entry only, through the OUAC, with identical deadlines for domestic and international applicants. For Fall 2027, most programmes must be applied to by 1 February 2027 with documents due 15 February 2027; Engineering programmes (excluding Architecture) close earlier, on 15 January 2027, with documents due 1 February 2027, and require an online interview. Waterloo states a deadline may be extended if a programme is not yet full, but publishes no separate rolling-admission date and no explicit application-opening date. Pharmacy is a named exception with its own earlier deadline; Social Work and the Conditional Admission to Pharmacy stream are directed to programme-specific timelines outside this page. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
