University of Waterloo offers BA/BS in Earth Sciences, a bachelor's degree in Earth Sciences & Geology programme in Waterloo, Canada. The programme is delivered on campus. Tuition for international students is CAD 25,296 per semester (CAD 3,125 per semester for local students).
Also offered as: Master's Degree, Doctorate
At a glance
Degree:Bachelor's Degree
Field:Earth Sciences & Geology
Delivery: On Campus
Local tuition: CAD 3,125 / semester
International tuition: CAD 25,296 / semester
Last checked September 2026 · Source: uwaterloo.ca ·
Program details
Overview
The Earth Sciences program at the University of Waterloo leads to a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and studies rock, sediment, water, and soil, along with processes such as earthquakes, volcanism, and the impacts of climate change on the Earth system. Coursework in Earth sciences is combined with chemistry, physics, and mathematics, supported by laboratory work and fieldwork such as rock sampling and geological mapping. Students choose among streams in Geology, which is less math-intensive and emphasizes Earth sciences coursework; Hydrogeology, which draws on chemistry and engineering alongside a strong mathematics component; and Geophysics, which centres on advanced physics and mathematics. The degree can be taken with co-op, alternating study and paid work terms from second year, or as a regular study program without work terms, and is delivered on Waterloo's main campus. The program suits students interested in the physical processes that shape the planet and in fieldwork-based science, including those concerned with environmental protection and natural hazards. It leads toward careers in the energy sector, natural resource management, environmental consulting, and field or laboratory research, as well as further graduate study in the geosciences.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Ontario applicants apply to the Physical Sciences group through OUAC and choose Earth Sciences as their major, presenting six Grade 12 U/M courses: ENG4U (minimum 70%), Advanced Functions (minimum 70%), Calculus and Vectors (minimum 70%), and two of Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, Mathematics of Data Management or Physics. Admission is competitive, with recent admission averages in the low 80s. Applicants studying outside Ontario follow the University's general admission requirements for Physical Sciences, presenting a senior secondary qualification equivalent to the Ontario curriculum with the same prerequisite subjects. Applicants whose four most recent years of full-time education were not completed in Canada or at English-language schools must submit an accepted English test: IELTS 6.5 overall (6.5 writing and speaking, 6.0 reading and listening), TOEFL iBT 90 overall with 25 in writing and speaking for tests completed before 21 January 2026 (4.5 overall with 5 in writing and speaking for tests on or after that date), PTE Academic 63 (65 writing and speaking), Duolingo 120 (125 Literacy and Production), or Cambridge C1/C2 180 (176 per skill).
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.
