BA/BS in Physics and Astronomy at University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada is a bachelor's degree in Physics & Astronomy programme. The programme is delivered on campus. Tuition for international students is CAD 25,296 per semester (CAD 3,125 per semester for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Bachelor's Degree
Field:Physics & Astronomy
Delivery: On Campus
Local tuition: CAD 3,125 / semester
International tuition: CAD 25,296 / semester
Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
The Physics and Astronomy program at the University of Waterloo leads to a Bachelor of Science and combines core physics training with astronomy coursework. Students move from foundational mechanics, electromagnetism, and mathematics in early years toward upper-year topics such as stellar physics, galaxies, and cosmology, approached from both theoretical and observational angles. Coursework also builds skills in programming, data analysis, and telescope operation. The degree is available with co-op, in which students alternate academic and paid work terms beginning in second year, or as a regular study program without work terms. Students can add a minor in astrophysics or biophysics, or choose from minors offered elsewhere at the university, to tailor the degree toward a particular interest. Instruction is delivered on Waterloo's main campus within the Faculty of Science. The program suits students with a strong interest in mathematics and the physical sciences who want to study both terrestrial physics and the wider universe. It prepares graduates for work in aerospace, space-agency and observatory research, data analysis, and further graduate study in physics or astrophysics, alongside general problem-solving roles that draw on quantitative and technical training.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Ontario applicants apply to the Physical Sciences group through OUAC and choose Physics and Astronomy 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.
