Undergraduate / Canada Cartage - Waterloo Admission Information Form - Additional Information [2]

Question 4

Additional Information

In addition to the specific information requested in all of the AIF questions, please tell us anything else about yourself that you would like us to know when we review your application. Please make sure to complete all sections of the AIF before submitting this page. (900 character limit)

I have been having a difficult time adding something for the additional information so I decieded to talk about my part time job. Would that answer be okay or should I talk about something like robotics club as I am applying to computer engineering.

I've been employed at Canada Cartage as an office clerk ever since 2017. As an office clerk, I am often expected to perform a variety of tasks, this includes answering phone calls, typing documents, running errands and filing various records. Primarily, as an office clerk, I am expected to essentially do a bit of everything. I believe working in this position has helped me develop many skills such as communication skills, computer skills, customer service skills, and increase my attention to detail. Moreover, working at Canada Cartage has helped me develop various qualities such as being responsible, having effective time management, professionalism, work ethic and most importantly learning to succeed in stressful situations. Continuing, I am usually expected to work every week and I work about 10 hours a week. (822)

Undergraduate / Waterloo AIF - Circumstances with an adverse effect on my academic performance [3]

Explaining Extenuating Circumstances

Question: Are there any issues or circumstances (e.g., medical, personal, or financial) that may have affected your academic record? If YES, please describe the circumstance in detail below. We are particularly interested in issues or circumstances that directly affected your academic performance and that led to a rise or drop in grades or to changes in your academic or personal goals.

For this question can I talk about how having a part-time job led to a decrease in my grades? or will that make me look bad?

This is the response I came up with:
One circumstance that has led to a drop in my grades is due to my financial status. To make sure I have sufficient funding to attend University I decided to get a part-time job. Even though I have been working part-time, I've been able to manage my time effectively for the most part however, there still are times when my work schedule conflicts with school. Often I have to work long shifts on weekdays which tend to take time away from my studies as I am required to be work during the night shift. This tends to have a negative impact on my grades which can be seen based on my physics mark. I had physics first period so working late limited my ability to make alternate times to focus on physics. I also had a spare first semester after physics which gave me time to review material for my other two courses. I believe working part-time will have a larger impact second semester as I have four courses without a spare. (924)