Post-secondary preparation There are a number of factors affecting a successful transition from high school to post-secondary institutions which should be taken into account when planning programs and interventions to assist students with the move from high school.
Student affairs professionals in Canada support high school students in the transition to post-secondary institutions through a wide variety of services and programs. High school
guidance counsellors and student affairs practitioners work together to provide information, programs, and workshops to high school students such as program prerequisites, post-secondary admission and application requirements, scholarship opportunities and application processes. Specific information and services related to the application and admissions process for post-secondary institutions in Canada are managed provincially. For example, in Ontario, post-secondary program information is provided through the Ontario College Application Service (
OCAS) and Ontario University Application Centre (
OUAC).
Undergraduate entry In Canada, students applying from high school generally hear back from a college or university between late March and late May, though offers of admission may be extended to high achievers (through GPA or other submissions) as early as November–January. International/US applicants are likely to receive an offer or rejection by early April, depending on the original submission of documents. In some cases, an institution may offer admission in a high schooler's
Grade 11 year, if monetary fees are sent in early.
Dual admission Many Canadian universities offer dual admission (admission to both the university and a partnered institution, such as a college) to students upon completion of their graduation requirements. For example, grade 11 and 12 students at
Columbia International College can apply for dual admission at Canadian universities such as
York University,
University of Alberta,
Brock University and
Cape Breton University.
College vs. university Acceptance to a Canadian university or college often requires completion of a
high school diploma (or equivalent). Some colleges or universities accept applicants based on other outcomes, such as the
General Educational Development test, age and life experience, admissions testing, or other criteria. In Canada, the difference between college and university is significantly different from the typical interpretation in the
United States or even the
United Kingdom. A Canadian college is more similar to an American
community college. In contrast, a
Canadian university is comparable to an American university, and virtually all Canadian
universities have endowments over $20 million, most frequently above $100 million. Almost all Canadian post-secondary institutions are publicly funded (that is, government-subsidized). The few
private institutions that are not government-supported are not widely known at all, have generally only been established since the 1980s, and are mostly located in
British Columbia. In the
Canadian education system, which varies from
province to province, colleges are geared toward individuals seeking more specific technical careers, such as graphic design or animation whereas universities are geared to individuals seeking more academic careers where a university degree is a prerequisite for entrance, such as
medicine or
law. There are other systems in place for students to enter
traditional trades (called "skilled trades" in Canada), and some provinces have unique preparatory systems or schools, such as
Quebec's pre-university
college level.
Admissions requirements Admission to colleges and universities in Canada has been a direct process since the 1970s. Students generally rank their chosen institutions in order of preference and submit their transcripts to the institution or provincial application service for evaluation. In the majority of cases, acceptance is based entirely on marks, with potential for elevation depending on what province an applicant may be from. In some Canadian provinces, students applying to in-province universities may face slightly lower grade requirements compared to out-of-province applicants. For instance, a student applying from an
Ontario high school to a university in
Alberta or
Quebec is likely to require marginally elevated grades as opposed to applying to any school in Ontario itself, where universities and colleges may have lower requirements for their own province's high school graduates. In most cases, Canadian universities require students' high school transcript along with an application for admission. Applications for admission outline additional academic and extracurricular achievements that cannot be expressed through a student's transcript. Generally, universities require that students have taken a university-prep grade 12
English course. Additionally, programs involving mathematics and/or natural science often require students to take a university-prep grade 12
calculus course, as well as university-prep grade 12
biology,
chemistry, and
physics. Overall, universities base admission around a pupil's academic performance in university/advanced level courses in their grade 11 and 12 years. Also, most universities establish GPA cut-offs for admission. This cut-off is established based on the competitiveness of individual programs at specific universities. A more competitive program could have a cut-off average of 90 percent or higher, while most prestigious programs maintain cut-offs around 80 percent. Universities with more liberal application processes could have admission cut-offs as low as 65 percent.
College College requirements vary more significantly, though none have entrance requirements above 85 percent from a Canadian high school. In general, though, many colleges (such as
George Brown College, and
Mohawk College) accept a very high proportion of students with averages above 70 percent, although they may place no limiting minimum for acceptance, and consequently take students with averages below 60 percent. Unlike universities, colleges do not have admission cut-offs and as long as students have a passing average and the necessary courses, they can gain admission to most colleges. Incidentally, even the newest Canadian universities have larger endowments than any Canadian college, with no Canadian college having an endowment above $10 million. See
List of Canadian universities by endowment. In addition, many education systems in Canada have established different courses with varying intensity in order to curtail a pupil's desired future.
Ontario has gone the furthest with this idea, establishing two different streams in its secondary education system. The university stream includes courses that will prepare students for future studies at university, while the college stream is more applied and less intense, preparing individuals for the future pursuit of a college degree. Universities require these advanced courses for admission, while colleges will admit pupils from either stream.
Special cases Students with an
IB Diploma can generally enter either college or university more easily than other Canadian high schoolers, due to the material covered in the program. Like students with
AP credits, they may also clip courses in university with faculty consent. In the case of more select university programs, and for almost all international students, an
essay, statement of intent or personal statement of experience must be submitted directly to the faculty being applied for. Additionally,
letters of reference, examples of extracurricular involvement, additional community service endeavours, athletic participation, awards and scholarships won and more may all be required for acceptance to some of Canada's top programs.
Comparability of admissions There is an array of highly competitive programs within Canadian institutions, on par with some mid to top-tier programs in the United States. Institutions like the
University of Toronto, the
University of British Columbia, and
McGill University find themselves ranked among the world's top universities. In addition, a large portion (upwards of 30%) of university graduates in Canada continue to pursue further education beyond an
undergraduate degree.
Post-graduate entry Post-graduate schools in Canada are, as with other parts of the world, restricted to universities (i.e. One cannot get a master's degree from a Canadian college). Admission to any post-graduate program in Canada is difficult, with many universities having world-renowned programs, and Canadian graduate schools being the sites for many famous inventions and discoveries.
See also •
Ontario Universities' Application Centre (
Ontario) •
Ontario College Application Service (
Ontario). •
List of colleges in Canada •
List of universities in Canada •
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada •
List of Canadian universities by endowment ==Chile==