hi, I’m currently in highschool in India (not a Canadian citizen) and am trying to get into UofT for chemical engineering. Unfortunately I did not take math in 11th grade, despite being excellent at it. How can I still apply for the undergrad? Should I complete math courses from TVO ILC? Thank you.
hey there,
well, first of all, you’re not alone. i’ve recently received some similar questions about not taking math prerequisites in high school.
so, to apply to chemical engineering at u of t, you’ll be applying under the admission code TB to the faculty of applied science and engineering. that means you’re looking at the admission requirements for all applicants to the faculty of applied science and engineering. according to their website, this includes senior level courses in mathematics (including calculus), chemistry, physics, and english.
(also, if you’re interested, there is a specific section at the bottom of this site on requirements and document details specific to each country).
and so we’ve got ourselves in a little bit of a situation here. your program requires that you take senior level high school math, but you haven’t taken grade 11 math yet. here’s the good news: the engineering website says that in the case that you haven’t taken one of these prerequisites, you can complete the grade 12 ontario high school equivalent prerequisite subject. furthermore, they actually recommend completing the course through the independent learning centre (ILC), so yes, to answer your question, you can complete math courses from TVO ILC.
but hold on, let’s dial it back for a sec. i noticed that you’re only asking about grade 11 math. to my understanding, you would actually need grade 12 level math to meet the admission requirements, since they specify that calculus is included. meanwhile, i looked at the ILC website for you, and it also seems like you’ll need grade 11 math as a prerequisite for the grade 12 math courses on there. so i think you might need to take both grade 11 and 12 math on the ILC, unless there’s a way for you to somehow bypass the grade 11 prerequisite.
just keep in mind that for ontario school systems, the admission requirements specifically ask for two grade 12 math courses:
- advanced functions (MHF4U)
- calculus & vectors (MCV4U), which requires advanced functions as a prerequisite
so if you’re taking your grade 12 math prerequisite through the ILC, which is within the ontario school system, i think you would need to take both of these courses. the international student admission requirements are “senior level courses in mathematics (including calculus)”, which probably means you need the calculus & vectors course. but according to the ILC website, to take calculus, you need advanced functions. and to take advanced functions, apparently you need a grade 11 math course.
blegh, that was a mouthful. so many prerequisites! for your sake, i am glad you’re good at math.
anyways i really hope i’m understanding this right. just keep in mind that this is just my best interpretation of what steps you need to take, and don’t follow this blindly. i would actually really recommend that you directly contact the engineering admissions office at admissions@engineering.utoronto.ca to make sure you’re doing all of this right. and if you’re still confused, you can shoot me another question!
good luck! i hope it all works out for you.
over and out,
aska