once upon a time i called you guys “international bachelorettes”

Hi Askastudent,

I just graduated this year from the IB program. It was a great experience (even though it was quite tough) and I learned a lot about myself regardless. Unfortunately, I didn’t do as well as I thought I would have in the finals, even though I had done better during school. The results just came out this weekend (June 6th).

If you are wondering why I’m asking you about Uni. at this time of year, well it’s because I decided in Nov. of my senior year that I will be taking a one year sabbatical post-high school. Hence, I will be applying next academic year (this Dec/Jan). U of T was one of the universities I was hoping to aim for, but now I’m not so sure D:

*Here are my final grades:*

Bio HL – 6
Chem HL – 4
Math HL – 3

English SL – 6
Psych SL – 6
Spanish B SL – 5

E.E. in MUSIC – C
TOK – A
(bonus 2 points)

That gives me a total of 32 points. Which I feel is a bit below the usual threshold at UofT, but I believe that there’s still a small chance for me. As you can probably tell, I wish to apply for a seat in the Life Sciences/Biology major.

So, what do you think of my situation? Any important factors that you think will play a big part in my decision? Advice on what you think I should do that might up my chances (SAT’s, online programs, etc)? Also, if you could give me some idea as to whether I am viable for some kind of scholarship?

I’d appreciate the honest feedback.

Thanks,
A prospective student.

———————————————

Prospective student,

I think many things.

I think “I don’t know what the heck those numbers are supposed to mean… I should probably look that up.” I think “I can’t believe I got home at 11 PM last night because of that crazy ass weather.” I think “I need a coffee.”

But I also think you shouldn’t have much of problem getting into UofT. 🙂

Looking at the requirements, they call for a score of at least 28 or more, but for more competitive programs (like Life Sci), you should have at least 30 to be competitive — which, yippie, you have!

There’s no need to take SATs or online courses because fact: UofT doesn’t give a crap about em.

But one thing I want to let you in on is the possibility of getting a transfer credit or two!

Basically, if an IBer scores a final grade of at least 5 on their HL exam, a transfer credit may be awarded. So for you, since you got 6 points in your Bio HL, as long as you submit your results to Enrolment Services by a set date, you can get two little things that’ll appear on your transcript as “BIO1**H,” which are supposed to be the equivalents of BIO120H and BIO130H.

(Granted, depending on what programs you’re interested in, opting out of those transfer credits might be beneficial. I’ve been told that for say a Neuroscience specialist, you’re better off actually taking BIO120H.)

Now for scholarships, there are some of the few offered to incoming students. For the most part, they’re based on your grades. Past those ones, you’ll have the college-based scholarships and then when you’re actually a student, there are usually a bunch of department-based scholarships too.

Just note that because of the huge student population, scholarships tend to be veeeery competitive.

Annnnd I think that’s that!

Have fun applying. 🙂

xoxo,
aska