hey!
i have a couple of questions. i am a grade 11 student right now. i am very interested in applying to the life sciencesprogram in u of t. with that said, so far my grade 11 marks are [information redacted for personal privacy]. does u of t look at your grade 11 marks? if so, what holds more importance,your grade 11 marks or your grade 12 marks? i am unhappy with my grade 11 marks and i definitely will do much better next year, looking at an avg of 94+ hopefully. do i have a chance? ALSO what else does u of t look at besides grades? i mean as in extracurricular activities and volunteer hours. what are the minimums for those things, and how important are they?
thanks for answering!!!!!
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hey there,
oh, to be young and be unhappy with marks like yours. i’ma let you in on a little secret, friend: you’ll get in. in fact, i’m willing to bet you get in everywhere you apply. if not, i’ll owe you an apology for getting your hopes up, because i am certain you’ll get in. in fact if you don’t get in, you can write back to me and i’ll post a public apology to you on THIS VERY BLOG.
’cause hey, i’m not the institution – i don’t have any power over student admission – but i do have perspective that you don’t, and that’s a perspective that includes all the INCREDIBLY DUMB students who also get into university every year. i know it’s hard to see right now because uni looks huge and scary, but trust me, getting in is a piece of cake.
as for extracurriculars, it’s really helpful that you’ve done them – both for your own personal experience and for any scholarships you may want to apply to – but the university application doesn’t take them into consideration. they’ll only be looking at your marks.
that said, some programs, like mcmaster’s health science program for example, require additional applications that might allow you to talk about extracurriculars, but those are the exception, not the rule. the first general application that you’ll make on OUAC will just submit your transcript, and nothing else. most programs won’t ask for anything beyond that first application. i’m pretty sure most (if not all) of the life sci programs at uoft don’t require any additional applications.
so don’t worry about it! i mean i’d still recommend continuing extracurriculars/volunteering through high school and even in university because they make you a better person and you get to have cool experiences and stuff (also *cough* scholarships *cough*), but they probably won’t be part of your undergrad applications.
finally, universities reserve the right to look at your grade 11 marks, but i’d say almost all of the attention is focused on grade 12. so if you’re not meeting your (already very high and admirable) goals for yourself this year, don’t worry – you’ve still got all of next year.
best of luck friend, and try not to worry yourself. you’re well on your way 🙂
aska