Alberta Programs
What is an undergraduate program? It's how you get your Bachelor's or Associate's degree in university or college. You usually need one to continue on to get a graduate degree. Here are some different lenses you can look at choosing an undergraduate program through.
Based on Your Interests
One of the best ways to choose what you want to study is to think about your personal interests and the subjects you're passionate about. Are you passionate about history, but also enjoy painting? Maybe look into art history. Do you love high school biology, as well as learning about human behaviour? Try looking into psychology.
The best way to figure out what you may be interested in, based on your likes and dislikes, is by doing a little research on different programs and what they entail. Most institutions' websites give you descriptions of the programs they offer. Usually the programs' names are quite self-explanatory, ex. "anthropology" will probably only interest you if you like learning about human cultures and societies.
TIP:
myBlueprint is a great resource to help you out.
1. Sign up (log in through SchoolZone).
2. Complete optional interest and personality surveys.
3. Explore potential job opportunities.
4. Create a high school course plan (or more than one).
5. Get an idea of what type of program you’d like to apply to in post-secondary ie. (science, arts, etc.)
6. Go to programs and apply location filters and category filters.
7. Explore potential programs based on tuition, length, pursuit of a post-graduate/professional program.
8. Create a “favourites” list to keep track of your interests.
Based on Prerequisite Courses in High School
To find out what programs you can get into based on the courses you've taken in high school, click the links below. You can also use this information to see what prerequisites you need to take in high school based on what program you want to go into. Here are some major institutions in Alberta. Choose a faculty and potentially a specific program depending on the site. Requirements may vary from institution to institution.
TIP: Remember that one of your best resources in high school is your guidance counsellor. They can give you the best in-person advice on what programs may be best for you, keeping your academics and personal interests in mind. They can also give you a great second opinion on anything to do with post-secondary.
Based on Your Future Career Interests
Beyond myBlueprint, there are many resources to help you decide on your future career choices; if you don’t know which career to choose, try a personality test! Here are some websites to help you out if you're feeling indecisive.
Sums up your personality, is compatible with the test below.
This connects to a direct list of careers.
Choose a career from that list, and there’s a summary of that career.
alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/occupations-in-alberta
Search your career, find the program, find the NOC code, enter it into the NOC search bar. This code is linked to certain occupations throughout the province.
alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/educational-programs-in-alberta
Search for your program.
Different schools offer the program, choose the school that offers it.
OR - Search programs within schools.
OR - Search programs based on the NOC code.
This code is linked to certain occupations throughout the province.
Once you have an idea of what you're interested in--whether that be in grade 10, 11, or 12--try looking up your career to see what Bachelor's degree and post-graduate program(s) you'd have to go into to accomplish your career goal. Every career varies, so remember that doing your research will be very beneficial. Ask someone you know who is in that profession, or contact your institution of choice.