POST SECONDARY APPLICATION INFO

EARLY OFFERS OF ADMISSION ARE NOT A SPECIAL THING IN CANADA - THAT'S THE USA YOU'RE THINKING OF!

You can however, apply early if you really want to! Applications can be sent in as early as Oct 1st. However, there are many very good reasons why you should wait until you are sure

• Spend the fall visiting information fairs and if you are able - touring the schools during their open house weekends or via private tours! Tour information will be posted on the 2026 Graduating Class Google Classroom

• If you change your mind prior to Jan 15, 2026, every change you make will cost you additional money.

• Offers of admission come in FOUR waves. The first wave (October) is very small and students with very high Gr. 11 marks or already completed Gr. 12 courses may receive offers. After OUAC receives your Semester 1 midterm marks, there is another small round of offers in November, for kids with solid Gr. 11 marks and high Semester 1 midterms. This is what we consider to be an early conditional offer. 

• There is nothing overly special about early offers. You still have until June to accept. You will not be disadvantaged if universities or colleges decide to hold off until later in the year. Each wave of admissions, the universities look at your application as if it were the first time. 

• The two largest waves of admission come in late February-March, and again in late April-May. Gr. 11 marks are not considered for these rounds of admission. 

• All offers are conditional dependent upon you completing all your requirements and maintaining your marks until you finish Gr. 12.  There is one final mark upload at the end of June - and yes, many students lose their offers or entrance scholarships if their marks drop in semester 2. BE CAREFUL.

If you took courses via night school or summer school, most universities consider these equally with your day school courses. There are a few exceptions (eg. Waterloo, but only for their highly competitive programs like Computer Science or Engineering). Check with your potential school to find out for sure.

If you took courses via private school, then yes, universities do not consider private school marks the same way as public school credits. Each university handles them differently, but some will reduce your private school course marks in their calculations, because they are FULLY aware of how inflated they can be. Some universities also require you to submit full transcripts if you have ANY private school marks on them, especially for Gr. 11 and 12 core courses. 

Gr. 11 marks count as a factor in determining whether to offer you admission a little early. They also count with college admissions, scholarship applications and for NCAA applicants. They are NOT used as a factor to reject you from any programs - so if Gr. 11 was a rough year for you, try not to worry too much - they will be paying attention to how you do this year. If you'd like to know which ones look at Gr. 11 marks, OUAC posts a reference guide in the fall that gives information. It will be linked here, or go directly to OUAC.ca

Yes, however if you drop a course prior to midterms, it will not be. If you drop after it will appear as WITHDRAWN on your transcript.

If you take a course twice, most schools will count the highest of the two marks and do not care about repeat attempts. If you take the same course three times, most schools will take the average of the three attempts. 

A few things could happen. But one thing will happen - you will be okay! There are lots of opportunities:

• Universities/Colleges might let you know that you didn't meet the qualifications, and you might want to upgrade your marks/courses.

• They might waitlist you for the program, in which case you wait until after June 3rd to find out if there are any spots (kids might receive multiple offers, so spots can open)

• They might offer you an alternative program - check if you can transfer into your preferred one if you do well in your first year.

• OUAC will post a list of available programs that you can apply to after June 3rd - not all programs fill up! 

• If you applied to university, you can apply to colleges for September, January or May starts - and many of their programs are university degrees!

• You can take a year off to work, maybe travel, or upgrade your courses (via night school or elsewhere) and try again next year! You might find a year off gives you a fresh perspective.