How Selective are Canadian Schools?

College Search & Lists
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<p>I have heard that Canadian Colleges are generally easy to get into. But how easy exactly are they? In PrincetonReview.Com, I saw the acceptance rate of the prestigious U of T is 66%. I doubt that this is reliable.</p>

<p>I have a GPA of 3.0 and 1200 on SAT, but if you only count my junior and senior year I have a GPA close to 3.8. I wanna go to a college in Canadian that is easy to get into, and has a good program in mathematics. And of course, it’s better if it’s well-known to public.</p>

<p>I’m thinking of U of T, if its acceptance rate is really 66%, and UVic, which also has 60% rate according to Princeton Review. But both of them seem to be reaches to me, so I need some safety schools that I can almost get into for sure.</p>

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<p>They’re less selective than top US schools but are by no means easy to get into, especially tougher schools like McGill and U of T, which get a lot of international applicants as well as Canadian students.</p>

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<p>They’re not any less prestigious because of the high acceptance rates - they are PUBLIC schools (it’s this thing we have going on here in Canada… affordable, accessible, and high quality education). Ivys are not. Hence the difference in acceptance rates (although the ones you have might be a bit high). As for safety schools/other schools in general… I know Waterloo has a very good math program (probably the most reputed in Canada), and you could also try UBC, Western, U of A, etc… Google… look around… try Maclean’s Magazine (online too)… they rank Canadian universities every year and are pretty reliable.</p>

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<p>To cowgirlatheart,</p>

<p>I thought about Waterloo. But is that as hard as U of T to get in? I just don’t know how hard are the Canadian Colleges. Does the high acceptance rate go to international students, too?</p>

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<p>The Canadian schools take one person per 20 minutes period, with 10 minute intermissions in between.</p>

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<p>huh? some weird hockey reference, mensa?</p>

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<p>Hello- I have been posting to another “thread” about Canadian schools while awaiting word from UBC for my daughter. It is her top choice- she would be an international student since we live on the West coast of the US. Do any of you Canadian experts have opinions and/or facts about UBC? What about how it compares to UVic and SFU, where she also applied? Thank you!!!</p>

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<p>

Yeah. I shows how weird they are, in their national sport dividing an hour of play into 3 periods instead of quarters, like here.</p>

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<p>National sport is also lacrosse. Why do people always forget lacrosse.</p>

<p>Canadian schools may be less selective if only because they receive less applications.</p>

<p>However, international is a completely different ball game.</p>

<p>Look also at Dalhousie, McMaster, Western. U of A, Simon Fraser and U of Manitoba may also be places to consider.</p>

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<p>The reason why Canadian schools have such high acceptance rates is because most competitive programs publish a list of designated cut-off grades which discourage many “reach applicants” from applying - as a result, only the students who make the cut apply in the first place.</p>

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<p>it actually varies from program to program, not university to university… like waterloo… very easy to get accepted to programs in the science faculty… but its EXTREMELY difficult to get into some programs in other faculties, like engineering and math… check out the websites for the universities and programs that you are interested in… they will probably list the admissions averages of the previous year’s entering class… you could get an idea of how difficlut it would be getting into that program… coz some programs have admissions averages of around 70% and others have averages of more than 90%.</p>

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<p>What if i get accepted to a science program and then change it to math?</p>

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<p>its very difficult to change to a program in a different faculty…
UofT is pretty easy to get into… if you satisfy all their requirements, your pretty much in…
vampire… wat do u want to study?</p>

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<p>i applied to U of T too, for science. </p>

<p>k776, u said U of T is pretty much easy to get into if u satisfy all their requirements. OMG!!! DOES THAT MEAN I’M PRACTICALLY IN?!?! :D</p>

<p>DAM! I should’ve applied to Waterloo! i thought that was extremely HARD to get into. now i regret forever. i applied to U of Guelph instead. I’m so schocked that no one has heard of U of Guelph! i mean, isn’t it sposta be another GREAT canadian uni?</p>

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<p>I’ve heard of U of Guelph! I know some people there, too. I wouldn’t say it’s as good a school as some others, though; it’s not on the same level as U of T or Queens. But I’ve heard it’s good for some programs.</p>

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<p>U of Guelph isn’t that well known in Canada either.</p>

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<p>I will mostlikely major in Mathematics, so Waterloo is my top choice naturally.
By requirements, you mean those grades posted on their websites?
Like for U of T, the requirements for Math was about low 80%.
Does this mean that if I have a GPA of 3.0+, I will get in?
Do they look at only my 11 and 12th grades or all four years?</p>

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<p>I’m not sure about 3.0+ since grading in Canada is tougher than in the States. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think 80%+ is more like 3.5+ in the U.S.</p>

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<p>it’s totally dependent on programs. One of the programs that I applied to was Commerce at Queen’s. The accept rate last year was around 6%. That’s way more competitive than Harvard or Yale. However, if I was applying to a general Arts program, etc, the accept rate would more likely to be around 50+%. Similarly, the double degree program (Math and Business Admin) at Waterloo accepts only 60 students per year…it’s extremely competitive as well.</p>

<p>At UofT you need SAT of at least 1300 to even get considered for their engineering programs. For other programs, you need at least 1100. Hope this helps.</p>

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<p>For canadian students, they only look at 12th grade marks… dunno about students from the US…
For most programs, UofT doesnt even ask for essays, teacher recommendations, EC’s, etc so the only thing they look at is the grades… and if those meet the requirements, i think its pretty easy to get in…and as cnmc said, some programs like engineering at UofT arent that easy to get into…</p>

<p>if you want to do the maths/business double degree… you can even apply through wilfrid laurier univeristy and take the math classes at waterloo… it’ll probably be easier to get admitted to the double degree this way… and just like applying to it through waterloo, you’ll end up with a BMath degree from waterloo and a BBA from wilfrid laurier.</p>