This Week In University Counselling: Grade 12

January 9-19

Appointments to see YOUR university counsellor

To see your assigned University Counsellor, you must make an appointment using our on-line booking system.

To book an appointment, you need to be logged into the Brentwood system through your school email account. Also, you must ensure that you have opened your Google Calendar at least once to ensure that the times between the two systems are in sync.

Click the button to proceed to our Appointment Booking page:

University Counselling Appointments

URGENT deadlines!

Although the DO DATES for the following applications were before the Winter Holidays, and many of you kept to those DO DATES well, the final review and submission of the following applications may still need to take place. Please take note!

UCAS Applications to UK Universities

The UCAS application PLUS OUR REFERENCE must be submitted by Wednesday, January 14 @ 10:00 am. That means you need YOUR APPLICATION submitted WELL BEFORE THAT DATE AND TIME!

Richard Ivey School of Business @ Western University: AEO Applications

The AEO application must be submitted by Thursday, January 15 @ 8:59 pm. As it is a VERY thorough application with two major essays, a video interview, and reference contact information for everything you enter, it takes a good deal of time to review and ready for submission.

UBC Applications

The UBC Application, including the Personal Profile, must be submitted by the end of the day on Thursday, January 15. The Personal Profile is a critical component of the application, so it needs to be reviewed to ensure that it is submission-ready.

Admission decisions: keeping university counselling in the loop!

Whether it's good or bad news, PLEASE let us know when you receive admission information from your university choices. We require this information from you: 1) to have a complete picture of what is happening with applications, 2) to promote your achievements! 3) it helps us understand how universities are making their decisions.

When you do get news from universities, please take time to share it with your University Counsellor. Make an appointment so we can ensure that we are fully updated on the status of your applications (AND ENTER THAT INFORMATION INTO MAIALEARNING)... and so that we can celebrate when an offer comes in!!

uiniversity correspondence

PLEASE READ THE CORRESPONDENCE THAT THEY SEND YOU, AND ACT WHEN THEY ASK YOU TO!

It is clear that many of you are not carefully reading the emails you are receiving. This is how universities work... they function on email.

They may have specific tasks for you to complete, and deadlines associated with them, so be sure to review what you receive carefully. If all they say is that you need to arrange for your transcript to be sent, know that we have you covered and will make arrangements for that to happen… that’s why we insisted that you applied with us!
Get your Application Accounts set up and entered into the Login Doc you connected in MaiaLearning so that your University Counsellor can access the information easily.
Please share correspondence with us that you may not understand. For example, if you receive letters or emails that tell you that universities are missing some documents or information, please DON’T PANIC, but do come to see us. With so many items arriving at each admissions office, inevitably some things go astray and need to be re-submitted.

UNIVERSITY COUNSELLING's ONE COMMANDMENT

Remember what was said during the University Counselling Orientation Presentation:

All applications must be submitted in our offices with your university counsellor

As application portals open up, you may be tempted to fire off the simple ones. Please DO NOT! Follow our guidance and work with us on this all-important process.

If you have submitted applications on your own, please do two things: (1) enter the information into MaiaLearning, and (2) make an appointment with your University Counsellor to review the details of what you submitted and what is required to complete the application. It's a simple fact: if you submit applications on your own, we cannot assure the quality and accuracy of the process! We're the professionals in this, here to assist you to ensure that applications are fully complete!

Canadian Applicants

In most cases (UBC is a notable exception), the application is straightforward and involves the submission of biographical and academic information, along with the application fee. While that sounds simple, it is still critical that it be done accurately and thus why it is non-negotiable that ALL applications be submitted with one of the University Counsellors.

All the information you need about application accounts and deadlines can be found on the Canadian Universities Application Resources page... click the button below to access the page:

Canadian University Application Resources

There is still plenty of time to submit your applications to Canadian universities, but you want to get moving!

Application Deadlines!

January 15 = UBC, Toronto
January 31 = Simon Fraser, Victoria
February 1 = Concordia (Int'l Students), McGill, McMaster, Queen's
March 1 = All other universities and colleges*

* While there are deadlines throughout the winter and spring, we want to ensure that ALL applications are submitted by March 1.

supplemental applications - Canadian Universities

While most Canadian universities have very simply applications, initially, many of them do require supplemental material to complete the application process. It is critical that you review the communication that they initiate with you to ensure that you fully understand the supplemental requirements and associated deadlines.

Here are JUST A FEW of the notables...

University of Toronto

For Engineering: Online Student Profile This supplemental includes a video interview! The final deadline to complete it is January 15.

Each of these programs has a requirement to submit supplemental material. The final deadline to complete it is February 2.

For Commerce: Rotman Commerce Supplemental Application This supplemental includes a video interview!
For Computer Science: Supplemental Application for Computer Science.
For Architectural Studies: One Idea Supplementary Application.

McMaster University

For Arts & Science: the deadline for the Supplementary Application is February 1.
For Health Sciences: the Supplementary Application system will open in February and be due a few days later.

Queen's University

The deadline for the Supplementary Essays required for Commerce and Health Sciences and strongly recommended for Nursing is February 15.

University of Waterloo

The deadline for the Admission Information Form is February 13. It is required for anyone applying to Engineering, your deadline is January 31.

University of Calgary

The deadline for the Supplementary Application required for the Health Sciences programs is March 1.

If you are uncertain whether the program that you applied has a supplemental application, please review its admission requirements carefully and look out for instructions from the university. If you are still uncertain, come and see us in University Counselling.

And remember... our DO DATE-DUE DATE Policy applies to Supplemental Applications:

For any application requiring any supplemental writing, ALL APPLICATON MATERIAL MUST BE COMPLETED ONE MONTH BEFORE THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE!

YOUR DO-DATE = 1 MONTH BEFORE THE DUE DATE!

Time to Self-Report your marks? ...Should I be worrying about marks?!

Reporting/Self-Reporting of Marks

If you have applied to some Canadian universities, you may be getting instructions about next steps, including the Self-Reporting of marks. You are NOT to complete the process of Self-Reporting on your own. Make an appointment with one of the University Counsellors for assistance. With your Fall term marks available, we can proceed with these universities:

University of Alberta ...Starting February 1
Concordia University
Huron University College
McGill University ...Early Period now... DUE: FEBRUARY 1; Required Period opens MARCH 1
McMaster University
University of Ottawa
University of Toronto ...DUE: FEBRUARY 2
University of Waterloo ...DUE: FEBRUARY 13 (JANUARY 31 for Engineering)
Western University

If you are wondering about how different Canadian universities get your marks data, this document will help...

Canadian University Interim Marks/Transcript Requirements 2025-26

DO NOT DO THIS ON YOUR OWN!

The University Counsellors are the experts in ensuring that this is all done correctly, so do it during an appointment.

Those schools that require interim Grade 12 marks which we now have. If you are unclear about reporting, see your University Counsellor for assistance.

Grade 12 Marks: "Everyone Just Needs to RELAX!"

With fall term marks being collected very soon, the anxiety and nervousness from some Grade 12s is running hot! …Everybody just needs to relax!

On the issue of Marks and what is being sent to Universities, here’s the official word:

While the marks collected for the Fall Report Card are reported to the Ministry of Education, and many Canadian universities have the ability to consider these marks for admission, Universities look at marks throughout the next several months for admissions.
- Some universities put more weight into marks that are only available at midyear (end of January) or at the end of the Winter Term (like UBC).
- Some universities only consider marks that you report to them, and their systems may not open until midyear for you to do so (like McGill).
US universities to which some students have applied will receive a transcript that includes those marks, BUT…
- ...US universities will also receive a Midyear Report at the end of January that includes updates marks, and those are the marks that are more relevant to the admissions process.
Updated marks will be requested from teachers near the end of January and tend to be ones that universities consider most seriously.

There will be more opportunities over the coming months for universities to consider your marks data. Keep working hard to improve your class marks!

Applicants to us colleges

Just about all US applications have now been submitted, the exception being any that have an application deadline that falls on February 1 or later… and those are few and far between!

If you have any outstanding applications to US universities that have not yet been reviewed for submission, please make appointments to review your applications with the University Counsellors.

For those of you who have already submitted your applications…

Universities may be contacting you with requests for further information, or to notify you about missing documentation. Be sure to read the correspondence and act on requests ASAP. We want to ensure that your application files are complete and ready for review, and often materials can go missing in busy Admissions Offices.
You will be getting emails from universities reminding you to arrange to have Midyear Reports submitted. Rest assured that we will be completing that process by month’s end when they are typically due.

US College Application Resources

additional requirements for ubc

English Language Admission Standard (ELAS)

If you attended a school at any time from Grade 9 onward where English was NOT the primary language of instruction, then you will need meet UBC's minimum English Language Admission Standard (ELAS). The ways to meets the requirement are found here. The deadline to submit documentations showing you meet the ELAS is February 15.

HOUSING: Canadian universities

While most universities will guarantee housing to you if you receive an offer, there are some schools which require further action to confirm your interest in campus housing and others where a separate application for residence is required. These schools include: Alberta, UBC, Calgary, Lethbridge, Simon Fraser, Toronto, Victoria. In some cases, the applications for housing are open now (Alberta, UBC) and in others the application will open later in the term.
If you have questions regarding university residence, please see one of the university counsellors.

scholarships

We will keep our Scholarships page updated with all the information we have on national, provincial, and local awards. Click to the button to proceed to our Scholarships page:

Scholarships

International Students whose First Language is Not English

Students whose first language is one other than English, you may very well have to prove your English proficiency to universities by means of a test like TOEFL or IELTS. If you have been at Brentwood since Grade 9, that is often enough for many Canadian universities. If you have been at Brentwood for 3 years or less, and/or you are planning to apply to universities outside of Canada, you must come in to review the Proof of English Proficiency policies of your universities of choice. These policies can vary wildly, and if require a test at even one university on your list, then we need to make plans for you to write TOEFL or IELTS sooner rather than later.

TOEFL and IELTS tests are available locally in Victoria, Nanaimo, and Vancouver, as well at locations around the world. Please come in to discuss options. If you are in doubt about whether you will need to write, come in. IF ENGLISH IS NOT YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE, COME IN TO CONFIRM REGARDLESS!

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