This Week In University Counselling: Grade 12

November 15-25

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

Please Note: Ms. Beausoleil will be away this week from Tuesday onward.

University Counselling/CLC Blocks

You are responsible for checking your My Schedule on MySchool to know when your University Counselling block is scheduled.

University of victoria: explore uvic

We will be organizing a bus to take down Grade 12s who are interested in attending Explore UVic on the afternoon of Saturday, November 30 (during sport).
If you would like to attend (and have permission from your coaches to miss sport), please indicate your interest by filling out the Form on the University Visits & Presentations page (use the button below...)

University Visits & Presentations

The University Visit season has definitely slowed down, but there remains some interesting events on the calendar!

Click the button to proceed to our University Visits & Presentations page to view upcoming events and learn how to sign up to attend them:

University Visits & Presentations

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.

university counselling's golden rule

Remember what was said during the University Counselling Orientation Presentation:

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!

We will be reminding you about our DUE DATE-DO DATE policy very often over the course of the fall, but it is important that you sear it into your brains now! Plan ahead and get the work done in a timely fashion! It's a proven approach, so adhere to it, and your applications will thank you!!

Do dates/Due Dates

Here are some key DO DATES/DUE DATES coming soon:

University of British Columbia Early Admission/Scholarship Consideration

DUE DATE = December 1 / YOUR DO DATE WAS November 1

University of Texas, University of San Diego

DUE DATE = December 1 / YOUR DO DATE WAS November 1

University of California/California State Universities

DUE DATE = December 2 / YOUR DO DATE WAS November 1

MOST US Regular Decision

DUE DATE = December 15 - January 1 / YOUR DO DATE WAS November 15

University of British Columbia

DUE DATE = January 15 / YOUR DO DATE = November 25

Richard Ivey School of Business HBA Application

DUE DATE = January 15 / YOUR DO DATE = November 25

University of Toronto Engineering Supplement

DUE DATE = January 15 / YOUR DO DATE = November 25

UK

DUE DATE = January 29 / YOUR DO DATE = December 9

University of Victoria Commerce Application

DUE DATE = January 31 / YOUR DO DATE = December 9

University of Waterloo Admission Information Form (AIF): Engineering

DUE DATE = January 31 / YOUR DO DATE = December 9

University of Toronto Supplements for Commerce, Computer Science, Architecture, Kinesiology

DUE DATE = Ferbuary 3 / YOUR DO DATE = January 7

University of Waterloo Admission Information Form (AIF): Programs other than Engineering

DUE DATE = February 14 / YOUR DO DATE = January 14

canadian university applications

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.

In some cases, it might be worth waiting on some specific applications in order to see where you stand when your first term marks are collected; teachers will be submitting them on November 25.

There are almost no application deadlines that fall before your December holidays for Canadian universities, although we would like to get the bulk of applications submitted by then. 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

Let's get moving along with all your Canadian University Applications!

UC Logins Form

While you are always advised to protect your login credentials for websites on which you establish accounts, it is vital that you share those credentials with University Counselling so that we can fully support your applications. We do promise absolute discretion in protecting your credentials... you can put your trust is us!

To easily share your Application Account Login Credentials, please use this Form:

Scary emails from ouac

If you have applied to OUAC, you may have received an email from OUAC soon after submitting the application that says something is wrong/missing involving your BC Ministry transcript or PEN. They do this every year... and it is a silly email that they send!

OUAC will eventually be handling and distributing your BC Ministry transcript to the universities to which you have applied.

You need not worry about the email; it just means you did not order your transcript to be released to OUAC before you applied... nobody does that!

All of you created your BCeID on during the Alternate Academic Day, so you can proceed with ordering your transcript to OUAC.

Time to Self-Report 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. Until your Fall Term marks come in, there is nothing to report!

University of Toronto and Western University, for example, will allow you to enter Grade 11, completed Grade 12 marks, and in-progress Grade 12 courses.

Those schools that require interim Grade 12 marks... we will report them once we get Fall Term marks at the end of November.

If you are unclear about reporting, see one fo the University Counsellors 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 at the end of January—6 weeks or so after the upcoming collection—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

So many of you managed to get through the Early Application process very well... but the Regular Application process LOOMS LARGE! In fact, your DO DATE for getting most of your Regular Decision Applications complete HAS ALREADY PASSED... it was November 15!

For many of you, that is going to be a MASSIVE WAKE-UP CALL! Regardless of what Early Applications you submitted, you MUST get on with the remaining applications to ensure that they are complete. You want to have everything ready in case you need to submit those applications (in other words, if you don't get into your ED school!) If you applied only applied EA, you simply need to get on with the rest of your applications!

You need to be feeling the urgency of this! GET A MOVE ON!!

US College Application Resources

applicants to UK universities

The application deadline for courses in the United Kingdom is January 29.

The main component of the UCAS application is your Personal Statement, thus following the DUE DATE/DO DATE Policy...

You need to have it and the rest of the application ready for review by December 9.

Please check out what you need to do by accessing the UK University Application Resources page:

UK Universities Application Resources

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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