<p>I am applying to U of T and a few other colleges in Ontario via the common app. I was surprised to see that they don't need essays, letters of rec or personal statements. I am from America so this is a huge shock for me.. could you please tell me why this is so..
does that mean they only look at you GPA and SAT (is the SAT given any importance?)</p>
<p>It’s because we’re awesome up here. 
It might be that we’re a bit less individualistic up here, and as such don’t focus on everyone’s unique qualities as much, or that our universities are mostly on par with each other and are easy enough to get into, such that you’ll probably have a hard time of university if you rely on other factors to get in, if you can’t get in based on marks alone.</p>
<p>And yeah, pretty much, just GPA and SAT or ACT (the latter two are for international students); some schools might have extra requirements, but not as many as US schools. One poster on here mentioned that that might be changing, though, to include essays and such so they’re more holistic like they are down there. I hope they don’t, as I think it would mostly be more busywork for everyone involved.</p>