I do not have any IB or AP courses because they are not offered in my area of Toronto, Canada. Are they absolutely REQUIRED to get into a university such as Stanford? If I have top-notch grades, some ‘interesting’ EC and outside volunteer work, my own company/job, and many other things… then do I stand a chance? I live in a pretty shady area of Toronto, and I’ve managed to ‘work myself up’ in this place. I’ll post more later on, but we haven’t received all our stats at school yet…
I also take some educational courses/summer programs with major universities in my country, such as the University of Toronto summer programs
Please don’t disappoint me, but rather, if I really need to step up, then let me know what I should do.
<p>I was wondering..how difficult is the admission process in Canada? I asked this guy from Toronto..and he wasn't really into the whole college thing. He did tell me there was a major literacy test everyone had to take in 10th grade..and I think that compares to the SAT?</p>
<p>Oh yeah, there was a girl on here, AnitaVM, that I think is also from Canada, but she was taking full AP tests. Hmm.</p>
<p>Not to worry, if the school doesn't offer it, you can't take it and that is not held against you. Some kids take a community college class to bolster their courseload.</p>
<p>In most cases, the top-notch schools (all of them, really, for that matter) pay more attention to how well you've taken advantage of what you have been offered. If you can play up what you've done (like your own business--impressive!) then you'll be fine. =)</p>
<p>Offhand, I would say its a concern, because you're compared at least partially to the Canadian portion of your applicant pool. I'm Canadian, and I was accepted to Princeton last year. I knew five other people from my area who were also accepted - three of us were in IB, and three were taking AP courses (one girl did both).</p>
<p>When your high school transcript is sent to the colleges that you are applying to, a school profile will be included with it. The profile will indicate whether or not your high school offers IB or AP courses. If they don't offer them, it will not be held against you.</p>
<p>I think as long as you take advantage of your opportunities, you should be okay.</p>
<p>sarorah, from what I've read on Canadian universities regarding applications, it almost seems easier to apply to Canadian universities than American ones. On the university websites I've visited, most of the universities only require your high school transcript and base their decision on your grades. In the US, all of the university admission websites I've visited require high school transcripts, essays/personal statements, letters of recommendations, lots of extra curriculars, etc. to be submitted when applying.</p>
<p>I know that Queens university in Kingston, ON requires a personal statement and references. I'm not sure if other universities current require that, or whether Canadian universities are going to start asking for personal statements, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for the explanation CDN_dancer. I suppose a lot of the schools in Canada are good, and that's why colleges only require a high school transcript. That's certainly not the case here as someone could go to a crappy high school and get A+++ and another go to a very competitive high school and get Bs. I did think there was some type of test though..like the ACT or SAT.</p>
<p>Each province has a standardized test. In Alberta, there's a provincial achievement test administered in grades 3, 6, and 9, as well as a provincial diploma test in grade 12; everyone in the province writes the same exam (possibly on the same day). I'm pretty sure that other provinces follow a similar testing format.</p>
<p>Yeah, you're right blah_blah. At least in Alberta, the provincial exams are a joke and are incredibly easy if you've paid attention during the school year (At least the gr. 3 and 6 exams are. I'm writing the gr. 9 one this year but I've heard it's just as easy). And, no, I seriously doubt these come even close to the level of difficulty on the ACT/SAT</p>
<p>In Canada a lot of schools do offer AP and/or IB and those are very rigorous, just like in the US. I'm not 100% sure there's AP exams (although they should be offered) but the IB exams are definitely offered.</p>
<p>Hah. My (conservative) guess is that there are 5 canadian schools offering AP for every school offering IB. But the AP programs tend to be confined to 4-8 exams or so, often less..</p>
