General Tips:

General Help - Balance

Applying for universities can be a daunting challenge and it’s important to know what supports you have and keep up in all the other commitments you have despite the time you need to commit to applying. Here are some tips to ensure you can maintain success in the months where you’re applying.

  1. Keep a comprehensive schedule of when applications are due and/or open. This will ensure that you don’t have any last minute surprises that cause unnecessary distress. It can also be helpful to keep track of documents and information you’re expecting back, such as test scores or transcripts in case you need to follow up on them.
  2. Create a priority list of the tasks you need to complete for school or extracurriculars so that you can have a good idea of whether or not you can maintain the same level of engagement at this time or if you need to drop back. There’s no shame or harm in putting some things first and giving up others!

Application Help - The Basics

Filling out your personal information can be incredibly monotonous and boring - but it’s critical that this step be done right. Here’s some information to make sure you don’t make any preventable mistakes in this part of your application.

  1. Have a document of all the personal and academic information saved in a separate word document or PDF so that you don’t need to cross reference documents each time you need to fill out the same information in their applications
  2. Prepare official documents such as transcripts prior to beginning applications to prevent any surprises in the case there are delays or issues in obtaining the document. Include all documents that you might need - for US applications, this can include documentation from grade 9 (as opposed to just 10-12 for most Canadian institutions)
  3. Carefully read the requirements on formatting as some information can have different requirements for certain applications that will be annoying to need to fix later (for grade scales, make sure you select the right marking criteria to match your school’s)
  4. Double check all dates and key information like name and address for typos as issues in these fields can lead to major issues later in the processing of the application (these usually aren’t caught until documents are being verified after offers are made)

Application Help - Extracurriculars and community involvement

While Canadian institutions typically require less information about extracurriculars, this just means you need to stand out even more when presented the opportunity to talk about the things you’re involved in outside of academics. See below for some tips to make sure you can separate yourself from the crowd!

  1. Before you look for extracurricular activities that help you in your applications and resume, understand what kind of things you genuinely want to do - it will be difficult to stay committed to activities that you don’t enjoy and don’t care about, which will reflect in your experiences and how much you gain from them
  2. Approach extracurricular activities in a goal oriented manner. There should be skills you’re trying to improve, communities you want to be able to help, or achievement levels you want to reach. Otherwise, it can be very easy to do extracurriculars and be unable to reference anything tangible you got out of them, which both reduces the effectiveness of the activity for your own improvement and on your applications. These goals can be big or small, but are also measurable enough such that you can know when they have been achieved so you can set more goals. This can also help extracurricular activities feel more fulfilling, as at the end of the day, they are only what you make of them

Canadian Applications:

Canadian institutions tend to have relatively simple applications, requiring less information about extracurricular activities and community involvement when compared to applications for institutions in the US or Europe. Typically, they will only require you to provide personal information and educational information (more will be provided on this later), with only some programs requirign supplemental work.

Usually applications for Canadian institutions are due at the beginning of the year you are studying in (if you are attending school in fall of 2023, your applications will be due in January - March of 2023). This means that they will be due later than the applications for many institutions in the US, which you might want to take into consideration when deciding which applications to prioritize in the fall semester.

Typically for Canadian applications, you won’t need need to reference specific experiences for your extracurricular activities, so articulating your time in each won’t be as important, but it’s a good idea to keep track of key achievements and milestones you achieve.

US Applications: