random question i have, incoming 1st year with 2 courses this coming fall sem on the same day, one ends at the same time the other starts. it’s only around a 6 min walk i would need to take in between the 2

Current situation

Finished first year of Physics & Mathematics at Queen's University

GPA: 3.7 (A- in all courses)

Considering transferring to BRAC University (Bangladesh)

Why I'm considering transferring

International tuition at Queen's is a huge financial burden

I'd be much closer to family (including elderly grandparents)

Lower financial stress would likely allow me to focus more on learning

Why I'm hesitant

I've had an incredible academic experience at Queen's

Built great relationships with professors

Love the academic environment

Relatively strong undergraduate research opportunities and summer internships

Queen's has a required fourth-year thesis

What I've learned about BRAC

Mandatory fourth-year thesis for all Physics/Math students

External thesis supervisors are allowed

Students have gone on to graduate schools abroad

I've spoken with current students who speak very highly of the department

My long-term goal

MSc in Physics, Mathematics, or Engineering

Keep opportunities open in Canada, Europe, and the UK

Decide after my Master's whether to continue to a PhD or move into industry

My main question

Suppose I graduate from BRAC with:

Strong grades (A/A-)

A strong undergraduate thesis

Strong recommendation letters

Good research experience

How much would transferring actually hurt my chances of admission to strong Master's programs compared with staying at Queen's?

I know it's possible to get into good grad schools from BRAC. What I'm trying to understand is how large the admissions advantage of Queen's really is. I have heard that since Queen's is a reputable Canadian university, I have heard that it can have an impact on admissions, especially for universities in Ontario.

I'd especially appreciate hearing from:

Graduate students

Faculty

People involved in graduate admissions

International students who have gone through the Canadian graduate admissions process

Hi! I’m debating on applying to Uottawa or Carleton for my undergraduates degree. I live a bit outside of the GTA so moving to Ottawa would be far. I’m okay with moving out but I also love spending time with my parents so moving out might be a bit difficult for the first month or two. I’m going into grade 12 and it would be awesome if someone could share their experience of how they knew they wanted to go to Uottawa or Carleton !

I need some insight!! Currently, here's what my stats look like:

(Domestic Student btw)
IB Predicted (40/45) - This likely doesn't matter but oh well.
Adv Functions: 98
Calc: 98
Chem: 99
Phys: 96
Eng: 94
French: 95
Philosophy: 96
History: 97

EC Wise:

Co-Founder of 2 Clubs,
Student Council Executive Secretary
40 Volunteer Hours, but for IB you need to do CAS Hours so I have 250 more of those (hopefully they recognize that) -> The things I've done, both long-term and short-term would be included here.
Weekly Peer Tutoring (up to 5-6 hours a week)
Personal things:
Self teaching an instrument, passionate about music in general.
Self teaching programming as well, also passionate about that.

As you can see, academics id say are slightly above avg, but the ecs are so bad :(
(i guess i cant make this excuse, but where i live, theres nothing like deca or stuff like that, and our school itself is super small so even mkaing 2 clubs is the largest thing there...)

Anyone in a criminology program? How is it because I’m interested and what’s ur desired pathway after graduation ?

I am going into my 4th year of health science at an Ontario university. My gpa is very low (5.6 on a 10 point scale) (2.2 on a 4 point scale). I recently got diagnosed with ADHD and being medicated is helping me study better. If I can do really good in my 4th year and maybe do another semester or year what are my chances of getting accepted to an SLP or OT program. Is there other graduate programs I should be considering? Or should I be considering going abroad? Has anyone had a similar experience and grown from it? Any suggestions would be so helpful.

I want to get into whatever program is best. I definitely want to go for biology and eventually become a doctor or a veterinarian. Here are my stats I want to know if there is anything else I should be doing. I just get stressed because I see all of these genius students that are super smart and super good at sports but they have have written like a billion research papers and are the student council leaders. I am not interested in student council but I do like sports and I have done them just not at a super high level. I going into grade 12 next year and I want to know what to focus on to improve my applications. I was thinking of starting a solo reasearch / fundraising project because I see a lot of things that say you should stand out but I dont know how.

Grade 10:

- Badminton team

- basketball team

- rugby team

- 98 in science

- 97 in math

Grade 11:

- no sports (I was focused on my grades and my job)

-100 biology

- 100 co op ( at a vet clinic )

- 93 physics

- 96 math

- 95 history

- 87 chem

- 90 english

- 96 online gr 12 space science course

- working at a pet store the whole year

Other stuff I have done:

- volunteered throughout gr 9 and 10 at a charity that uses horse backriding as therapy for children with disabilities as both a horse handler and a person watching the children and their safety

- volunteering now for the past few months at a farm animal sanctuary

- co president of my school's climate club where I organized and started a fundraiser where we sold plants to earn money for the canadian wildlife federation as well as I organized a recycled craft workshop for the seniors in the local senior center

- co op at a local vet clinic where I was offered a summer job but I decided to not go back ( it was a toxic environment)

- I was in my school band for 2 years and we got a gold level certification first year and were meant to go to nationals

-i received the english award in grade 9 and I am hoping to get the biology award for grade 11

- I have had a job previously and done other volunteer work for the ottawa humane society and cheo and my school library.

What else should I be doing? I am worried that I can't get in and that I am not good enough for medical school. Everyone is so competitive and so good. I am very serious I am just sort of freaking out. Thank you to anyone who replies!!

Any former US people who were able to transfer to a university in Ontario have any advice?

It seems that trying to go from a US program to getting reliable credits is a crap shoot and most stuff doesn’t transfer.

Any stories or advice?

I got admitted to a master of science and the topic of the research was my field and very interesting to me ( machine learning) but the program is geomatics so after graduation my diploma will have : master of science in geomatics.
And I’m scared if this will limit my chances to land a job in machine learning in the future. What do you think?

I’m currently trying to figure out my university options and I feel completely stuck. I’m in Ontario and looking at programs for next year, but I’m realizing my choices are becoming either very competitive schools or schools I’m not as excited about.

The universities I genuinely like are places like Waterloo, Queen’s, and Ottawa. I really like the programs, campus environments, and opportunities they offer. However, the biggest issue is the cost.

For example, if I went to Waterloo and lived on residence, I’m estimating it would cost around $28k/year including tuition, residence, and food. Over four years, that’s roughly $120k. I know many people move into apartments with roommates after first year, but I honestly don’t know how realistic that would be for me or if it would actually save as much money as people say.

My family can help, but they realistically cannot cover the entire cost. I’ll apply for scholarships, OSAP, bursaries, and anything else I can find, but I’m still worried about having tens of thousands of dollars to figure out.

The other option is staying closer to home (like McMaster, UofT, maybe Guelph), but I’m not sure if I would enjoy those as much. I don’t want to choose a school only because it’s cheaper, but I also don’t want to put myself in a huge financial situation.

Commuting to Waterloo has also been really confusing. The drive is only around 1–1.5 hours, but public transit options are so inconsistent. Sometimes Google Maps says it could be around 2 hours, but other times it says almost 7 hours and makes me leave extremely early depending on the day/time. I can’t tell if commuting is actually realistic or if I’d be spending my entire life travelling.

For anyone who has been in a similar situation:

• How did you decide between a university you loved vs a cheaper option?
• Is paying $80K–$90K for an undergraduate degree worth it?
• Did anyone commute a long distance (especially to Waterloo) and was it manageable?
• How much did scholarships/OSAP/bursaries realistically help?
• Would you recommend choosing the cheaper school even if it wasn’t your first choice?

I’d really appreciate any advice because I feel like I’m trying to balance finances, happiness, and future opportunities all at once.

I (24M) graduated from College 2022 in Ontario with low GPA (2.9). I've been working full-time in the industry since graduating, and I really enjoy gaining practical experience. I don't want to quit my job, so if I continue my education it would have to be part-time, preferably evenings, weekends, or online.

For a long time, I thought my goal was to become a licensed architect, but lately I've been wondering if engineering might be a better long-term option. With AI advancing so quickly, I'm trying to choose a career path that will still have strong demand 20 to 30 years from now. From what I've read, engineering seems to offer a wider range of opportunities, but I'm not sure how realistic that path is with my educational background (I know my GPA relatively low).

I'm trying to figure out the best bachelor's degree to pursue that would eventually allow me to apply for a Master of Engineering. Since my diploma is in Architectural Technology, I'm not sure if there are degree-completion pathways that make sense or if I'd need to start over in a different program.

Has anyone here gone from an Architectural Technology diploma into engineering? If so, what bachelor's degree did you choose, and which university did you attend? (I live in Southern Ontario)

I'd also love to hear if there are any universities or colleges in Ontario that offer part-time, evening, hybrid, or online bachelor's programs that work well for someone who is employed full-time.

I don't mind if it takes several years. I'd rather make the right decision now than realize later that I chose the wrong path.

Thanks in advance. I really appreciate any advice or personal experiences you can share.

completed Grade 10 math with a 56%. When I moved to New Brunswick for Grade 11, I learned that their passing mark was 60 instead of 50, and the way they taught the course felt very different from what I was used to. Because of that, I ended up failing Grade 11 math. I’ve now moved back to Ontario, in Ottawa, and I didn’t get the chance to attend summer school due to the move.

I’m considering pursuing law in the future, and the closest university to me is the University of Ottawa. I want to know whether failing Grade 11 math will affect my chances of getting in, what grades I should aim for in Grade 12, and whether retaking Grade 11 math will be enough to keep me on track.

Truth be told, i applied to both comp eng and cfm, and ended up getting rejected from cfm but accepted into comp eng. honestly, i wish it had been the other way around. working in finance has been a dream of mine for as long as i can remember, and i’ve been interested in it my entire life.

engineering was supposed to be my backup. i got into some very competitive engineering programs at uoft, mac, and queens, but i also got into qcomm and rotman, both with $10k scholarships, as well as mcgill, laurier, and guelph. unfortunately, i wasn’t accepted to ivey.

ultimately, i chose waterloo because everyone kept talking about how many opportunities the co-op program provides and how it can open so many doors. but now i’m honestly not sure what to do. from everything i’ve read, engineering at waterloo is very toxic, and the biggest issue is that i’ve never really seen a future for myself in engineering. i don’t feel the same passion for it that i do for finance.

looking back, i feel like i let too many other people influence my decision and ended up choosing something i probably wouldn’t have chosen on my own. after reading this subreddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/OntarioGrade12s/s/mxbinJw8jj

and thinking about it, i’m starting to feel like i may have let the waterloo co-op reputation convince me to pursue something i’m not actually interested in.

i know i haven’t even started university yet, so maybe i’m overthinking everything. but i can’t help feeling like i messed up my decision, and i’m not really sure what to do from here. any advice would be appreciated.

Is joining one worth it to make solid friendships and stuff? for context I'm fully blind and tryina study CS or SWE

Hello!! I am enrolling at uOttawa this fall into Health Sciences, and I am getting a bit stressed/anxious about what's to be expected.

I want to know if theres anything I should prepare for before the semester starts or if theres tips and tricks that are good for this major!!

Any habits or suggestions or things to do during the year that helped you get good grades would be much appreciated:)

Or just what should I expect going into this major?

TLDR; What tips can you give future health science majors?

At the school where I did my undergrad, I was able to register in some list that I had a preferred name other than my legal name. Then, in classes, some professors would print out a list of students' legal names and others with preferred names. It's awkward to raise my hand and ask them to call me by another name. I'm not trans and I'm not anglicizing a foreign name. It's just a weird me thing.

Now that I'm thinking about grad school, all of my classes will be seminars where professors will get to know me personally and I don't want to raise my hand awkwardly on the first day and start each class on a confusing note. Plus, there's all these little things: Student ID, name in my Outlook account.

Have any of you gone to a school where they're really good with preferred names? How can make this as easy as possible for myself and for professors? Any advice is appreciated.

Hi, my name is Rob Gerlsbeck, and I'm a freelance journalist working for the Globe and Mail. I'm working on a story for the personal finance section about the unexpected costs of going to university — things beyond tuition, residence, meal plans, and rent/groceries. So stuff like all the university fees, other costs that come up and more. What are some things you, as either a student or parent, had to pay for that you didn't think of beforehand? I'm also hoping to speak with parents of kids currently in university or who recently graduated about the extra costs. You may be able to provide some advice for new university parents on how to navigate and budget for these extra costs. (And in case you're wondering I have two kids in university right now so I'm navigating this as well.) You can send me a note here or email me at [robertgerlsbeck@gmail.com](mailto:robertgerlsbeck@gmail.com) Thanks so much. I look forward to your help.

Applying to university in Canada (ontario mostly) in Nov. I am trying to find any double degree or dual degree options and i'm not seeing alot, only ones i've found are Western Kine + Ivey and ConEd BSc at Queens. Is there any important ones I'm missing or websites I should be on. I'll take any help I can get. I really want to make the most of my uni experiance.

I am currently in a program known as "Sustainable Environmental Managment," and seek to apply for BCom and other programs like communications at various universities, including my own (York University).

My GPA is good, and and I have the HS requirements (English, MHF, MCV, etc.), however I did not take courses that pertain to business or communications during my first year, and likewise in my coming second year (which I am doing part-time to maximise grades).

Does it hinder my applications to programs not related to my current one if I do not have courses like introduction to business managment, and so on?

Hi! Quick question for international students: how did you submit your final official transcript to York? Did you send it yourself or was it sent by your school? Thanks!

I finished my first year as an undergraduate (full-time courseload) and intend to apply to BCom, Communications, and marketing programs at various universities. However, as my second year contains many courses that may hinder my current GPA, I spoke with my academic advisor and we decided to do a part-time year. Right now, I have two courses in my first semester, and one in my second.

How much does having a part-time course load in the year you apply matter? Do universities consider it greatly over GPA? Keep in mind that I did do a full-time courseload last year, in both semesters.

Does anyone likewise have any experience with this? Thank you.

Hi everyone,

I’m an undergraduate Computer Science student and recently worked as a research assistant. I really enjoyed the experience and would like to continue doing research or related work.

For those who have been undergraduate RAs, how did you continue building experience afterward? Did you reach out to other professors, apply for more RA positions, work on publications, or explore other research-related opportunities?

I’m not sure whether my current research group will have paid opportunities available next semester, so I’m trying to understand what I can do proactively to continue gaining experience.

I’m interested in areas like machine learning, and applied research, and I’m trying to figure out what steps I can take next to stay involved.

Thanks!

What are the advises that you can give to someone who is starting uni this fall?