New Website Announcement – UniversityAdmissions.ca
I’m still putting the finishing touches on it, but please visit me over at UniversityAdmissions.ca for a Canada-wide admissions website!
UniversityAdmissions.ca is my new website for all things related to university admissions in Canada… with or without a high school diploma!
Ironically, it’s no longer homeschoolers who are most in need of my help when it comes to university admissions. It’s the students trapped by or within the system who don’t realize that there are other paths to university. It’s the kids who, for whatever reason, just weren’t meant for the system because the system isn’t meant for them. It’s the young adults who made certain choices that leave them in what they think is a disadvantaged educational position. It’s even the teachers like me who want to help students, not administer policy.
I think everyone can benefit from my university admission resources, but they might not think to look for help at a website devoted to homeschoolers. That’s where UniversityAdmissions.ca comes in. It’s my chance to take these messages of freedom and choice to a wider student audience. It’s my attempt to move beyond labels like “homeschooler” and let the general public know that anyone can create their own high school experience without closing the door to university. I hope to encourage not only homeschoolers who worry that they have to go into the system for high school, but also students who have always been traditionally-schooled who need or want something different now, but who don’t know that anything even exists outside of the system.
I hope you’ll join me in bringing this message of empowerment mainstream. The University Admissions.ca site is not specifically aimed at homeschoolers, but it strongly asserts that every path to university is an equally valid choice, and most importantly, reveals that going to a traditional high school and earning a diploma is a choice, as so few actually realize. It also allows me to broaden my scope to include general student concerns like issues of learning, motivation, and success that I didn’t feel was my mandate on my previous website. I think homeschoolers will find useful resources there, even though you’ll find that I less frequently refer to homeschoolers explicitly. After all, the point is that you don’t have to be a “homeschooler” to be in charge of your own education!
So please, visit me at UniversityAdmissions.ca and spread the word to everyone, both inside and outside of your homeschooling network!
University of Guelph – Interaction 2011 for university bound students
Guelph’s annual “Interaction” program is a one-day conference (choose between April 27 or April 28) for university bound grade 10 and 11 students designed to introduce them to university living and learning.
I have not specifically asked them about admitting homeschooled students, but they do allow teachers to register (teachers get in free) and bring groups of students or students may attend on their own. I see no reason why they would choose to exclude homeschoolers, but you never know. Please contact the university at the phone number below to confirm.
From their brochure (pdf):
Interaction provides a unique opportunity for university bound secondary school students in grades 10 and 11 to experience the university living and learning community at Guelph. Session topics cover a wide range of issues and subjects and will be presented by faculty, staff and students from a variety of academic disciplines and student services areas.
Students choose one morning session and one afternoon session from dozens of choices including subject-specific themed sessions such as
- Science in Sports: How Sports Fields Are Maintained and How They Impact the Urban Environment
- Wild in the Rainforest
- Microscopy of Food – What the Eye Cannot See!
- Let Your Colours Burst: “Designimation”
as well as university-orientation themed sessions such as
- Tips for Financial Planning
- Setting Yourself Apart: Opportunities and New Horizons
- Your Orientation Starts Now: Finding Your Voice, Your Place, Your Way
- The Co-operative Education Advantage
You must register for this conference by Monday, April 11, 2011. Registration is $30 and includes lunch. If you require special assistance, please call 519.824.4120, ext. 58713. An application and brochure can be found at http://admission.uoguelph.ca/interaction
Alberta Homeschool University Admission Requirements
I was doing some more research into Open Universities and while I was on Athabasca’s website, I thought I might as well knock another province off the list.
Athabasca University has an open admissions policy – no formal schooling or credential is required to apply. The admissions page states that applicants should be 16 years of age, but student may apply even earlier with parental permission. For that reason, it is a great choice for homeschoolers, and many may wish to consider Athabasca instead of following a homeschool high school education/program through to completion.
You’ll have to do some work on the University of Lethbridge website to find their policy on homeschool admissions. First, navigate to their main high school applicant page. Once there, in the bottom left of the screen you’ll find a search box where you can ask a question. Just type in the word homeschool and click ask, and you’ll be directed to the following information:
Q: Admissions: What are the admissions requirements for home-schooled students?
A: Admission requirements for home-schooled students include proof of recognized secondary credentials, or some other means of satisfying the requirements of a U of L admission route.For more information on this route of admission, contact Recruitment and Student Life
Unfortunately, this information does not appear to reside on its own, directly accessible page. (And yes, you’ll notice some meta data in the code where the answer is provided.) So while it’s not the greatest set up, the information can be found.
The University of Calgary does not have any homeschoool admissions information in the usual places, but if you navigate into the school calendar (published annually and includes all university policies, courses, degree requirements etc.) then you will find there is a short blurb about homeschool applicants in section A-13. Usually these sections remain consistent year after year, so when in doubt, look for section A in the university calendar (often found from the Registrar’s website) and probably subsection 13 (give or take) will be the homeschooling admissions policy. The curent calendar reads:
University of Calgary Calendar 2010-2011
Undergraduate Admissions
A.13 Home Schooled ApplicantsHome schooled applicants can qualify for admission by presenting provincial (diploma) examination results in appropriate subjects (Alberta or British Columbia) or by satisfying the requirements given under College Entrance Examinations. Applicants must normally possess a high school diploma and present acceptable scores and average on the five appropriate SAT tests.
Similarly, the University of Alberta will require you to do some digging to find the appropriate information for homeschoolers. In fact, I can’t find any mention of homeschoolers on their website at all. Again, going through the official school calendar from the Registrar’s website gives us at least something to go on. The calendar states that the university recognizes three categories of applicants: matriculated applicants from high school, matriculated applicants transferring from another post-secondary institution and non-matriculated applicants. Of these three categories, homeschoolers fall into the third:
14.3 Nonmatriculated Applicants
The University of Alberta gives special consideration to nonmatriculated applicants for admission to some undergraduate programs. To be considered for admission as a nonmatriculated applicant, a student must be 21 years of age or older by the first day of classes of the term in which admission is sought. Specific Faculty requirements for those Faculties that do consider nonmatriculated applicants for admission are outlined in §15.
For these and other institutions in Alberta, including university colleges, technical institutions, public colleges, bible colleges and apprenticeships, visit the comprehensive listing of institutions and homeschool admissions policies at Education Unlimited.