What I Wish I Knew Before Applying To University

November 17th, 2022

The time to submit applications to undergraduate programs is right around the corner. There are so many options for schools and programs, it can be quite overwhelming. For this week's article, I'm going to share a bit about my experience with applying to university and also some things that I wish I had known before I submitted my applications. These tips also helped me recently when I started choosing which law school programs I wanted to apply to! So not only are they helpful for aspiring undergrad students, but they also might be helpful if you aren't so sure on which schools to apply to for your masters, or any post undergraduate studies!

When I was in grade 12, I thought I was doing everything right. There was only one school out of all my choices that I wanted to attend. I hate to say it, but that school wasn't Western. And I truly thought I was doing everything right: I thought I enrolled in the right classes, I thought I was doing enough extra curricular activities, and I thought I was getting high enough grades. When this school sent me a rejection letter, I was devastated. I actually emailed the admissions committee to ask them what was wrong with my application. After weeks of waiting for a response, I finally received a phone call which informed me that I took one of the wrong courses, and so they were unable to offer me admission. As much as this news was terrible at the time, I truly believe it was a blessing in disguise for me. Although for the sake of being diligent, my first piece of advice is to PLEASE make sure you are taking all the proper courses for your applications and to have a few backup schools, just incase!!!

I ended up accepting my offer to Western without even visiting London once. It took me a long time to adjust to this city, given that I had no idea what it was like, or even what the Western campus looked like. So this leads me to my second piece of advice: go visit every single school you have applied to! This is a big one, and it actually has played a major role in which law schools I decided to apply to. As much as your university experience is about your academics, you are also switching around your entire lifestyle. If you don't like the town you are in or the campus you are on, that can make a huge difference as to whether or not you enjoy your university experience. So once again, make sure you visit every university you apply to and test out if you can see yourself living there.

Another piece of advice I have is for choosing what programs you want to apply to. I truly believe that you need to seek out advice from someone who I currently in the program you wish to be in. This way, they can tell you all about it, what it entails, the workload, etc. When I applied for and accepted a program in psychology, I had no idea how big of a research and statistics based program this was. I struggle a lot with math and in order to meet program requirements, I was forced to take several math and statistics courses. So my advice to you is to talk to someone who is currently in the program you would like to get into, and see if that program is actually the perfect fit for you.

The last piece of advice is to consider the university's rankings. Post secondary education is not only a major time investment, it is also a major financial investment. When it comes to getting a job post graduation, or even applying to graduate schools, sometimes going to a highly accredited school can help you reach your goals. Because you are investing so much time and money into your education, you want to make sure that YOU are getting the best out of it as well. So be a bit more picky when applying, and go where you think will help your reach YOUR goals.

All in all, university applications can be a bit daunting. It's important to make sure you are thorough Not only do all of these tips apply to university applcations, but they also apply to college applications as well. At the end of the day, you are making an investment in your future and so you should really take into consideration all of the factors that play into your overall choice!

As always, feel free to send me an email. You can find my email on the "Contact" page. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about university applications! :)

-Sam