Question of the week – How do I apply to….?

So one thing we do here in our office is keep track of the questions we are getting over the phone and by email.  One of the most frequently asked questions has been “How can I apply to your English/Physics/History/Psychology/Biology/Gender Studies program?“.

Well, the short answer is that you don’t.

The longer answer is that at Queen’s, if you apply to a Bachelor of Arts (including the Creative Arts, Languages, Social Sciences and Humanities) or Bachelor of Science (including the Biological and Physical Sciences), you don’t need to tell us what concentration you wish to pursue until later on in the process.  You will be considered for a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science admission – and that’s it.  Once you have been admitted, we’ll start a dialogue where we ask you what you think you want to study.  Then, together, we will build a timetable for your first year that should allow you to follow one of the perhaps multiple academic paths you identify as interesting.  So whether you want to study Philosophy, Film and Media Studies, Global Development Studies or Politics, you will apply to the Bachelor of Arts program.  Same goes for those of you wanting Life Science, Biochemistry or Geology – you apply to the Bachelor of Science program.

There are some more specialized programs that we have within the Faculty of Arts and Science that you *can* apply directly to from High School.  I’m thinking of our Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Computing programs here.  Those programs are a little bit different, so you don’t apply to the more general Bachelor of Arts program or Bachelor of Science program if you want to be considered for one of those.

Our Engineering (also called Applied Science) program works much in the same way.  Instead of applying to Civil, Electrical, Mechanical or Chemical Engineering, you simply apply to Queen’s Engineering.  Once you complete your first year, you simply tell us which engineering you wish to specify in.  We have ten options for you to choose from, so you should definitely check them out and do some advanced scouting!  The main difference in Engineering is that instead of taking courses that you choose from a massive list of options, you do a common first year along with the other first years.  This ensures that you have competency in some key areas and will allow you to succeed in whichever engineering discipline you choose!

That’s it for now.  Keep those questions coming and we’ll post the most frequently asked ones here!

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Kevin du Manoir
Admission Coordinator

Deadline Approaching – Major Awards!

Your application for a Major Admission Award is due in the Student Awards Office no later than the 1^st of December!

And yes, we will accept courier packages.

Students who demonstrate superior academic ability, original and creative thinking, involvement in school or community activities, and proven leadership qualities can apply for a Major Admission Award.  Financial need is also a consideration for some of our Major Admission Awards.

The six specific major admission awards are:

Chancellor’s Scholarship (high school nomination required)

D&R Sobey Atlantic Scholarship (for those wishing to study Commerce from the Atlantic provinces)

Chernoff Family Award (if you live in a rural or remote area of Canada and demonstrate financial need)

Dr. Irish May Marsh Memorial Award (Ontario residents only, demonstrating financial need)

Bank of Montreal Award (Canada-wide, demonstrating financial need)

Melvin R. Goodes Entrance Award (grads of Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario and demonstrating financial need)

* Financial Information must be submitted if applying for a Chernoff Family Award, Dr. Iris May Marsh Memorial Award, Bank of Montreal Award and/or the Melvin R. Goodes Entrance Award.  Financial information is to be submitted on the Admission Bursary application.  The online Admission Bursary application is available on the Student Awards web site. (You must have your OUAC Reference Number to access the on-line admission bursary application).  Admission Bursary application must also be submitted by December 1st to be considered for these awards.

If you have any questions or concerns, please visit our website: www.queensu.ca/registrar/awards or contact us directly at entrance@queensu.ca Have a great day and we look forward to reviewing your application,

Ashley, Amy and Angie

Admission Awards Program

For all you fine artists out there

This week, our Fine Art program drew a lot of attention in the London area with particular interest at St. Mary’s High School in Woodstock and at London South Secondary School. For more information on the Bachelor of Fine Art, visit www.queensu.ca/art/programs_artf.html for a thorough description. Portfolio details can be found online at www.queensu.ca/art/pdf/portfolioPage_091015.pdf.

Queen’s is a great place to study if you are an aspiring artist: we even have a student-run art gallery located right within Stauffer Library! Union Gallery (uniongallery.queensu.ca) provides a unique venue for student artists to display their creativity, and occasionally hosts exhibits from professional artists with outstanding international portfolios. For one of my courses in environmental science, I wrote about an exhibit that focused on consumption patterns and climate change. The centerpiece of the gallery at the time was a massive, stunning pillar made from dozens of laundry detergent bottles. I assure you, it is very difficult to walk past Union Gallery without feeling inclined to check out the current artwork!

I also recommend visiting the Agnes Etherington Art Centre (www.aeac.ca), one of the largest galleries in Ontario and conveniently located on the Queen’s campus. With more than 14,000 historical and contemporary pieces in the permanent collection, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre has gained a reputation related to its diversity and also for housing two of only six Canadian Rembrandts.

On another note, I want to say a specific thank you to the great students and guidance staff at Simcoe Composite School, London Central Secondary School, Catholic Central Secondary School, St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School (don’t forget to update everyone who missed my visit in favor of their field trip!), Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School, AB Lucas Secondary School, and Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School.

For all of the students I have met this fall, I have been impressed both with the thoughtfulness of your questions and the extent of your knowledge of our varsity athletics! Stay up to date with university news by checking our website and blog, and of course please email or phone us with any questions you may have.

Katie Phillips
Ontario Admission Representative

Awesome Athletics!!!

Hallo everyone,

I just had the opportunity to spend the weekend participating in a weekend full of Queen’s cheer.  I want to take this opportunity to let you know that Queen’s was able to bring home not one, but TWO Ontario Championships this weekend!!

Congratulations go out to our Golden Gaels Football team who defeated the University of Western Ontario’s Mustangs in an absolute THRILLER 43-39.  I hope some of you caught the game on TV as this game might be one of the best you will ever see between two of Canada’s best teams.

Congratulations also go out to the Queen’s Mens Rugby team who defeated the University of Western Ontario in another thriller 23-19.  Queen’s was behind Western for a good part of the game and then pulled ahead in the second half.  UWO put a ton of pressure on the Gaels in the final five minutes, but our defense held strong and Queen’s took the championship!

I know many of you might be wondering about what Athletics and Recreation are like here at Queen’s.  We are on the verge of getting our brand new Queen’s Centre up and running.  Within the Queen’s Centre, our new Aquatic Centre and Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) will be the centrepiece for athletics.  You can find more information about the ARC by visiting www.gogaelsgo.com or better yet, check out this video:

You can see why we’re so excited!!

Kevin du Manoir
Admission Coordinator

Policy Change – Repeated Courses

Hello everyone,

I am happy to let you know that the admission policy regarding how we will treat repeated courses when calculating admission averages has changed from previous years.  In the past, how we would treat a repeated course would depend on which program you were applying to.  For most programs, we would take the higher of the repeated grades.  The two exceptions to that rule were our Commerce and Engineering programs.  For those two programs, the grades obtained in repeated prerequisite courses would be averaged over all repeats.  This is what we DID… up til now!

Our new policy is the same across all programs – we will now take the highest grade for ANY repeated course used in the average calculation, regardless of the program you are interested in.  This means the policy has changed for Commerce and Engineering.

We think this policy is fair as all of our programs now treat repeated courses in an equitable manner.

Cheers,

Kevin du Manoir
Admission Coordinator

Ottawa is thinking internationally, and I feel more Canadian than ever before

I have just finished a week of school visits in the Ottawa area, and I am so happy to report that our capital is full of excited, energetic, and entertaining students who are interested in learning more about Queen’s University. Queen’s is just a touch under two hours away from Ottawa, right on the shores of Lake Ontario in Kingston, Ontario. Never having been to Ottawa before, I took some fabulous tours of the city, walked along the scenic canal, and even passed Peter Milliken (Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands and current Speaker of the House) in the gorgeous hallways of Parliament. Always one to find a Queen’s connection, Peter Milliken himself is an alumnus of Queen’s University! (His degree is in Political Science and Economics.)

Interestingly, my travels through Ontario have also opened up some conversations about more extensive travels all around the world. I have met students who have participated in their respective high school exchange programs and ended up in the United States, Germany, and even Norway! At Queen’s, we are proud to be able to offer every student an international, multicultural perspective on a wide array of topics, regardless of whether you complete your entire degree on main campus or spend a term or a year abroad. With 172 international exchange partnerships in 39 countries worldwide, I personally know students who have studied in Australia, Belgium, and Scotland, just to name a few.

On yet another rainy Friday afternoon, I visited North Dundas District High School and was pleased to find out that many students there are already thinking about international opportunities at Queen’s. Myles learned that many students in our Bachelor of Commerce program will study abroad at some point in their undergraduate degree and I spoke with Madison (at length!) about the Bader International Study Centre (BISC) (www.queensu.ca/isc/) at Herstmonceux Castle, located an hour and a half south of London in East Sussex, England. Students at the BISC, collectively, treasure the engaging educational experience they receive both in class (on a 15th century castle estate, complete with moat!) and all over Europe (think the Louvre, the Globe theatre, Vimy Ridge, Stonehenge, NATO headquarters, Normandy, Versailles!). A friend of mine came back from her spring term at the castle with stunning photographs, and stories about the National Opera and breathtaking sunsets… but don’t worry, Madison, you will still receive a tam even if you study at the BISC in your first year!

If you are looking for a university that will challenge you to learn as much from the world around you as from the people you meet in the lecture theatre, Queen’s is definitely a university to look at in more detail. As a recent graduate, I continue to be immensely grateful for the connections and opportunities presented to me by Queen’s.

Katie Phillips
BAH ‘09 (Psychology and Environmental Studies)
Ontario Admission Representative

1 Week Down, 8 More to Go!

Hi all!

Well, I’m glad you could all join me in my first installment of the Ontario Admission Rep Countdown 2009! Last Monday, September 28th marked Day 1 of the 9 week adventure that my colleagues, Kristin and Katie, and I call our job. Having visited 13 schools throughout Brantford, Simcoe, Waterford, Ancaster, Waterdown, Dundas, and Hamilton last week my tally is down to 99 Ontario high school visits before November 27th. Whoa.

Throughout the week I referred students to a number of websites for more information and contacts. Here are links to some common requests:
Concurrent Education http://educ.queensu.ca/teachereducation/programs/concurrent/queens.html
Athletics http://www.gogaelsgo.com/
Nursing http://nursing.queensu.ca/ and;
Studies in England http://www.queensu.ca/isc/.
Another important site that many of you might find helpful is the Student Awards page http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/awards/apply/apply.html. Here, you can access the application (due Dec 1st!) for Major Admission Awards as well as learn about a number of other options for financing your Queen’s education. As I mentioned in a number of schools last week, take the time to browse the long list of scholarships and bursaries to determine which awards you could be eligible for (there are many!).

Today, I begin Week 2 of my travels in Sudbury for the University Information Program throughout Northeastern Ontario. Representatives from the 21 universities in Ontario will be touring the North like rockstars (i.e. on a bus) this week, stopping for fairs in several locations. To find out if there will be a session near you, search your city via the UIP website http://www.ouf.ca/uip/index.shtml.

Before I sign off to go purchase a toque, I’d like to send a few shout outs to the students who made my first week truly awesome: Thank you BCI students for making my first visit of the season a smooth one, and specifically the young man at the back of the room for making it a memorable presentation by asking (ahem) valid questions. ☺ To the dozen students who eventually directed me to the opposite side of Ancaster District High School in search of the Guidance Office, your assistance was much appreciated! And of course, to all the students who attended this session, thank you for sitting through my screetchy-voice end-of-the-day presentation. To the troopers at Westdale Secondary School who stood throughout the presentation, you’re awesome. Since the fire alarm at Waterdown District High School ended the visit early (and on the football field with over 1000 students), please email me renee.kennedy<at>queensu.ca any questions that I didn’t have the chance to answer!

And as a diehard HP fan: thank you to Hillfield-Strathallan College for giving me a glimpse of what the dining hall at Hogwarts might feel like.

Happy Sunday,
Renée Kennedy
Ontario Admission Representative

Ontario Universities’ Fair – Day 2 done!

Hello everyone,

Well, day two of the OUF has come and gone, and I have to say I’m having a really fun time this year!  It has been an absolute pleasure meeting with many of you from the Toronto area.  All of the Queen’s staff and faculty here this weekend have been very impressed with the thoughtfulness of your questions this year.  As well, I’ve been having a lot of fun giving presentations along with my collague Allison.

I’d like to throw a special shoutout to a few students I met today – the three gentlemen I met in the presentation room who were interested in philosophy, psychology and sociology; the young lady and her family who spoke to me about the Science program and her interest in going into large animal vet studies; the student who made her way down from Lisgar Collegiate in Ottawa (Ottawa!!) for the fair; and last but not least the student and his family interested in Medical school (remember – you need to do an undergraduate degree first!).

I really enjoy meeting with students and their families, and the OUF is such a great way for us to do this.  From here, I’ll be back in Kingston for week to prepare for my adventures to Northwestern Ontario and the Ottawa area.  (Heads up Kenora and Kanata – Queen’s is coming to you!)

For now, I am going to get geared up for the last day of the OUF.  If you haven’t been yet, tomorrow is your last chance to see us!

Kevin du Manoir
Admission Coordinator

Come say hi to us in TO!

We are coming to Toronto!

As many of you are settling in to your final year of high school, we at Queen’s are gearing up for many weeks of traveling to high schools around the world to speak with students like you!  This weekend, we will be participating in one of the largest student recruitment events in North America – the Ontario Universities’ Fair (OUF).

The OUF is a great way for you to gather a lot of information from university representatives in a short amount of time. Queen’s will have staff coming down from the Undergraduate Admission office, Student Awards and various faculties all to help you find out if Queen’s will be a good fit for you.

I highly encourage you to come to see us at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM or Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM.  You can learn more about the OUF by visiting www.ouf.ca.  There is a lot of great information on the OUF webpage, including suggested questions to ask if you’re not sure what kind of things you should be asking.

Come on down this weekend and say hi.  Our office staff are geared up to meet with you, so don’t be shy!

Kevin du Manoir
Admission Coordinator

New beginnings!

Hello everyone,

I write this posting with mixed emotions, including a little bit of nostalgia, a pinch of excitement, and a healthy dose of nervousness. You see, this is my very last blog posting, and in fact, my very last day in Undergraduate Admission. After working here for four years, I have accepted a position with another unit on campus and so will be leaving the world of recruitment and admission – for now, at least.

In some ways, this posting and my transition, in general, comes at a very interesting time of year because having worked here for several years – and indeed, having been a student myself – I know that I’m not the only one experiencing this mix of emotions right now: with the start of another school year only weeks away, I know that many of you are also getting ready to make a big change.  The idea of leaving one environment behind – one in which you know the “lingo”, the people, and the culture – can be a bit daunting and yet exciting at the same time. People often use metaphors of exploration when they are talking about going off to university or new experiences, in general, and while even I understand that these metaphors might be a bit cheesy at times, there is something surprisingly accurate about them. At this time of year, many of us are about to embark on a journey through uncharted territory and while we don’t know for certain what is on the other side, we do know that the journey is going to be new and exciting – and we’re pretty sure that we’re going to like what we find when we get there.

On a serious note, having worked here for four years – longer if you count my undergraduate days as a student tour guide – I’ve been very lucky to work with some excellent staff in Undergraduate Admission and other units on campus, as well as some fantastic prospective students and their families. As any of our tour guides will recall, I believe that the choice to attend post-secondary education is a huge decision and one that effects not only the student, but also his or her family and I’ve been honoured and delighted to work with many of you through that process.  I look back fondly on my time at Queen’s, as a student, a staff member in this office, and an alumna, and I truly believe that it is the community here that will make your experience – I have met some of my nearest and dearest friends here and I know that you will too.  With that in mind, for those of you who will be joining us very soon, I say “welcome home” and wish you – well, really all of us – the best of luck in the next few weeks!

Best wishes,

Danyal Martin (BAH ‘04, BEd ‘05, MA ‘10) – Admission Coordinator