that is general and versatile.
5.Develop your powers of communication. If necessary, attend a writing workshop.
6.Think about your goals. Are they realistic? Are you pursuing an area that genuinely interests you?
7.Keep your options open so that you have alternative pathways to fall back on should your goals change.
8.Many possible career and education pathways are open to you during and after your postsecondary studies.
9.The first year is the hardest. Get on track right away and reap the benefits later.
10.Learn to deal effectively with your newfound freedom: Know when to work and when to play.
11.Living in residence can maximize the time you have for study and enhance your social life, but there are dangers.
12.Grades are important for your future success. Grades are an offshoot of knowledge: The more you know, the better your grades can be.
13.You have a much better chance of finding a well-paying job if you get your degree than if you don’t. The higher your grades, the greater your chance of getting job.
14.Your university training will give you skills that will help you succeed in any job whether it is related to your area of specialization or not.
15.You can augment your educational finances through scholarships, bursaries and student loans.
Chapter 2
The Complexity of the University
Colleges and Universities
Right now we should consider just what a university is: What does it consist of? How does it function? What is it going to do for you?
Did You Know?
Over 1.1 million students were enrolled in Canadian universities during the 2008/2009 academic year.1
In Canada, postsecondary institutions with a primary academic focus are called universities while those with a more practical focus are called colleges. Universities usually require higher academic standings in high school than colleges. Similarly, universities typically offer Bachelor’s, Master’s and often Ph.D. degrees while colleges typically offer certificates and diplomas. But this is changing and the lines between universities and colleges get less distinct with each passing year. (In the United States the term “college” often refers to an institution that offers only a two-year Associate of Arts degree [junior colleges] as well as one that offers a four-year Bachelor’s degree program, while a full-fledged university offers Bachelor’s degrees and advanced degrees.) Within each university there may be constituent “colleges” but these are university colleges and offer university degrees. Within the university, each “college” is usually a self-governing educational unit and usually has programs that make it unique.
Depending on the university, the complexity and diversity of the curricula will vary considerably. Thus some places will offer Bachelor of Arts and/or Bachelor of Science degrees in a limited number of disciplines while other, larger institutions will offer almost the whole gamut of possible programs. If you have any questions about the offerings at various Canadian universities, look up their websites. If you have long-term academic ambitions, universities that offer Master’s and Ph.D. programs may hold more appeal for you. In addition, the presence of graduate students working towards their Master’s or Ph.D.’s provides the university with a large source of qualified teaching assistants, laboratory demonstrators, tutorial leaders, etc., in addition to the full-time faculty. Another advantage of an institution that is training postgraduate students is that it will be more in the mainstream of what is happening in your area of study: It has to be in order to survive in the competitive academic world.
Selecting a University
Many students spend little time selecting a university. This can be a serious error. Although the overall ranking of universities may be based on their total programs, some of the less highly ranked ones offer specific programs that surpass those at the more prestigious institutions and some universities offer unique programs. If you have a concrete idea of what you want to do, look over each university’s offerings in the area you are interested in. You can also check Maclean’s magazine’s annual review of universities in Canada. But be aware, not everyone agrees with Maclean’s assessments.
Don’t select a university because it is close to home. Never attend a university because all your friends are going to go there. Attending a distant university can give you new experiences, new friends and new outlooks on life. You will mature faster and grow faster mentally if you move on to a new environment.
Did You Know?
Universities are respected and ranked on their contributions to society—not on their teaching. Harvard and Oxford are famous because they have famous professors who work there. They are not great because they are great teaching institutions. In fact, the data suggest the opposite. A recent analysis of the world’s top research universities has shown that the top fifty or so universities world-wide generally have faculty who are not very good teachers. So if your goal is to simply get a good education, then you should set your sights on some of the lesser institutions. However, if your goal is to become a leader in the field in which you are interested, then enter those ivy-covered halls of the intellectually elite.
If it is necessary to attend a local university for financial or other reasons then do so, but make an attempt to meet new people. University is a fantastic place to meet people with varied backgrounds. It is a multinational, multicultural community. Regardless of the university you attend, you will be exposed to new views of life.
One way to get the feeling about what universities to apply to is to attend the annual recruiting sessions that most high schools organize one or more nights each year. Representatives of local universities, and even a few distant ones, give special talks at which they explain the attractions of their universities. Obviously the university representatives (liaison officers) are there to get your warm body to their university for the revenue it will generate. They are not going to tell you about their shortcomings, only about their strong points. However, you can learn a lot from these meetings, especially if you make notes about the topics discussed. If social or sports aspects are emphasized with little regard for academic programs, then you should beware. You are going to university (or should be) to get a valuable education that will form the basis for your future. You will have fun along the way, but that should not be your prime concern. Look for liaison officers who describe the academic programs available and be sure to ask questions.
University recruiting nights are usually only province-wide and are not offered by all schools, so they will not be available to all students nor will they provide you with data on all the universities in the country. Thus you will likely still have to rely on other sources of information: university calendars, brochures and websites.
What to
