How I Got Into University Of Toronto (Stats, Extracurriculars, Advice, Supplementary App., OUAC)

Today, I will be sharing all of my top tips to get into University of Toronto in Canada as domestic or international student. I will be going over my high school grades (my IB Diploma Score), stats (my IELTS score), extracurriculars, activities, work experience, OUAC application, video interviews and supplementary application to give you the best advice and tips to help you secure an admission at U of T. Basically, I’ll tell you exactly how I got admission into the best university in Canada and that too for Computer Science.

Before we get started, let me introduce myself, I am Zohair from India and if you haven’t watched my College Decisions reaction video, you might not know that I got accepted into both University of Toronto Scarborough (for Computer Science Co-op) and University of Toronto Mississauga (for Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics). But don’t worry, check it out down below 😁

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Background

First, let’s talk about my journey and why I applied to University of Toronto. In high school, I did the IB Diploma program which left me with no time to think about college applications and as the Pandemic hit, I thought this was the end of universities… and so forgot about my applications. Soon, I was in my gap year without knowing I was in my gap year.

But after getting a decent score in the IB Diploma program, I decided to give a shot to the top universities in the world and universities that offer 100% scholarship to international students because studying abroad is ridiculously expensive 💰.

In addition to being one of the best universities in Canada for Computer Science, U of T also had a fully funded scholarship program for international students. So I applied and luckily got in. No not in the scholarship program (which is a whole different story covered in my other posts), but into U of T Class of 2025.

Talking about my program choices, my first choice was Computer Science (Co-op) at U of T Scarborough and my second choice was Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics at U of T Mississauga. Fortunately, I got accepted into both the programs and even received some good scholarships (which I’ve talked about here 👉 How I Got $225,000 Scholarship from University of Toronto & How You Can Too | International Scholars).

By the way, if you’re like me and prefer video explanation over text. I would recommend you to watch my video and if you like it, don’t forget to smash the like button 👍

Now, let’s see what University of Toronto saw in my application that other universities didn’t and decided to give me an offer?

Stats and High School Grades

The first and the single most important factor for my acceptance to University of Toronto was my Academic performance. From my experience, I believe that good high school grades are crucial for your application to University of Toronto or any other Canadian University focused on Academic performance and excellence.

For University of Toronto, every student is required to submit Self-Reported Grades which include both your high school grades and your Official Final Exam Scores.

In my case, I submitted my 11th Standard result which was a 35 out of 45 in IB and my 12th Standard result which was a 38 out of 45 in IB.

I also submitted my final IB Diploma score which was a 43 out of 45. Trust me I was more shocked to see this result than you are right now 😅 For the IB Students out there, I took Math, Physics and English B as my HL subjects and Chemistry, Business Management and Urdu A (Literature) as my SL subjects. I scored a 7 in all the subjects except Chemistry SL for which I scored a 6 and for TOK and Extended Essay, I received 2 bonus points out of 3. So, (7*5)+6+2 gives us a score of 43.

Yea, these scores are pretty good and unexpected, but (listen to this very carefully) you don’t need a 40+ score in IB or a 90+ in other exams; in fact, you can see that mid to high 30s in a program’s required subjects are enough for admission into University of Toronto. I strongly recommended you to check all the prerequisite subjects as well as the minimum scores on the requirements page of University of Toronto’s website to get a better idea of what subjects and scores you need to get in.

As an international student, there is one more thing you need to submit which is to prove your command over English Language.. English Language Proficiency Test Score. I took the IELTS test towards the end of high school, in Dec 2019, and got an overall band score of 7 out of 9. Breaking this down, I got a 7.5 in Listening and Reading and a 6.5 in writing and speaking.

You don’t have to worry about English language proficiency requirement as long as your overall band score is 6.5 or above with no band below 6.0. For more details, you can head over to English Language Requirements page on U of T’s website to see the English Proficiency tests accepted by University of Toronto and their minimum requirements.

Extracurriculars

Though extracurriculars are not as important as your grades, they will certainly distinguish you from all the other applicants as right extracurriculars help you demonstrate interest in your area of study by showing that you went outside classroom environment to pursue your interests.

On the OUAC website, from where you apply to U of T, you are asked to list down the names of all the activities and work experience you engaged in. I mentioned 11 activities that I participated throughout high school. Let me tell you some of them.

1. I was involved in the student council throughout high school.
2. I created and published content on a tech blog to purse my interest in Technology.
3. I was part of the student leadership team for my school’s hunger relief project in which we raise approximately 18,000 dollars to feed 800 families every year.

Most of my activities involved a lot of volunteering and I was able to craft my profile around community service.

What I suggest you to do is to mention activities that you did over a long period of time and that have left an impact on you and your surrounding communities. And these should be activities that you can talk about in your program’s supplementary application to show that they can help you succeed in your chosen area of study.

So instead of talking about a one week research project unrelated to your program’s area, talk about an activity that you consistency engaged in for example regular participation in online hackathons to demonstrate interest in Computer Science Major.

Supplementary Application and Video Interviews

Let’s talk about another really important part of your U of T application—Supplementary application and video interviews. After you’ve applied to your chosen program through OUAC, you will or will not receive a supplementary application or video interview on your Join U of T account depending upon your program choices.

If you don’t know what a supplementary application is, it is a form that comprises of short-answer questions where you have to reflect and write on your personal experiences and qualities. The same happens in video interviews, where you are shown several questions on the screen and you have to answer them live, on camera. Also, remember supplementary application and video interviews are very different for different programs so do check the specifics for your program on U of T’s website.

But, how do you know whether you’ll be filling a supplementary application or not?

The answer is to check your program details before applying. Most Arts & Science majors do not have Supplementary application, but most Applied Science and Engineering majors do have one. For more details about specific programs, go to the Undergraduate Programs page on U of T’s website.

In my case, both U of T Scarborough and U of T Mississauga didn’t have a supplementary application for Computer Science.

But do remember to craft your story and present your extracurriculars in a way that demonstrates your interest and helps the admission team know your strengths and qualities that will help you succeed in your chosen program(s).

Conclusion

Academics are no doubt the deciding factor when it comes to admission to U of T’s undergraduate programs. However, do not let this make you forget the importance of extracurriculars, profile, supplementary applications and video interviews. Though they are less important but do play a role in the admission process.

On a final note, I want to say that the application process of Canadian Universities can be quite intimidating given that there aren’t many helpful resources for Canadian University applications. Thus, if you have any doubts or question, be sure to comment them down below. I’ll do my best to answer them all.

Thank you so much for reading this. See you soon 😊