This is a lousy year to graduate high school in Ontario.
The Ontario government, in its wisdom, is eliminating the Grade 13 “OAC” program this year. That means that there’s a whole year of students graduating from grade 13, and another whole year of them graduating from grade 12 . . . and they’re all applying to university at the same time.
With so many extra applicants, admissions cutoffs to Ontario universities are bound to be sky-high this year. So students who in a regular year would be borderline, this year are shit outta luck.
Then again, I suppose anyone rejected from university in Ontario could always go to Concordia . . .
My sister and many friends of mine are in this exact situation of graduating in the “double cohort” year. It does suck that admissions cutoffs to Ontario universities are sky high but the Ontario government did what had to be done. Everywhere else in North America there is only 4 years of high school (I am not counting Quebec, where high school begins in grade 7, an exception unto itself). It was time to get rid of the extra grade and there was no way to phase it out other than to simply eliminate it.
As an aside, look at McGill’s cut-offs this year. They are about 10 percent higher then they were when I applied 2 years ago. This rising trend is only partially explained (if at all) by the Ontario government’s decision.
According to the Globe, there are 10,000 more students than spaces this year. I can’t argue the merits of 13 vs. 12 years of education, but if the gvt wanted to reduce it to 12, it ought to have had a plan to deal with the extra students. It’s not as if the double-cohort were a surpise.
For a common-sense revolution gvt, they didn’t have much common sense
I agree it’s tough to eliminate OAC without it causing this exact problem. But the budget cutbacks to education are only making the situation worse. The universities could cope better if they weren’t so cash-strapped.
What really ticks me off is the waste of the whole situation. Students who have worked their butts off to get into University, won’t. Students who have a passion for a particular field, probably won’t get their program. Students who are “at risk” will give up because why bother trying to get in when there is twice as much competition as before.
But anyone that has taught in Ontario knows that the PC’s are all talk and no logical action when it comes to education. Take the Ontario Curriculum for example. When the new Grade 9 curriculum was being phased in teachers received unit expectations 3 and 4 from the gov’t in August before units 1 and 2. Great what am I supposed to teach from Sept to November?
Sorry kids, hope you didn’t have any real hope for a future here cuz we tossed it away to save a few bucks.
Just wait, college applications are due February 1st. This is only the beginning.