想申请今年加拿大大学的看~~~~

冰火花UID: 101908

Jan. 23, 2003. 05:31 AM

* a% d* u/ p3 p$ M; q% V http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs ... _pagepath=News/News

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+ i9 e2 `2 A5 g- j$ Z0 Q: N( oSpace crunch for class of 2003
Enrolment surges at smaller schools


LOUISE BROWN AND TESS KALINOWSKI
- G+ V! K3 }4 hEDUCATION REPORTERS
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; r& l0 q. @* O" h, zBig-city teens have applied in record numbers to small-town universities — many in the North — in hopes of beating the stiff double-cohort odds this fall.

As the last crop of Grade 13/OAC students applies to university alongside the first class of four-year high school grads, a record number of students have filed 84 per cent more applications than last year — many at universities in more far-flung corners of the province, where entry requirements are lower and there is still room to grow.
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. L& T3 ?4 e; GThey have applied in less dramatic waves to choosy blue-chip schools in the south.

. q# e) i* `% DThe smallest university in the province landed the biggest percentage hike in applications. North Bay's Nipissing University saw a 201 per cent jump over last year, according to the Ontario Universities' Application Centre, which released its first look yesterday at where members of the double cohort have cast their nets.

2 f# J* T; \5 V% a6 o+ T1 d/ tMore than 80 per cent of Nipissing's applicants hail from southern Ontario, where the university's guaranteed entry to the general arts program for students with a 70 per cent average stands out as fierce competition drives some schools' entry requirements sky-high.
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"But many of our applications are for programs that require at least a 75 per cent average, like criminal justice and nursing, so we're not just the alternate choice because of our cut-off marks," said president Dave Marshall, who said he can handle the increase.
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"Students are finally realizing we're not just all dog teams north of Highway 7."
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2 A' v' ]/ g2 ^' ~- A+ |! M7 z% dLikewise, Lakehead University in Thunder Bay saw applications jump 101 per cent, with more than half coming from the south. Sudbury's Laurentian University received 126 per cent more applications this year; bids for Brock University in St. Catharines jumped 139 per cent and Peterborough's Trent University 134 per cent.

In contrast, the trio with some of the toughest entry requirements — Queen's, Waterloo and the University of Toronto — saw their applications jump between just 57 and 63 per cent, suggesting many were scared off by the competition.

* H3 e0 G' r( p" ["We told students not to put all their eggs in one basket and they absolutely didn't, which is great," said Greg Marcotte, executive director of the application centre in Guelph.
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: ?% J! P6 I6 t7 D9 \"These numbers tell me students self-screened and said, `Geez, why apply to a big university if it's going to be so tight?' And there was a real push outside the GTA that could work out perfectly for both the students and the universities," said Marcotte.

( \3 a# M4 k1 E3 E9 WAt Brock University, "we're still gasping for air at the increase in applications," said president David Atkinson.
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- `, v% a7 D: [' O# l8 j' z# g( P7 Y"But we've worked really hard to provide new specialized programs in recent years, and we also can't ignore that geography plays a role, being so close to Toronto. Some students even commute from Mississauga."
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7 H  x6 H  a. W" uStill, some schools actively discouraged an influx of applications. Queen's University in Kingston made it clear it was interested in maintaining its elite status.
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"We were telling students what was required and basically telling (them) if those were not your marks, then Queen's was probably not an opportunity for you," said registrar Jo-Anne Brady.

$ N. b0 v' t' o; q2 z, ?Queen's had a relatively moderate application bump of only 63 per cent and as a result, isn't sweating the space issue many schools and students fear they will confront next fall.

Yet it is still not clear how many students will be accepted, as universities await details on last-minute grants promised this week by Queen's Park.

An estimated 8,000 more students are expected to qualify than have been provided funding so far, but the provincial government insists all qualified students will be accommodated. And after months of lobbying for more money to accommodate the double cohort, university presidents now say they believe the provincial government's commitment to finding a place for every qualified student

: ?( \$ |" ~3 Q; T1 G+ P& I- SNow, the spotlight is shifting to how many will get their first or even second choice of school or program, said University of Windsor president Ross Paul.

' C9 a. t- @! G+ G( U"There's no question there will be disappointments," said Paul, who chairs the Council of Ontario Universities' government and community relations committee." There's going to have to be some flexibility. Weaker students that really want to get into a specific program would probably be smart to take another year and get their marks up and try again.

"It would be misleading to suggest we are going to have as many happy students as any other year," he said.
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And money is still an issue if the quality of education isn't going to suffer, says Paul. "We really do need every penny."

Carleton president Richard Van Loon says parents shouldn't expect their children will get the same quality of education they or their older children got. Since the 1990s, the ratio of students to faculty has risen from 16:1 to 22:1.

. S* @0 _- I3 H5 \9 G8 ]"If you ask students what matters most to them, they say contact to faculty. It's easy for us to say we'll have places for all these students. It's not possible for us to say the education experience they will receive will be the same," he said in an interview from Ottawa.
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The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance yesterday called for an overall quality audit of the province's universities. "Building bigger lecture halls does not address the needs of students in areas such as residence space, libraries or access to faculty," executive director Leslie Church said in a news release yesterday.

University of Toronto vice-president Sheldon Levy agreed that universities need more funding, as well as creative planning to provide this surge of students the quality of education they deserve.
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"They should not be deprived of the opportunity to fulfil their dreams because they were caught in the bad timing (of the double cohort)," said Levy, whose school is considering adding weekend science labs and 8 a.m. classes.
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4 @) y4 h7 Z/ g+ s0 x, P; u6 K5 H"But every day we wait (to learn details of more funding) causes families more heartbreak."