Universities will usually start contacting you between the months of Mid – January to May if you’ve applied for the Fall semester through the regular deadline. In case you’ve applied for the Fall semester through the ‘Early Action Deadline’, then you will start hearing from universities much earlier, generally in the months of December and Early January.
Under most circumstances, universities will contact you through E – mail or post. Make sure you check your E – mail regularly after submitting the application so that you get to know as soon as you receive a response from a university.
Keep in mind that different universities in Canada follow different timeframes for this step. Some universities respond to new applications within a week, whereas some universities take over 2 months to respond. As and when you receive a response from a university, it is best practice to reply to it as soon as possible.
Universities in Canada can respond positively or negatively towards your application. The most common responses are mentioned below.
Unconditional Offer
An ‘Unconditional Offer’ is basically an admission offer that specifies no conditions with regards to your admission. By sending you an unconditional offer, the university is guaranteeing you a seat in the program you had applied for, provided that you accept the offer.
If you receive such an offer, then it means that you have already met all the requirements for the program and your admission will be confirmed if you choose to accept the offer. Such offers are generally given to students who have complete academic records, including their final transcripts and English proficiency test proofs.
To enroll yourself in the program, all you will need to do is fill and send the acceptance form sent along with your Letter of Offer and submit the tuition fee deposit. Once the university receives your payment and filled acceptance form, it will send you a payment receipt and a ‘Letter of Acceptance’ confirming your admission.
Many Indian students who wish to pursue undergraduate programs in Canada do not manage to receive such offers because the application deadlines for universities in Canada are generally before the Class 12th results are announced in India. Therefore, students have no option but to apply to universities on the basis of their Class 10th, 11th and 12th (mid – year and estimate) marks.
Conditional Offers
‘Conditional Offers’, as the name suggests, are admission offers subject to certain conditions that have to be fulfilled within the given time duration so as to be able to accept the offer and join the program.
A conditional offer basically signifies that your application has been liked by the university but you can only be offered a seat in the program if you manage to meet the specified conditions.
Conditional offers are awarded to students on the basis of their Class 10th and Class 11th marks along with half – yearly scores of their Class 12th as well as their estimated Class 12th final results.
The conditions generally mentioned in such offers are related to your Class 12th marks. The university expects you to maintain your academic standing by scoring somewhere near your estimated and half – yearly marks in your final Class 12th exams.
In some cases, conditions are imposed if a student has not appeared for the English proficiency test (IELTS and TOEFL) yet or managed to secure the appropriate score in the test.
Under most circumstances, you will be a given a time duration within which you will have to meet the specified conditions. The admission offer will be withdrawn if you fail to do so.
You will need to send official documents to the university in order to prove that you’ve met the conditions of your offer. Most universities would want you to ask your school/board/institution to directly send them your English Proficiency Test Scores/Class 12th results in a sealed envelope.
Once you submit your final documents, acceptance form and tuition fee deposit, the university will provide you with a ‘Letter of Acceptance’ and a payment receipt. These 2 documents serve as proof of your admission.
Invitations
Depending on the program you have applied for, there is also a chance that you might receive an ‘invitation’ for an interview or an audition.
Such invitations are generally applicable to universities and programs that have a 2 step selection process. For such programs/universities, you will not only be assessed on the basis of your application (1st stage of selection process) but also on the basis of your performance in the interview/audition (2nd stage of selection process).
Invitations for interviews or auditions are generally for courses related to arts and performance in which practical skills are a very important part of the curriculum. However, this does not mean that invitations are restricted to only these courses. You can get an invitation for an interview or an audition for other courses as well. Whether you do or not depends upon the university’s admission procedure.
For example, at the Quest University, interviews are an integral part of the selection process and all shortlisted applicants (for all programs) are expected to appear for these interviews.
Generally, these interviews/auditions are held to know more about your practical skills and to judge your personality. Many universities will ask you to submit portfolios of your work during such interviews/auditions (for programs in the field of arts).
Universities use these interviews/auditions as assessment tools to see whether you’re appropriate for the course you have applied for or not.
Unsuccessful/Withdrawn Applications
The applications on the basis of which you do not manage to receive an offer and are declined admission are called unsuccessful applications.
An unsuccessful application basically means that you are not eligible for admission in the program you had applied for at that particular university.
You can be rejected because the university found a more a suitable candidate for enrollment into the program you had applied for or that you failed to meet the minimum academic requirements of the university.
If a university had offered you admission (conditional or unconditional), but you failed to respond within the specified time or failed to meet the required conditions, then your application will be withdrawn. This means that even though the university was offering you a seat in their program earlier, it is rejecting your application now.
Do not worry if you receive an unsuccessful application. You can always apply to more universities in Canada. You may also choose to wait till the start of the next semester, and then apply for that intake.
What to do if you receive multiple admissions offers?
If you have received admission offers from more than one university, then you will have to select one university and reject all the others.
Out of the total universities that you applied to, you might have one or two that you would prefer over all others. It is advisable to reconsider all your options equally with an open mind even if one or two of the admission offers are from universities that are your top priority.
What is important to understand is that even though you might feel that a particular university is the best for you, it might not be offering you the best ‘package’ or admission offer.
You should re – consider these factors before choosing which admission offer to accept:
Course/Program
Even though you might want to join a particular university more than the others, it is possible that it does not offer your ideal course/program. It is essential to prioritize your course and curriculum while choosing to accept an admission offer.
Reputation
Reputation plays a very important role in deciding the value of your degree and in determining the kind of jobs you will get once you graduate. Do not make the mistake of considering the reputation of the university without considering the reputation of your academic department/program.
Financial Aids
Even though it is most likely that the universities you applied to are the ones you can afford, do take into consideration the kind of financial aids a university is offering you before you make a decision.
If a university is offering you a scholarship or some other type of grant, then you might want to choose that institution over others as your total expenditure will significantly reduce.
Location
The location of the university might play an important role in the decision making process. You might not want to spend so many years of your life in a very cold place, or you might not want to live in a small town.
Research about the location of the university and find out about its climate, environment, safety etc. before making a decision.
Student Life
Consider the student life at the university before you make a decision. Some universities have very active international student communities which help new students adjust and adapt to campus life.
You might be more comfortable in a university which has a lot of international students as compared to one with very few international students.
Once you’ve considered all the above factors, you can respond to a university in any of the following ways:
Accept the offer
By accepting an offer, you confirm to the university that you wish to enroll yourself for the particular program and that you will be joining the university at the start of the new semester.
You should be very sure about an institution before you accept their offer as you will be spending 3/4 crucial years of your life there. Consider your options, think wisely and then choose to accept an offer only if you’re sure.
Accepting an offer also means that you’re confirming that you have met all the conditions (if any) that were a part of your offer. Keep in mind that you will need to provide documents that can prove this, such as test reports, Class 12th mark sheets etc. You will not be able to accept an offer until and unless you’ve met all the specified conditions.
Usually, when you’re provided with a Letter of Offer, it is accompanied by an acceptance form. To accept an offer, you will need to fill in the acceptance form and send it at the specified address. You can also choose to accept an offer online using the link provided in your online Letter of Offer.
Most universities would also require you to submit a tuition fee deposit along with the acceptance form. Your admission is not confirmed until the university receives this deposit.
The amount of this deposit varies from university to university and program to program. Under most circumstances, it will be mentioned on your Letter of Offer.
Defer
You can also choose to ‘Defer’ or delay an offer. Deferring an offer means that you’re confirming your acceptance to the university but not for the upcoming semester. Through this option, you choose to postpone your studies.
By deferring an offer, you ensure that a seat in the program is confirmed for you whenever you wish to join. Universities do not deny admission to a student who chose to defer his/her offer for the permissible duration.
Most universities will not allow you to defer an offer for more than a year. This means that if you applied to a university for the Fall 2014 intake, then you can either defer your offer till the Winter 2014 intake or the Fall 2015 intake. Under normal circumstances, you will not be allowed to defer your offer for a longer duration.
Students normally choose to defer an offer to gain more clarity about their careers, gain work experience or to arrange the finance for their studies in Canada. Keep in mind that some programs cannot be deferred and you must confirm beforehand that your program and university allows you to do so.
Under most circumstances, you will be asked to pay the tuition fee deposit in order to defer your offer. Additionally, many universities impose a condition with regards to deferring your offer which states that you will not be allowed to join any other post – secondary institution in Canada during the period of your deferral.
Decline
By ‘Declining’ an offer, you confirm to the university that you do not wish to join their program and that they are free to offer your seat to another applicant. It is advisable that you think clearly before choosing to decline an offer.