Title Screen – The Ontario Universities’ Application Centre presents: How to Complete Your Undergraduate Application to an Ontario University
Welcome to the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre website: www.ouac.on.ca.
This video will show you how to complete the sections of your Undergraduate Application, review your final submission and submit it to the universities.
In our first how-to video we demonstrated how to create an OUAC account. We will continue on from when you select the Undergraduate option.
Log in with the username and password you created and select the Undergraduate application type to continue.
You are now in the Hub, where you can find helpful information throughout the application process.
- You can find emails from the OUAC in the Message Centre.
- At any time, you can click the Profile icon in the navigation menu to change your username and password, and re-send your email verification.
- You can use the chat feature if you need help while completing your application.
- Make sure to check the Hub regularly. It displays a summary of your application information and status updates.
From here, you can select “Start Application” to begin your Undergraduate Application.
Read the Welcome page carefully, as it contains tips to help you get started. It also has information from the OUAC’s Privacy Statement that you need to read before you submit your application.
The application consists of 5 main sections, which are outlined in the Application Status bar.
My Personal Details
The first section is divided into 4 sub-sections.
- Go through and fill in your personal information starting with The Basics.
- Select “Next” to move through each section. The information you entered on that screen will be saved to your account.
- Add your details for Citizenship and Language.
- Select the question mark icons for more information about the questions.
- Applicant Diversity Census: Ontario universities are committed to principles of equity, diversity and inclusion.
- You may select the “Prefer not to answer” response option available for each question if you choose not to provide your diversity-based personal information.
- To answer these questions, click the plus sign to expand and select your response.
- Select the buttons to add your home and mailing address and at least 1 phone number in Contact Details.
- Ensure your email address is up to date. You will receive your OUAC acknowledgement email, university offers of admission and other important information via email.
- You will not be able to submit your application until your email is verified. If your email address is not verified, you can re-send your email verification.
My Background
- In Education, provide information about all institutions where you have registered in 1 or more secondary or postsecondary courses.
- These institutions include, but are not limited to:
- Regular day schools
- Private schools
- Night schools
- Summer schools
- Virtual schools
- Find your institution and then complete the academic details.
- Current Ontario high school students: For “To Date”, add the month and year you will be completing Grade 12 (e.g., June 2024).
- These institutions include, but are not limited to:
- Tell Us More…
- Depending on which institutions you have entered in your educational background, you may have other educational information to complete, which will show at the end of the page.
- Review and complete the necessary details. If some optional sections do not apply to you, you can leave them blank.
- If you have finished high school: Complete the Activities and Employment section with details of any activities you’ve done or jobs you’ve had.
My Choices
You are now ready to add your program choices to your application. There are 5 steps to add a choice.
- Step 1: Select a university and review the specific university requirements, website links and important admission information.
- Choose a university to view the available programs. You can also search by geographic area or program code.
- Step 2: If you have applied or registered at this university before, you can add these details. If you have not applied to this university before, you can leave this section blank.
- Step 3: Review the list of programs available at this university and make your choice.
- Step 4: Review the Program Details, which may include prerequisites, important deadlines and additional admission requirements. Read this section very carefully.
- Step 5: Complete the program details.
Notes:- “Expected Date of Enrollment” is when you wish to start classes.
- Select a “Subject of Major Interest” if one is available for the program you are applying to.
- Depending on the program, you may have additional program detail fields to complete (for example, “Co-op”.)
Save your program choice.
Your program choice will now appear on your Choices page. From here, you can add a new program, delete a program or edit the program details.
On this page, you must also rank your choices in order of preference.
Note: How you order your program choices does not affect your scholarship or admission consideration at the universities, unless a university specifically states that it does. The universities will state their policies clearly in their own literature.
Reminder: You can apply to as many universities as you wish. However, you are limited to a maximum of 3 programs at any 1 university. Some universities may further limit the number of programs that you can apply to. Contact the universities directly for more information.
My Supporting Documents
The sub-sections in My Supporting Documents are different depending on if you are a current Ontario high school student or not.
- Current Ontario high school students: Grades and academic information sent by your high school will display in Academic Information 1-2 days after you submit your application.
- Not current Ontario high school students: The Transcripts section has information about requesting the transcripts from the institutions you attended.
- On this page, you will request the transcript from any Ontario high school, university or college you attended.
- For all other institutions you attended (outside of Ontario or internationally), review the instructions about how to order your transcript.
- In the Document Upload section, you can upload documentation that supports your application, as specified by your university choices.
Review and Payment
At this point, you have completed all the necessary information to submit your application. Use the Quick Links to return to any of these sections, at any point, before submitting your application.
Note: Before you submit your application, you can log out and return to it at any time to review and edit the information you have saved.
The Review and Payment process is 4 steps.
- Step 1: Review Summary
- Review any errors or warnings at the top of this page. Use the Quick Links to return to any section of the application to make edits.
- You will be able to review all your application information, including the total amount you will have to pay.
- Check this information carefully and make sure that it is correct.
- Use the plus sign or eye icon to expand and review your application information section by section.
- Step 2: Declaration
- Review the Applicant’s Declaration. When you are ready, select “I Verify and Agree” to go to the payment page.
- Step 3: Pay
- The OUAC accepts a variety of payment methods, including credit or debit card, online banking and international payment options.
- All payments must be made in Canadian funds.
- Select a payment option and click “Pay” to complete your application.
- Notes:
- Once you click “Pay”, you will not be able to log back in and make changes to your application until the OUAC receives your payment.
- After we receive and process your payment, we will forward your application to your university choices. We recommend that you pay for your application at the same time you submit it.
- If you pay by credit or debit card, you will immediately receive an email receipt after we process your payment.
- Step 4: Confirmation
- Once you have completed your application, you will receive an OUAC Reference Number to use when you communicate with the OUAC or the universities.
- You will receive an email to acknowledge your application was successfully submitted.
1-2 business days after you apply, we recommend you visit the Hub to check the status of your application.
You can log back in to add or delete program choices, edit your application information and respond to offers of admission.
Reminder: If you did not pay by credit or debit card, you will not be able to log back in to your application until we have processed your payment.
Now you have successfully applied to an Ontario university.
Thank you for watching!