If you have applied to the Faculty of Arts & Science, this page provides an overview of the admissions process, from how and when admission decisions are made to information about alternate and conditional offers and waitlists.
How Decisions Are Made
Many factors are taken into consideration when assessing your application — not just your academic record. The grades required for admission vary from year to year and are based on the competition among applicants for available spaces (to view the minimum grades required for admission, visit the Admission Requirements page). This competition means that you are not guaranteed a place in your desired admission category even if you meet the minimum requirements. Preference is given to students with the best overall qualifications.
Academic Credentials
We consider a wide range of criteria when reviewing your application, including:
- Overall academic record
- Subjects taken
- Results in prerequisite courses
- Repeated courses
- English proficiency, if required
- Consistency — where and when courses were completed and the number of times courses have been attempted
For high school applicants, emphasis will be placed on the results of your most recent two years of study, including your marks in prerequisite courses, and on the strength of your supplemental information, where applicable.
For post-secondary students, emphasis will be placed on your annual and cumulative grade point average, including your marks in prerequisite courses at the post-secondary or secondary level.
In Canadian jurisdictions where diploma or provincial exams are now optional, we will use the final mark on a transcript when considering an applicant’s results for admission, whether a diploma or provincial exam was written or not.
Full disclosure of all academic information must be made at the time of application.
Non-Academic Credentials
Depending on the program, non-academic information may be used to assess your application and is considered as important as your academic qualifications.
A supplemental application is required for the Computer Science and Rotman Commerce admission categories. The supplemental application is considered alongside your academic record when evaluating you for admission.
Repeated Courses
While we recognize that there may be valid reasons for repeating a course, we urge you to do as well as possible on your first attempt. In some instances, repeated courses will not be accepted for competitive admission categories.
Special Consideration
If your academic record has been negatively affected by disability-related circumstances or extenuating circumstances, such as a personal or family illness, tragedy, trauma or hardship, and your academic performance is slightly below the usual requirements for admission, you may submit a Request for Special Consideration form with your application. You will be able to access this form in the JOIN U of T portal after you have submitted your application. Although we cannot guarantee admission in all cases, each request will be reviewed on its individual merits.
Adherence to Application Deadlines
You must submit your application and supporting documents by the posted deadlines. Supporting documents include, but are not limited to, transcripts, English proficiency test results and supplemental applications. All required documents will be listed on the JOIN U of T portal.
When Decisions Are Made
We encourage you to apply and submit required documentation well in advance of the deadlines to maximize your opportunities for admission consideration.
Secondary School Applicants
Offers of admission are released in monthly rounds from February to May. During each round of admission, applications will be assessed using the most up-to-date information available.
If an offer of admission is not made during a particular round of admission, the application will be reassessed with updated grades for the subsequent round.
Alternate offers of admission are typically released between April and May.
Post-Secondary, Non-Degree and Part-Time Applicants
Admission decisions are made on an ongoing basis provided that all required documents have been received and an application is ready to be assessed. Competitive post-secondary students may be assessed for conditional admission while still enrolled, but in some instances, final transcripts will be required for an admission decision, meaning admission decision timelines can extend into the summer months. Students are expected to maintain consistent academic standing and these admission conditions will automatically apply to any summer courses taken prior to registering in a program.
Conditional Offers of Admission
Recognizing that final high school marks may not be available until summer, we will make conditional offers of admission throughout the year based on your available Grade 11 and 12 marks. This assessment is possible provided your record shows that you are enrolled in all required Grade 12 courses. In some instances, if a Grade 12 mark in a prerequisite subject is not yet available, we may use the mark in the corresponding Grade 11 course as long as you are enrolled in the Grade 12 course.
Most of our admission decisions are based on interim marks, so our offers are typically conditional on achieving acceptable final standing. Students are expected to maintain consistent academic standing for the duration of their high school (and post-secondary, if applicable) studies.
The terms of the offer, including conditions and specific minimum grade thresholds, are described in the terms and conditions section of your offer letter. Admitted students who do not meet the required condition(s) by the posted deadlines can expect to have their offer rescinded and will not be permitted to register.
Alternate Offers
Alternate Admission Category Offers
Students applying to the Computer Science or Rotman Commerce admission categories in the Faculty of Arts & Science have the option to select an alternate admission category on the JOIN U of T portal after completing the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC) application.
Selecting an alternate category does not affect your eligibility for your first choice of admission category. You will only be considered for your alternate admission category if you do not meet the admission requirements for your first choice, as noted above. You can select from the four other admission categories at Arts & Science: Mathematical & Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities. Computer Science and Rotman Commerce are not available as alternate choices. If you are admitted to an alternate admission category, you may be waitlisted for your first choice and reconsidered at a later time, space permitting.
To be considered for an alternate category, you must meet eligibility requirements and the minimum overall average, including in any prerequisite courses. Admission to an alternate category is competitive and not guaranteed.
Alternate Campus Offers
You will receive a decision from all the University of Toronto programs you selected on your application. However, in some instances, if you only applied to the Faculty of Arts & Science at the St. George campus and you were not admitted, you may be considered for admission to the University of Toronto Mississauga and/or the University of Toronto Scarborough, space permitting.
Waitlist
The University of Toronto will be utilizing an admissions waitlist for some admission categories. Our waitlist is an opportunity for eligible undergraduate applicants to be reconsidered for admission in the admission category that they originally applied to, as well as related subject areas at the university.
Not all applicants are eligible to join the waitlist. Applicants are invited to the waitlist based on their academic record and anticipated program space. Once invited to join the waitlist, an applicant must confirm their interest and accept the invitation. Learn more about the waitlist.