About Us

About YouAbout the SiteAbout the Authors

About You

We want you to find your path into university, and this website will help you do that.

There are lots of decisions to make when planning for your future at university. Deciding which kind of applicant you will be is one of them.

Most people don’t realize that going to high school is a choice you make. This website has information for those who make that choice, but also for those who have chosen to do something different for their high school years.

It is also for those who find themselves wanting to go to university but whose academic background and past educational choices have them wondering what they can or should do to get into university, or wondering if it’s too late to get back on track.

Most university information is geared towards those who are in high school, finishing their high school diploma and applying as traditional high school graduates. But there are many different paths to university, some of which don’t involve a regular high school experience and diploma. This website is for everyone.

We have information for:

  • traditional high school graduates applying to university with a high school diploma
  • students who left high school without earning a diploma but want to attend university
  • alternatively-educated students applying to university without a high school diploma
  • homeschoolers applying to university without a high school diploma
  • adults (mature students) applying to university with or without a high school diploma

About the Site

This website is here to provide:

  • current, accurate university information from only the most reliable sources [this updating task is not currently maintained — you can use the last-update pages as a starting point for seeking out the info on the universities’ own websites]
  • resources for academic preparation and study material to help you get into (and stay in) university
  • information on extra-curricular learning activities including programs, workshops and summer camps for high school students offered by universities and other reputable organizations
  • suggestions for creating your own high school experience if you choose not to go to high school and still want to get into university

You may notice a slight focus on Ontario universities because that’s the system we’re most familiar with and because this province has a large proportion of Canada’s students and universities. Ontario is also one of the few provinces to use a provincial application centre; you don’t apply to each university individually. So, there is a little more to know about Ontario university admissions. But, this is a Canada-wide, national resource. We always mention when information pertains only to Ontario or any other province in particular.

About the Authors

This site was created by Sarah Rainsberger. She is now focusing on other endeavours and has passed the torch.

Sarah Rainsberger

I have spent over 20 years helping high school and university students as a tutor, teacher, academic advisor, educational consultant, alternative education advocate and guidance counselor in Toronto. I worked with students in all aspects of university entrance: academic and test preparation, researching schools and programs, finding out university entrance requirements, filling out university application forms and deciding which offer of admission to accept.

In the second half of my career, I began to assist non-traditional applicants to Ontario universities: homeschoolers, self-educated, mature students and others who did not have the expected credentials (such as a high school diploma) to apply to university in the regular way. I wrote a popular blog post “7 ways to get into university without a high school diploma” and have spoken for years at regional homeschooling conferences about how alternatively-educated students could enter the post-secondary system.

Every time I speak to homeschoolers and they find out how easy it is to get into university without a high school diploma they inevitably ask, “Why doesn’t everyone do this? Why do kids go to high school at all when there are so many different paths to university?” The answer is simple: most students and parents going through the regular school system simply don’t know that they have options.

This website is an attempt to expand on that blog post and my university admissions talk. I want to bring this information about university admissions out of the homeschooling community and into the mainstream student population where everyone can use it.