university of toronto admission essay

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Write your personal statement.

Personal statements are part of the application package to many professional and graduate school programs. Sometimes they are responses to a specific question, but often the questions are open ended. Although they vary in length, 500 words is a common length.

They are also known as letter of intent, personal essay, statement of purpose or application essays.

Attend a CV and Personal Statement Event to draft and refine your CV and/or personal statement in a semi-structured environment. Access workshops and small group chats, and receive advice, feedback and support from career educators

Download Guide to Writing Personal Statements for Further Education (PDF) for advice on writing personal statements for grad school.

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Apply to U of T

Required documents.

After you have applied for admission, visit  join.utoronto.ca  often to find complete information about the documents required to complete your application.

You must submit full documentation (transcripts) for all secondary and post-secondary studies attempted. Depending on your academic background and/or the program(s) to which you have applied, you may also be required to submit the online ‘self-reported grades’ form, proof of English language proficiency, standardized test results, or other supplemental information. Notarized translations of any documents issued in a language other than English or French are also required.

Whenever possible, transcripts and test scores must be submitted electronically. In the event that electronic submission of your results is not possible, you will be given the opportunity to upload your documents. The admissions committee will usually consider uploaded (unofficial) documents in order to make a provisional admission decision. However, official transcripts – received directly from the issuing institution – may be required at any time during the admission process, and are always required to finalize an offer of admission.  When required, official transcripts should be mailed to: University Admissions and Outreach, 172 St. George St., Toronto ON M5R 0A3.

Documents received by the University Admissions and Outreach office become the property of the University and will not be returned or forwarded to other institutions. We do not retain documents from previous applications. Do not submit any irreplaceable documents to University Admissions and Outreach.

How to Submit Required Documents

For the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, please visit the Faculty’s website .

Your school will send Grade 11 and 12 results through the OUAC. All grades  MUST  be submitted via the OUAC; unsolicited Ontario transcripts/report cards will not be reviewed.

After you have applied, upload your transcripts and self-report your grades through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal.

Provide your Permanent Code on your OUAC  application, allowing U of T to obtain your transcripts electronically from the OUAC.

After you have applied, upload your transcripts and complete the self-reported form through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal.

After you have applied, submit transcripts electronically via Parchment/Naviance. Where electronic transfer of documents is not possible, upload your transcripts.  Complete the self-reported form through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal. Test scores (SAT/ACT/AP) must be sent electronically.

After you have applied, upload your transcripts and complete the self-reported form through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal. Final IB results must be sent electronically by the IBO.

After you have applied, upload your transcripts and complete the self-reported form through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal. Final IGCSE/GCSE/O level and AS/A Level results must be issued by the appropriate exam board.

After you have applied, upload your transcripts and complete the self-reported form (if requested) through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal. If you are attending an international school that offers multiple curricula you must ask your school to specify the type of program in which you are enrolled and ensure that appropriate documents are submitted. Check join.utoronto.ca or the Engineering Applicant Portal for a list of documents required to complete your application.

Submit your postsecondary transcripts electronically via OUAC.

After you have applied, upload your transcripts through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal.

Submit transcripts electronically via Parchment/Naviance. Go to Parchment ( http://exchange.parchment.com/sign-up/ ), register for a student account and have your transcripts sent electronically to University Admissions and Outreach. Where electronic transfer of documents is not possible, upload your transcripts through join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal.

Submit your transcripts electronically via Parchment/Naviance. Where electronic transfer of documents is not possible, upload your transcripts through  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal. Check  join.utoronto.ca  or the Engineering Applicant Portal for a list of documents required to complete your application.

Find out which application you should use , depending on whether you’re a current Ontario high school student, an applicant from another Canadian province or territory, an international applicant, or in another circumstance.

Make sure you check the Important Application Dates to find out when your application, required documents, and other supplementary documents are due.

It depends on what you’re applying to, but most programs do not require additional applications. Some programs, colleges and campuses ask students to fill out an added application or profile. You should receive an email that will indicate if you need to fill out an application, where you can find it and what the deadline is. You can also find this information by looking up your intended program’s requirements in the Program Finder .

Find out about academic requirements for applicants from outside Canada .

Find out about U of T’s English Language Requirements and proof of English facility .

If you have completed college or university studies, AP, IB, GCE, CAPE, or French Bacc. examinations you may be eligible for transfer credit at the University of Toronto. Transfer credits are assessed after admission.

Find out more about transfer credits at U of T.

All changes to your application should be made before the application deadline .

If you have applied using the OUAC Undergraduate Application and wish to make changes to your initial application, you must do this by logging in to the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre website .

All other applicants (International/Internal/Part-Time/Non-Degree) should log onto JOIN U of T , click on Check Status, and follow the instructions for making changes to your application.

We do not accept any changes or corrections via email or telephone.

You will receive an acknowledgment from U of T, with login instructions for our applicant website, JOIN U of T , about two weeks after you submit your application.

Telephone & In-Person Inquiries We are available for telephone and in-person inquiries.

Email Inquiries Connect with us by email for:

• Admissions: apply.adm.utoronto.ca/register/questions
• Ask a Student: apply.adm.utoronto.ca/register/askastudent

Contact Client Services for financial aid inquires including:

• OSAP (Ontario Student Assistant Program) full and part-time
• BSWD (Bursaries for Students with Disabilities)
• UTAPS (University of Toronto Advanced Planning for Students)
• Part-Time Financial
• OOP Funding for other provinces outside of Ontario
• US student aid – for United States citizens (US Federal Student Aid loan opportunities, private loans (non-government), Veteran Affairs certification requests for benefits & education tax credit

Your feedback is important to us. Please take a couple of minutes to let us know how we did by completing our  University Admissions and Outreach Satisfaction Survey .

If you are unable to begin your degree studies in the fall, you may request a one-year deferral of your offer of admission. Deferrals are not guaranteed and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Check out further information on deferring an offer of admission .

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Personal Statements and Curriculum Vitae (CVs)

Personal statement.

Admission committees typically request a brief essay (500 to 2000 words), sometimes called a Personal Statement (also known as Statement of Interest or Purpose). It is a very important piece for assessing your fit for the program, and your writing ability.

Some schools provide prompt questions, so look for those! In general, these statements discuss:

• Your research and/or professional interests
• Your future goals and career plan
• How their institution and/or program will meet your goals
• What you will contribute to the program

We have two short exercises , led via video, to get you started on writing your personal statement!

Curriculum Vitae or CV

You may be asked to provide a resume , or you may be asked for an academic CV. They are related but different, as follows:

The following sample documents were developed by AA&CC staff and student staff, with input from faculty members:

• Model Undergraduate CV for Research-Focused Graduate Programs - with comments [ DOCX  - 38 KB]
• Model Undergraduate CV for Research-Focused Graduate Programs - without comments (for look) [ PDF - 165 KB]

Find more explanation and other useful examples here .

Application & Personal Statement Resources

• Effective Admission Letters (U of T Writing Centre)
• Purdue University Online Writing Lab
• CTL’s Graduate School Application and Personal Statement Assignment Calculator

• Writing Home
• Writing Advice Home

Effective Admission Letters

• Printable PDF Version
• Fair-Use Policy

When you write a letter or personal statement as part of applying for graduate or professional school, you will make your case as much by the way you write as by what you say. Here are some of the qualities to aim for.

Be focussed . Take your cue first from the prompts given in the application form. Is the real question why you want to be a lawyer, or is it why you will make a good one? If the prompt is very general or the questions scattered, decide what point you want to make overall: that you are a proven achiever, or that you can deal with challenges, or that you have something special to contribute to the profession…. Don’t just write about law or medicine in general—that is extremely boring to the readers. Write about yourself as a lawyer, physician, or anthropologist.

Be coherent . Being “together” is a quality of writing as well as of character. A clearly organized letter can create a picture of a clear-minded and sensible person. You might want to write from an outline or a diagram of main points. At least check the topic sentences of each paragraph in your finished piece to see if they make a logical sequence. Ask a tough-minded friend to give her impression. See over for types of structure and for books that give further advice about writing.

Be interpretive . You need to make an impression concisely, so don’t use your letter just to repeat the facts set out in other parts of the application. Provide explicit answers for the question that arises in the mind of any reader looking at a hundred or more similar documents—”So what?” Use nouns and adjectives that name qualities ( outgoing, curiosity, confident ) and verbs that show action ( coordinated, investigated, tried ). Make an effort to find the exact right ones to suit the evidence you are offering.

Be specific . There’s no point making claims unless you can back them up. Refer to the fact lists in other parts of your application (“as my academic record shows”), but be sure to offer enough examples in your letter so that it can stand on its own. Say that they are just instances, not your whole proof (“An incident from last summer is an example….”). The concrete language you use for these specific references will also balance the generalizing words of your interpretive points.

Be personal . Your letter substitutes for an interview. In effect, the readers have asked you to tell stories, mention details, expand on facts. So mention things you might not have put into the rest of the application—your ethnic background or political interests, if you wish and if they are relevant. Don’t be afraid to mention problems or difficulties; stress how you overcame them. Use “I” rather than phrases like “this writer” or “my experience” or “was experienced by me.” A stylistic tip: to avoid monotony, start some sentences with a subordinate clause such as “While I scrubbed floors” or “Because of my difficulties”—then go on to I did or I learned.

Options for Organizing an Admission Letter

Judge by the clues on the application form and by the nature of the profession or discipline what kind of logical structure you could use to tie your points together into a coherent whole. You may see indications you are expected to tell stories, or be self-analytical, or to enter into discussions in the discipline. Here are some standard patterns for prose exposition:

Narrative: This has the virtue of being linear, and thus easy to organize. It progresses from a beginning to an end, and you can divide up the middle into manageable sections. But beware of overworked openings like “I have always wanted to be a dentist.” Make sure, too, that you balance interpretive points with specific facts

Analytic: To deal with the central question why you are a good match for the program, give an overall answer about yourself and then discuss the elements that contribute to your engagement with the discipline and predict your contributions. Discuss your interests in terms of key issues and theories in your discipline. To balance the dryness of this approach. break into memorable stories at times, using specific details, and use verbs to put yourself in action. Show what you intend to do after you have completed the program.

Technical: To indicate your research or professional interests, show your involvement with a specific issue. Don’t just outline the topic you want to work on; write about your summer research job or independent-study project, or your program on student radio or your volunteer experience. Outline specific undergraduate programs as examples. Emphasize what you learned from these activities, and indicate how your studies will extend that learning.

Other Sources of Advice

Writing Style: Don’t give your readers any excuses to eliminate your application. Proofread carefully for missing details as well as errors in grammar or punctuation. Write readably; don’t overload your sentences with academic jargon or pretentious words. Pull out your dictionary and reference books on writing if you’re wondering about specific constructions. If you need to set up your statement as a letter, check a book or website on standard letter formatting for the date and return addresses. If you use a Word template, choose one of the simpler ones to avoid looking pretentious.

Guidebooks: Lots of books give advice on writing graduate admissions letters. The ones you’ll see in bookstores and libraries are nearly all focussed on American universities, so take their advice and samples with a grain of salt. Above all, don’t imitate too closely—suspected plagiarism or obvious insincerity brings quick rejection.

Online Advice: Academic sites like these give advice and sometimes include examples. Avoid commercial sites.

• Purdue University, www.owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/01/
• University of Wisconsin, www.writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/apessay.html
• PsychWeb, www.psywww.com/careers/applicat.htm

Brief Personal Essays and How they are Assessed

Brief Personal Essays (BPEs) are one of the non-academic components required as part of the application for U of T’s MD Program. These essays are just as their name suggests – brief (only 250 words) and personal (reflective of your personal thoughts and reasoning). Every year we receive questions about how to write a good BPE. In this blog post we will answer some of the more common questions.

Why did you choose these particular essay questions?

Every year a working group collaborates to develop our new BPE questions. These questions are framed around the four competency clusters that we use to assess the non-academic materials that are required for admission. These clusters are:

Professional: maturity, reliability, perseverance and responsibility

Communicator/collaborator/manager: communication, collaboration, teamwork, time management and leadership

Advocate: advocacy, community service and social responsibility

Scholar: academic standing, achievements in leadership, research and social responsibility as demonstrated by (but not limited to) awards, conference presentations, publications and scholarships

The questions often relate to current events and common themes in healthcare. They are designed to incite critical thinking, and to encourage personal reflection.

You can find this year’s BPE questions here.

How are these essays being assessed?

The BPEs are being assessed in the following ways:

Does the response answer the question being asked? Is the response clear and do we understand the argument? Is the writing style concise? Is the applicant able to personalize their response by providing examples? Given the brief nature of these essays – 250 words – it is very important that you focus on clear and concise writing. While we do not deduct marks for spelling and grammar specifically, mistakes like these can lead to a lack of clarity in your response.

The focus here is really on the content of your essay. Keep in mind the four clusters listed above. Will the individuals reviewing your essay responses be able to identify these clusters in your responses? This is important to reflect on.

What if I disagree with the question, or wish to take an opposing stance to the statement provided?

It is important to note that there is no right or wrong answer to the essay questions and statements we provide. Applicants are invited to take an opposing stance, or to frame their response in a different way based around their personal views, beliefs and arguments. We welcome a diversity of opinions. Our file reviewers are measuring content, clarity and a sound argument (as suggested above). Our reviewers learn during our training process that personal biases are not to influence how these essays are marked.

Should I use examples and references?

Absolutely. It would be difficult to write a personal essay response without including personal examples and/or references to research, current events, etc. Should you choose to reference research or publications, keep in mind that 250 words is not long at all, so we do not expect to see long citations or footnotes. A simple reference to the author and date is sufficient.

Some advice from our team: do not leave these essays until the last minute. Think about the questions, plan out your thoughts, frame your responses and arguments, draft the essays, and proofread. Then ask your friends, family members, colleagues, university counsellors, etc. to proofread and provide feedback. Take your time and really work hard to write good quality essays, as doing so will certainly enhance your application.

Still have a question about the BPEs? Email us – we are happy to help.

Interview Days and the MPI

What’s Next in The Process?

Getting Yourself Organized