Admissions

Language Requirements

All applicants (regardless of their first language) must be able to read and write in English at a minimum level of grade 10.

Prerequisites

All students must present prerequisite courses to enrol in classes. If you have completed course prerequisites more than 2 years ago, you must write a placement test.

Students who enrol in Preparation for University and College usually spend only one year in the program. Some students go on to a university program and others go on to complete a diploma or technical program. You should be selecting your courses according to the post-secondary program you plan to pursue. It is your responsibility to know the entrance requirements for the program to which you are planning to apply after upgrading.

Not sure where to start?

To make enrolment easier you need to do homework in advance. What should you do before you enrol in upgrading courses?

1. Reflection

If you don’t have at least a general sense of what you wish to do academically, you are going to have problems choosing classes. You may have to look into the possibility of career counselling or interest and aptitude testing to get a sense of what your academic goals may be.

2. Research

Once you have a goal for your academic work, then you should find out what you need to do to attain that goal. You should be doing this research. Not your parents, not your guidance counsellor, not your program advisor. Why? Because most of the decisions that will have to be made regarding your education you are going to make on your own, and it is important that you have a strong sense of the options you have and the effects a particular decision will have on your academic progress.

The sooner you start the better. Suddenly realizing two years into your program that it just isn’t right for you is an inconvenience you want to avoid, if at all possible. It’s better to find out that sort of thing before you put a lot of time, money, and effort into your studies.

All applicants are required to provide official transcripts. If you have attended an Alberta high school, we will order Alberta Learning high school transcripts for you. If you have attended one of Alberta’s participating post-secondary institutions, we will order these transcripts as well.

If you have attended any institution outside of Alberta you must make arrangements with your Department of Education to have your final grades forwarded directly to Grant MacEwan University. If an official paper transcript is issued, a copy must be brought to the office to register or when meeting with the Advisor.

Domestic students (permanent residents or Canadian citizens) wishing to use documents from outside of Canada should have their documents evaluated. Official documents printed in a language other than English must include a notarized word for word English translation. Documents from institutions outside of Canada must be submitted with the International Transcript Evaluation form completed and fee paid. All international documents should be officially evaluated by the Registrar’s Office before meeting with the Advisor.

Once all of your documents are received, you will be placed in the program in one of the following ways:

• If your high school or post-secondary transcripts are less than two years old, you will be placed according to previous academic success and course prerequisites.
• If you have no high school or post-secondary transcripts, or your documents are over two years old, you must write a placement test in mathematics and English.

PUC students who achieve sufficient academic standing in their first term of study do not need to re-apply to continue their studies for the following term.

The placement test will determine your current academic standing in all subjects and your placement level in the Preparation for University and College program. 

Have you applied to the program?

You must apply to the Preparation for University and College program (through www.ApplyAlberta.ca) before you sign-up for the placement test. The only exception is students who are already admitted to another Grant MacEwan University program e.g. Bachelor of Arts, General Studies, Bachelor of Science or Open Studies. These students DO NOT apply to Preparation for University and College, but must pay a $25 testing fee. These students should contact our office directly and identify themselves as a program student and we will walk them through the placement testing process.

Register for the next available placement test

The placement test is a 3 hour multiple choice exam. All materials will be provided to write the exam (paper, pencils and erasers). Calculators are not allowed.

The first four sections are divided into English vocabulary, comprehension, grammar and expressive language. The next two sections are broken down into basic mathematical computation and mathematical concepts and applications.

The second part of the placement test is an Alberta curriculum specific mathematics test, with content from the grade 10 to grade 12 academic streams.

After the placement test, an appointment will be made to review your results with a program advisor.

Please ensure that you have researched a career/program goal prior to your meeting with the advisor.

A personalized educational plan based on your desired career goals, test results, and previous course pre-requisites will be developed in conjunction with the advisor.