Do Grade 11 marks matter on Canadian university applications?
When it comes to university acceptance, do your Grade 11 marks matter? The short answer is: not really. The full answer has more nuance and the potential to deliver a sense of relief. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Grade 11 marks — when they matter and what to do if they’re not as high as you’d like.
The confusion is real
Maybe you’ve received final Grade 11 marks and they’re not what you were hoping. Teachers or other students might try to console you, explaining that your Grade 11 marks don’t matter for university applications. But you may have heard from older students, as well, that they got into Canadian universities with the help of their Grade 11 marks.
What’s a discouraged student to think? Let’s clear things up—your Grade 11 marks can help you receive early acceptance at some universities, but they won’t hold you back. They won’t prevent you from receiving acceptance in Grade 12, if your marks are high enough in your final year of school.
A quick reminder: what’s required
As you’ve likely heard from your high school counsellor, Canadian universities consider your top six Grade 12 marks, when deciding if you will gain admission. In some cases, these marks will be calculated based on your results in specific courses.
If you are applying for McMaster Health Sciences, for example, they require high school graduation and will look at six Grade 12 U/M level courses, including English 12, Biology 12, Chemistry 12, one of (Advanced Functions, Calculus and Vectors, or Data Management), one credit from either languages, arts or social studies.
Timing matters
The reason Grade 11 marks matter in some cases is related to timing. Because Canadian universities make offers of admission throughout the year, they sometimes rely on Grade 11 marks as a way of predicting what your Grade 12 marks will be.
Most Canadian universities will offer admission rounds before the first term of Grade 12 marks are available (February). This means they are relying on Grade 11 marks, as well as Grade 12 midterm marks. Further admissions are offered in February, once the first term of Grade 12 marks are available and then again in April, with second term Grade 12 midterm marks.
In other words, until Grade 12 is complete in June, universities are still taking Grade 11 marks into consideration, as part of the equation in whether or not to offer admission.
The long and the short of it
In summary, your Grade 11 marks matter, but will ultimately be overridden by your performance in Grade 12 courses. Another way to think of it? Your Grade 11 marks can provide a leg-up, helping you gain early, conditional acceptance to specific programs and schools.
What if your Grade 11 marks don’t help?
Many Grade 11 students finish the year with worry. Grade 11 marks a significant climb in content and course intensity. It’s common for your marks to slip while you adjust to new course volume and expectations. So, what happens if you finish the year with underwhelming marks?
Most important: don’t panic. As we’ve covered here, you have plenty of time to put in the effort to raise your Grade 12 marks, which will ultimately determine your acceptance to university. Here are a few ways to turn things around in Grade 12:
Keep up - don’t leave homework or test prep to the last minute. Keep current with course work so that test prep is more about review than learning the content.
Seek extra help - don’t be shy about seeking a teacher or TA to explain things you don’t understand.
Study success - do you have a classmate who seems to nail every test? Don’t be afraid to ask about their note-taking or study systems. Chances are, they’ll be happy to share what they know.
Focus on your weak spots - we all have concepts that take extra effort to figure out. Figure out your weak spots so you can ask specific questions or find online tutorials about the subject.
Just-right help for university applications
If you’re interested in finding the right level of support for your university application essays — including planning and editing help for personal statements, personal profiles, supp app essays and more, we can help.
At On Your Mark, we’ve helped Canadian students to map out and edit their application essays for Engineering, Life Sciences and Psychology programs at top Canadian schools. We’ve also helped students prepare and practice for on-the-spot essays and interviews, as part of the supp app Health Sciences at Queen’s University.
We look forward to helping you find your voice for the written or video components of your university applications. Let’s do this.