What if Killer Marks Aren’t Enough?

In August, 2023, The Toronto Star ran a story on two students—recognized as top scholars for the Toronto District School Board—who didn’t get into their first pick universities. Hari Chand Pillai and Charlie Li both scored 100% in their top six high school courses.

Yes! You read that right. They averaged 100%! But still, McMaster Health Sciences and University of Waterloo Computer Sciences eluded them.

What’s happening? Has grade inflation gone through the roof?

According to the Council of Ontario Universities, acceptance marks for Ontario schools have been on the rise for a number of years, and have taken a significant climb since the pandemic. Unfortunately, the conundrum of rising marks is hard to combat. In order to help their students compete for spots at top schools, high schools are handing out higher and higher grades.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that current students inherently know more or have a better understanding of course material than those who graduated ten years ago. Nor does it mean the curriculum is any easier than it was. It likely comes down to human nature — parents and teachers want to see their students succeed.

So instead of holding firm deadlines, teachers offer another chance to hand things in, without penalty. Sometimes they’ll allow students to drop their lowest mark, in case that one bad test was an anomaly. Often, they’ll allow the final exam to weigh more, if a student exceeds their results to that point.

Sound familiar?

Treating student performance with kid-gloves has become the norm. A moving deadline is a generous, forgiving way to treat our students, even if it won’t do them any favours in the real world, when they’re faced with real deadlines.

So yes, with several input factors, grade inflation has gone through the roof. In just three years, from 2018 to 2021, the incoming high school average for Engineering students across nine Ontario universities rose from an average of 89.28% to 91.24%.

So, what can your student do to remain competitive?

Chances are, your student is already stressed about grades. When they see their peers pushing marks of 90% and higher, they’ll naturally want to do the same. If they are in Grade 11 or 12, they know exactly what’s at stake.

The balance for parents is tricky — how do you support your student without adding extra stress? If Hari and Charlie had an average of 100% and didn’t get in to coveted programs like McMaster Health Sciences and University of Waterloo Computer Sciences, does your student stand a chance?

Don’t worry, when it comes to Canadian university applications, marks aren’t always the deciding factor. While McMaster Health Sciences had an incoming class average of 96.2% in 2021, nearly 19% of the incoming class had 90-94% and over 2% of the class had an high school average of 85-89%. So, how did the students with ‘lower’ grades make the cut for this competitive program? The answer likely comes down to the McMaster supp app.

Supp app to the rescue!

The supplementary application (supp app) required by some universities can be a blessing in disguise. Naturally, your Grade 12 student won’t love the idea of writing extra essays or preparing for on-the-spot essays or videos. But this is exactly where they can let their personalities shine.

Whether your student is interested in applying to UBC Engineering, Life Sciences Waterloo, or Health Sciences Queen’s University, a supp app will give them the chance to differentiate their application.

Of course, there are some important things to keep in mind for supp apps. Rather than make a list of extracurricular activities, for example, it’s a good idea to narrow your scope to specific experiences that demonstrate how you’ve grown and what you can apply to your future education.

If your student needs to do on-the-spot, limited-time essays and interviews for a given program, it’s critical to prepare ahead of time and practice, practice, practice.

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.