Post-Secondary Research

Post-Secondary Guidance and Counselling at VC

Grade 10 students will focus on exploring majors, careers, and post-secondary options in the first half of the Planning 10 program, in the spring of grade 10. Grade 11 students will continue their post-secondary process in the fall in the second half of the Planning 10 program with presentations to both students and their parents and receive a copy of the Vancouver College Post-Secondary Guide - a comprehensive guide to post-secondary exploration, research, selection, and application to colleges, universities, and institutions around the world. Classroom lessons in the fall with our grade 12 students continue our process of assisting students with their post-secondary research, selection, and application.

Exposure:  Learning About Yourself and Exploring Post-Secondary Options

Many resources are available both at VC and online to help you to expose yourself to what is out there and how well each option would suit you and your personal circumstances including interests, grades, finances, and extracurricular interests. These include lessons, evening presentations, printed materials published by the school and post-secondary institutions, and access to online resources.

Setting Up for Your Research

Create some kind of system where you will keep your notes and materials on self-awareness, career exploration, and post-secondary planning. This could be near your home computer, a place where you will likely do much of your research. Set up whatever system you feel comfortable with – binders with dividers or files – but do set up a system. It will make the process a lot easier. Always take notes when you research a college, institute or university – you will forget most of what you read otherwise and different institutions and their programs will start to blur. Being organized and pursuing your research in smaller ‘chunks’ of time on a regular basis will make the process more meaningful and enjoyable, and much less stressful.

Learning About Yourself and What You Would Like to Study

Think about who you are and who you want to become. Write down the words and phrases that people have used to describe you and your characteristics and round these out with your own thoughts and your findings from your self-exploration exercises in Planning 10. Ask those close to you to describe you and also review past report cards, letters, cards, and the like. Then think about the people who have influenced you and who you admire. What qualities, characteristics and skills of theirs would you like to emulate?  What skills and talents do you have in school and outside of school? What types of environments do you thrive in versus feel stressed in?  Are you inspired by high intensity and high expectations, or would you prefer a more balanced and relaxed approach?  How ready are you to be independent and to what extent? Do you look forward to being in a large environment or would you benefit from a smaller, closer community like VC?  What expectations and aspirations do you have for yourself?  What expectations do your significant others have for you? How certain are you about the field you think you may study?  Which extracurricular activities will be important for you to continue to pursue?  How will your faith life be a part of your post-secondary life?   How self-disciplined are you and how well-developed are your independent study skills?  What are your post-secondary and career goals.

To learn more about what is studied in individual majors (the concentration of your program) and about related careers, go to College Majors and Descriptions on the My Majors website at:      http://www.mymajors.com/content_major_information_pages.html, and Majors on the College Board website at:  www.collegeboard.com.

Creating Match:  Understanding Yourself and Looking for a Place to Thrive

Using the search engines on BC Education Planner, and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, research colleges, institutes, and universities in Canada by any or all of the factors listed above. Start by using all of the parameters which you can, e.g. size, location, type of degree or certificate, program, etc., or just one or two of these (you will see these when you go to the search engine websites). For US universities, use My Road.

University Rankings

University rankings are publications which attract the attention of students and and parents as they seem to offer direction, clarity, and a way to streamline the process of selection; however, they are controversial for many reasons, most related to which information is collected, from whom, and how it is presented. For a comprehensive discussion on these and many other aspects of ranking, visit: Ranking of Universities and Higher Education Institutions for Student Information Purposes. A recent Vancouver Sun article also addressed these issues: Macleans releases university rankings

Universities, Colleges, and Institutes in British Columbia

British Columbia is home to twenty-five publicly funded post-secondary universities, colleges, and institutes as well as many private institutions representing a wide range of programs culminating in full undergraduate degrees, associate degrees, diplomas and/or certificates in innumerable academic, creative, and practical fields.  Excellent resources to search these offerings are:  Ministry of Advanced Education (and Labour Market Development) for overviews of and links to institutions and the BC Education Planner . A clickable map of all BC institutions can be accessed at:  British Columbia Public Post Secondary Institutions Map.

BC Post-Secondary Institution Websites

Universities, Colleges, and Institutes in Canada

There are approximately 94 degree granting universities and colleges in Canada. A complete listing and detailed information about each institution and programs offered can be found at: The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. A clickable map can be accessed from the Study Canada web site. To search Ontario universities, go to: Electronic Info Canada. For profiles and 2010 - 2011 admission information on many Canadian universities, see the Canadian Universities Events Institution Profile Booklet and Counsellor Resource: Fall 2011 Admission at: CUE Profile Booklet 2010 - 2011.

Canadian Post-Secondary Institution Websites

With a much greater population, the United States has a much larger collection of universities and colleges, a total exceeding 4,000 .  With this many post secondary institutions to choose from, research and selection can be a daunting task. It is very important to have a clear focus when beginning your research in the US, whether that is program, credential, region, or type of institution, or it is easy to feel overwhelmed.  For a full alphabetical and state-by-state listings of US universities, go to:  Alphabetic list of US Universities. To search by program, major, region, and many other factors, go to www.MyRoad.com and www.collegeboard.com.

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