Ontario College Online Application

User Guide

Your future starts here . . .

Step 1 – Research colleges and programsFIND A COLLEGE – view the map

FIND A COLLEGE – link to college websites

Visit ontariocolleges.ca and click on the “Choose a College” button.

Links to individual college websites

FIND A PROGRAM TOOL • ontariocolleges.ca/find

Search by keyword

Search by a college

Link to college information

OTHER RESEARCH OPTIONS

College Information Program (CIP)• September 30 – November 1, look for events near you• Full schedule at: ontariocolleges.ca/cip

College Open Houses• held each fall and spring• see facebook.com/ontariocolleges.ca for upcoming events

Attend College Seminars• see guidance for dates and times• October/November

Important Dates•Early October – Access the application at ontariocolleges.ca

•November 26, 2013 – First date that 2014/15 application data is sent to colleges; earliest date that colleges may acknowledge applications.

•February 1, 2014 – Equal Consideration Date - Applications received and paid for by this date are considered equally by the colleges

- This is not a deadline for submitting applications. It is, however, critical to apply to highly competitive programs by this date.

- Applications are still processed after this date, but areconsidered on a first-come, first-served basis by the colleges.

Important Dates•February 1, 2014 – Offer Date - First day that colleges MAY release offers of admission. - Not all offers are posted on this day. The colleges continually post offers of admission until programs are filled.

•February 1, 2014 – Accept Offer Date- Earliest date that applicants may confirm an offer of admission.

•May 1, 2014 - Applicants must confirm their acceptance of an offer of admission by this date.- Each college will determine the due date to confirm offers made after May 1. - Check your offer letter AND the expiry date of your offer of admission.

• June 17, 2014 – Tuition Fee Payment- Earliest date that colleges may require payment of tuition fees.

Important Info Before You Apply• The application processing fee is $95 (non-refundable)

• An application allows you up to 5 program choices, with no more than 3 at any one college

• All program choices must start within the same academic year (August – July)

• Your username is permanent

• Your password must be between 8 and 14 characters in length

• DO NOT create more than one account

• The application works best in the following browsers: Internet Explorer 8+

Firefox 17+Chrome 23+Safari 5.1

Important Info Before You Apply

EMAIL ADDRESS• Provide a valid email address.

- This allows ontariocolleges.ca to communicate with you for important information about your application, account activation and username / password recovery.

- The colleges to which you apply use this email address to communicate with you about your application and offers of admission.

• Check your email regularly.- Update your email address if it changes.

• Check your junk/spam mailboxes if you do not receive emails from ‘myaccount@ontariocolleges.ca’ and add to your safe senders list.

Important Info Before You ApplyPRIVACY STATEMENT •Review our complete Privacy Statement. It explains how we use the information provided as part of your college application.

•A link to the Privacy Statement is located in the footer of the ontariocolleges.ca website and within the college application.

ACCOUNT INFORMATIONSome information is automatically added to your account based on the information provided during account creation.

INFORMATION YOU CANNOT CHANGE ON YOUR APPLICATION / ACCOUNT•Name, date of birth, username, basis of admission, OEN & academic data*

•To make changes to this information, call the ontariocolleges.ca Customer Contact Centre

*to make changes to academic data, see your guidance counselor

• OEN (Ontario Education Number) and Student Number (found on your report card or high school transcript)

• Your complete home mailing address including postal code

• In which city your high school is located (Don’t laugh! Larger cities have this issue. Is the school in ‘Toronto’ OR ‘Etobicoke’)

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

Your ontariocolleges.ca Account

Your ontariocolleges.ca account allows you to:

• Apply to any of Ontario’s 28 public colleges

• Review and update your college application

• Request Ontario high school transcripts (from participating schools)(Note: current high school students have their transcripts sent automatically by their high schools)

• Request Ontario college / university transcripts

• View and accept offers of admission

Step 2 – Create an Account

New Users: If you have never applied through ontariocolleges.ca before, click the “Create an Account” button

Returning to your application: If you have an existing account, click “Log In”

Go to ontariocolleges.ca

Password ‘rules’

Passwords that DO NOT meet these requirements will not allow you to login.

Create an AccountComplete required fields

If you do not agree to the Terms and Conditions you will be logged out of the college application.

Select a question from the pull-down list, or create your own

! You cannot log in to your account without first activating it

Activate Your Account

Click the link to activate your account.

An activation email is also sent to the email on file.

You only need to activate your account using one method (screen or email).

Successful Account Activation

Click the link to access the login screen.

Login using the username and password created during account sign up.

If you forget, click to have your login info sent to your email address.

Forgotten Username / PasswordUsernames / passwords are recovered separately. The process is identical.

Enter the email address provided during account sign up and click “Verify”.

Answer the challenge questions and click ‘Recover’.

Note that answers must match exactly and are cAse SenSitive.

The requested information will be sent to the email address on file.

Privacy Statement

If you do not accept the Privacy Statement you will not be able to complete your application to college.

On first login only, you will be asked to review and accept our Privacy Statement.

Step 3 – Applicant Home Screen / Dashboard

MESSAGE CENTRE: Important information about your application is found here. Check regularly.

Start your college application from this screen.

MY PROFILE: • A checkmark ( ) will appear after each section is

completed.

• All sections (even if they do not apply to you) must be completed, in order, when you complete your account the first time.

• Click ‘Save’ to continue to the next step.

MY PROFILE: • Personal Information – basic demographic info, including legal name,

date of birth, etc.

• Contact Information – street address, email address, telephone numbers

• Second Consent – authorization to allow another individual access to your account/application (e.g. parent, guidance counselor) (Note: not shared with the colleges)

• Citizenship & Residency – Citizenship, residency status in Canada, country of birth

• Education – schools attending/attended; marks will be posted to this section

• Financial Support – agency sponsorship; this does not include OSAP

• Experience – add employment or volunteer experience that relates to your area of study

MY APPLICATIONS: • Program Choices – select or update your program choices in this

section

• Basis of Admission – identify if you are/will be a high school graduate or enrolled in a high school course

• Payment Summary – listing of fees requiring payment

ACTIVITY HISTORY: • Summary of application’s day-to-day activities

Personal Information

Complete all required fields. Click ‘Save and Continue to Next Step’.

Contact Information

Click to add your address

Mailing Information

Complete all fields.

Click ‘Next’.

Contact Information

Complete any remaining fields.Click ‘Save’.

Click ‘Edit Address’ if your address is incorrect or changes.

Second Consent

ADD SECOND CONSENT: • Authorize another individual access to your account/application

• Maximum of 3 individuals at one time

• Authorization can be added, changed or revoked at any time

• All actions made by authorized individuals appear in activity history

Complete required fields. Click ‘Save’

Full Access – authorized individuals may make payments AND changes to your application information

Read Only/ Pay – authorized individuals may make payments and ONLY VIEW your application information

Second Consent Summary

• Authorized individuals, once added, receive account activation emails and are asked to create their own unique usernames and passwords to access your account

• Authorization can be added, changed or revoked at any time by using the ‘Edit’ and ‘Deactivate’ links

• Deactivated individuals receive email notification of the change

Citizenship and Residency

Complete fields by selecting information from the drop down menu.

Canadian citizens: select ‘Aboriginal Ancestry’ if applicable.

Click ‘Save’.

Education

Complete only the sections that apply to your education experience.

High School Education

Use the drop down menus to complete all fields.

Ontario high school students: use the ‘Find School’ drop down to add your high school.

Important for current students

Graduates / Former Students – Enter the date you completed/ left high school

! Current Students – Click the radio button

All Applicants – enter the date you began high school

To allow us to match your grades to your application, your OEN, student number and name (as it appears on your school record) must be accurate.

Click ‘Save’ when done.

CURRENT STUDENTS ONLY• Your high school will

automatically forward your grades to ontariocolleges.ca.

Education Summary

ONTARIO HIGH SCHOOL GRADES• Grades will be listed in the ‘Academic

Data on File’ section.

• It is recommended that current students check their grades several times during the school year (e.g. after mid-semester and final marks for semester 1 and 2).

• Any errors should be reported to your guidance counselor.

A school record, once added, cannot be deleted. It’s contents (e.g. attended dates), however, can be modified.

Click ‘Save and Continue to Next Step’ when done.

Financial Support

Sponsor Agency – agency that will be paying all or part of your educational or living expenses while at college.

If you are applying for financial assistance (e.g. OSAP, bursary, scholarship, etc.) you are not considered ‘sponsored’ and should select ‘No Sponsorship’.

Use the drop down menu to select the agency. Click ‘Save’.

Experience

Add information in these sections ONLY if it relates to your area of study.

Skip the sections that do not apply to you.

Add Job Experience – previous or current paid employment

Test Information – standardized test information that will be submitted to support your application. (e.g. GED, TOEFL, nursing, etc.)

Other Activities – previous or current volunteer experience, association memberships, etc.

Complete the required fields.

Click ‘Save’ when done.

Experience Summary

‘Add’ buttons – use to add additional information.

Edit Details – use to update existing information.

Delete – remove information.

Select Programs

Select the link for the dates you wish to begin your studies.

Programs with start dates in:• September 2014• January 2015• May 2015

Selecting programs from BOTH application cycles will result in two applications and an additional application processing fee.

! Fees paid on duplicate applications are non-refundable.

Record your Account Number and Application Number.

Received Date – is the date your application processing fee payment is received and processed.

You may apply to a maximum of FIVE program choices with no more than THREE at any one college.

List your programs in order of preference.

You cannot create additional applications to apply to more programs. (sorry!)

‘>’ – search for programs at ONE college

‘>>’– search for program at ALL colleges

Enter ONE word of the program title or the program code.

Click ‘Search’

Click ‘Select’ to add the program to your application

Make sure you select the correct program start date

Entry Level 1 – the first semester of the first year of the program. Note: programs with January start dates are still Entry Level 1.

Review the information and complete any required fields.

Click ‘Save’ to return to the program choice screen.

If you have previously applied to, or attended this college, enter the dates. Otherwise, leave the default values.

Manage Program Choices

Click ‘Search for a Program ’ to add additional programs

Use the green arrows to reorder your program choices (if required).

Click ‘Edit’ to change program information OR ‘Delete’ to remove the program from your application.

Click ‘Done Adding Choices’ to move to the next step.

Basis for Admission

Review and answer the questions.

Click ‘Save and Continue to Next Step’ when done.

Current high school students: make sure ‘yes’ is selected for question 2.

Applicant Dashboard

Once programs choices are added, the application status will be ‘Unpaid’.

After the application processing fee is received the status is updated to ‘Paid’ and the application information is forwarded to your college choice(s).

Payment Summary

Review your fees.

Click ‘Process Payment’ to pay your application processing fee.

Secure Online Credit Card Payment

Enter your credit card details.

Cardholder Name – must appear exactly as on credit card.

Credit Card Number – Numbers only. No spaces or hyphens.

Expiry Date – Select the dates using the drop down menu.

Click ‘Process Transaction’ to complete your payment.

Successful Payment Verification

Payment is verified ‘on screen’ and confirmation is also sent to your email.

Declined Payment Notification

DECLINED PAYMENTA payment can be declined for a number of reasons:• Incorrect credit card number and/or

expiry date. Confirm that the information you entered is accurate.

• Insufficient credit limit.

Offers of Admission

Click ‘View Offers’ to view your offers of admission.

OFFERS OF ADMISSION• Offers can only be viewed after they are

posted by the colleges.

• You may accept only ONE offer at a time.

• You may accept only ONE offer in one 24-hour period.

• A confirmation of your acceptance is sent to your email.

CHANGING AN ACCEPTED OFFER• If, after accepting an offer, you change your

mind or receive another which you prefer, you may accept the new offer (before the expiry date). The new acceptance will cancel your previous one.

Application Activity History

Select the application number you wish to review and click ‘Retrieve’. Read only.

General – day-to-day summary.

College Transmission – Summary of information that has been sent to your college choice(s). Updated nightly.

Historical – Summary of application activities of migrated account. For newly created applications, this section will be empty.

Application Activity History – General Read only

Returning to / Making Changes to Application

• At any time you may resume your application where you left off.

• Once ALL sections are completed (as indicated by the green checkmarks), you may return to each section to view or make edits.

Remember to logout when you finish each session.

Clear your computer cache after you logout.

Need Help?APPLICATION HELP: •Click ‘Live Help’ under ‘Contact Us’ at ontariocolleges.ca, to reach one of our

Customer Contact Centre staff (real-time website feature)

• Email the Customer Contact Centre at Ask-Us@ontariocolleges.ca

•Call the Customer Contact Centre at 1 888 892 2228

• Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ontariocolleges.ca)

• Follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ontariocolleges)

TO CORRECT HIGH SCHOOL GRADES: • See your guidance counsellor

OFFER OF ACCEPTANCE INFORMATION: •Contact the college(s) to which you applied