Not to mention the explosion of remedial courses for freshmen students at the post-secondary level.

While the high schools lower the standards for a high school diploma, the universities are increasing the number of courses needed for entrance into their course studies. It is heavy in the math and sciences, in the senior years. As I have just gone through it with my youngest, the next two years she will be taking chemistry, physics, biology, calculus, and two other required math courses, just to get accepted in forensic studies at the universities that has forensic courses. A total of 11 credits, and that is on top of the required credits from the ministry of education.  My youngest had to dropped French, in order to fit her must have credits, and she was still one credit short of the requirements of the ministry of education. Problem was solved by taking her grade 10 French as one credit, and the other credit can be taken in her senior year as independent study. There she has a choice between Writings or Newfoundland history. She leaning toward Newfoundland history, 

This has been made all the more difficult for smaller schools that cannot offer all the courses and do not have the full complement of teachers that are qualified to teach courses such as physics.due to the funding formulas,  while at the same time the ministry of education, along with the boards focus on increasing the graduation rate, by adding courses that do not meet the requirements of college or university.

As a parent, it takes some knowledge to navigate the high school system, to ensure your children do not hit bumps after high school that are totally preventable, and can be traced to the public education system of K to 12 of not paying attention to the basic academic standards.

Nancy, I’m confused by your post.

Admissions to engineering and applied science programs at universities in Ontario are based on having taken all of the 4 or 5 specific credit courses that the program requires at U/C level and on the average of 6 credit courses: the 4 or 5 required ones plus the best of all the others plus - rarely - perhaps additional suggested “nice to have” courses or experiences.

I have not heard of a program that requires 11 credits in Ontario.

Mike Harris made graduation rates from post-secondary schools an issue in funding so unis have a real incentive to provide all sorts of supports in getting kids through.  As to why so many kids need help to get through…

The Ontario Institute of Technology - requires 11 senior high school courses and all in math and science,except for two which is English.  just in forensics alone. Another one, at the Trent University requiring 10 credits. Toronto University is a bit tricky, since their forensics course does not start until the second year, and has caps on the number of students. So there is a little bit of room at the high school level.

But in general, the fields of studies that have a high level of math and science, the universities are upping the number of senior high school credits as part of admitting requirements.

We have a similar problem in small schools in Ontario Nancy.

One of my kids was interested in both history and science but because of the size of the school and low compliment of teachers she couldn’t take both history and science in her Grade 12 year. She could either come back for that 5th year or choose one or the other.  It was a bummer because no way did she want to stay on for a 5th year, so she chose science and did have to meet all of those math criteria, and did…even though we found out the hard way that in no way did Grade 12 Calculus prepare her for first year university calculus, WHICH her professor told them was the hardest first year class at that university.

However, in many of the sciences those math courses increase and get more specific in the first two years in a big way and even more specific and tailored to whichever science path the student takes.

The good news for my post-secondary student is that in her third and fourth year she does have Liberal Arts requirements to fill and she’s filling those with History courses and loving them.

UOIT - Forensic Science - Admission Requirements
>>
Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) with a minimum of six 4U, 4M, credits or equivalent or mature student status.

4U/4M credits must include English (ENG4U), Advanced Functions (MHF4U) and two of Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U), Biology (SBI4U), Chemistry (SCH4U) or Physics (SPH4U). Combined minimum average of 70 per cent in math and science courses.

It is recommended that all four of MCV4U, SBI4U, SCH4U and SPH4U be taken.

Note: The specific average or standing required for admission varies from year to year. Students are selected by taking into consideration a wide range of criteria including school marks, distribution of subjects taken, and performance in subjects relevant to the academic program. Possession of minimum requirements does not guarantee acceptance and, due to space limitations, preference will be given to applicants with the best qualifications.

Applicants with credentials from outside Ontario should visit the admissions section of Connect@UOIT for more information.
Last Year’s Cut-off: 74%
<<
Yes, 4 specific credit courses are a must, 6 are strongly suggested.
What am I missing? I am interested because the high-school system is unfamiliar to me, seems very complex and I’d like to make sure I understand how it works before my son gets to be in high school.
I would very much appreciate your answer, Nancy.

For Newfoundland - “Eleven credits at the 3000 level including
English 3201 (or the former combination of
Language 3101 and one of Literature 3201
or 3202) and faculty prerequisites”
https://connect.uoit.ca/uoit/htmlemailupload/File/Newfoundland Admission Requirements Equivalency.pdf

Being out of province, the advantage of having an Ontario high school diploma, is quite evident when applying at different universities across the country.
The bright side to it all, is that is having all those credits, would open the doors in other fields as well, just in case she is not accepted at UOIT. Perhaps my youngest will change her mind by than, and opt for something else that is better on the pocketbook, and remain in NL attending MUN for the better part of her education. There has been over 15 students from my area that have attended UOIT, and all have walk out with   jobs in place, before graduation. Some that I have talked to personally, have stated that there should not be a problem getting admitted to the program, providing that all required credits from high school are on the form.

My son graduated from UOIT and is still there doing Graduate Studies.

Overall it is a highly technical university quickly being called the MIT of Canada. If not for our current Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and then Premier Mike Harris we would not have UOIT in Ontario.

Best decision our son EVER made.

Folks here might remember that this is also the same university graduating all new teacher grads with “highest distinction” that was noticed by more than a few graduation attendees. I believe that the education faculty there is new but the liberal arts aren’t what’s getting this university noticed.

I had no idea that UOIT would not exist if it was not for Harris and Flaherty. It is my youngest first choice, and the local high school are going to make sure she will have the credits required to be admitted for UOIT. The other day, the principal informed my youngest, that along with the grade 12 students, she will be included as a priority. This is to ensure that my youngest schedule, meshes in with the teachers’ schedules. Next year, she will be walking in some grade 12 subjects, and it is not often seen in my neck of the woods. Especially one who has an identified LD attached to her name. It sort of scares me, that she decided her first choice is UOIT, and I thought for a long time after all the hard work at home, it was a pipe dream, but worth working for. Now that it is reality, I still have some work fine tuning her study and work habits in the next two years, and hopefully the school will continue to work on her writing issues, which there has been vast improvement in the last year. It scares me and feels like I am back where I was when my youngest was in grade 4, taking on the overwhelming task of re-teaching and tutoring at home. The feelings are the same, but not the situations.