To a large extent, the answer to this question is no. However, it is best to mention that prestigious universities care so much about how they are placed on the preference and choices of their candidate.
OUAC is another means of gathering data on the perceived value of universities across the country. The STAT shows how a particular university is perceived by students compared to other universities.
University of Toronto (UofT) gives preference to the student that demonstrates strong capabilities and track records. It implies that despite your ranking if you don’t qualify against other measures, you would still not get in.
According to UofT’s engineering portal, the OUAC ranking can only come into play when their candidates are equally competitive.
Note that UofT receives a large number of applicants yearly. You need to consider giving them preferential treatment on your list of choices.
UofT is like the Havard of Canada. The competitiveness is high and it may require you to prioritize them on your ranking to be considered as a strong candidate.
To be candid, no university would consider you as a preferred candidate based on your ranking alone.
Can I apply for OUAC twice?
Yes. If you discover that there is a need to review your application, there is a provision for such changes. Log into your application and go to your choices/offers.
You can only review, or change your application within the duration available for application. Once the application deadline is passed, you will neither be able to apply nor make changes to the existing application.
Another question that may pop up in your mind may be whether you can withdraw from a program or add a new program to your submitted choice. It follows the same process with applying twice.
You only need to go to Choices/Offers and make changes to your choices. In a situation where applicants wish to change a program after an admission offer into a university of choice,
such candidates need to reach out to the institution to verify if they have the issue of multiple admission to a single individual because most universities can only issue one admission per candidate.
Do universities care about the ordering of choices?
Applying through OUAC requires you to rank your choices from the most prefered to the third choice. Some students can’t stop wondering if their choice of ranking would influence their chance of getting picked by their university of choice.
The answer is Yes and no. While some universities may care about the ordering of choices, some other universities give little relevance to what you do with the ranking.
An example is Queen’s University: a blog post by a past admission Coordinator, the university does not care about your order of choices.
However, the University of Toronto cares about your OUAC ranking when they are torn between choices. Therefore, there is a need to find out from your prefered university how they use the UOAC.
Choice of ranking majorly informs admission offices and coordinators of the number of applicants that are willing to get into the institution. This information helps the school plan and allocate resources.
Can universities see your other choices OUAC?
Yes, your universities of choice would be able to view your OUAC choices, this is how they know the competitiveness of your interest in their institution.
The OUAC is more like a data-gathering process and this information is made available to the university’s admission offices.
However, this information does not have an extreme effect on your chance to enter the universities of your choice. The best thing is to have strong credentials.
Most schools are always hunting for strong candidates for their programs. If you demonstrate an outstanding track record, they would gladly offer you admission to their institutions notwithstanding your OUAC ranking.
Can I delete my Ouac account?
Before you delete your account, note that your payments are non-refundable. And there are some exceptions to the delete process where some account data would not be deleted from their databases.
However, to delete your account, you need to first withdraw all your choices. After you have withdrawn if you wish to delete your OUAC account, log in to your account and withdraw all your choices and application.
After which you would have to send a message to OUAC requesting a delete of all your application data from their database.
As stated above, there are some exceptions to the delete request. In case of those exceptions, your data would not be deleted from the database in spite of your request.
Can you get a refund from OUAC?
NO! Universities would not receive your application until you have duly paid all required fees. It is equally important to note that OUAC will not refund the payment to any university withdrawn from your choices.
It is officially stated on their site that fees are non-refundable. You are expected to pay a base application fee of $156, for your first 3 program choices. This payment is required for all applications.
An additional choice fee would cost you $50 per choice. For each additional program choice beyond your first 3. There are a number of other minor fees that may slip into the cost along with your application and all fees are non-refundable.
Can I Accept an offer for admission on OUAC after I have previously declined it?
The admission process in universities across Ontario is a strictly coordinated and guided process. Each institution has an arrangement they follow for their candidate selection and admission.
Once you decline an admission offer into a program by an institution, the offer is usually passed to another candidate. However, if you change your mind and wish to accept the offer, you may face a bit of a challenge.
An offer of admission becomes invalid as soon as a candidate decline such an offer. For you to get another offer from the same university, you would have to contact the appropriate faculty of the institution directly and inquire if it is possible to reactivate your admission process after a decline.
Some institutions may issue a new admission while some other institutions would decline. However, you won’t know until you contact the institution.
How do I respond to an offer of admission?
After evaluating your application, the university would send you their decision regarding your admission. From this notification, you would know if you got the admission or not.
You can accept an offer by clicking the offer link in the “Offers of Admission” column. Once in, click on accept or decline to respond to the offer. After that, click on I’m ready to submit my response. follow the procedure.
Wrapping Up
Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC), Located in Guelph, a division of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), processes all admission applications to undergraduate programs across Ontario.
They receive your application and transfer the information to the appropriate university according to your choices and specification. The process is very flexible and takes all factors into consideration.
You are allowed to make necessary changes to your choices and withdraw your choices at will. However, OUAC does not make provision for a refund of any fee paid during the application process.
If you need further information about OUAC, visit their portal. They provide a comprehensive, insight into everything you need to know about the application and admission processes. Also, check their FAQ section to read further on all their terms and conditions.