How to Make Lemonade Out of Lemons

Things don’t always go as planned. This is a lesson that we all learn at some point, and whether you’ve got your heart set on a triple-chocolate fudge ice cream cone or admission into your dream academic program, we can’t always get exactly what we want. The secret to carrying on and making the most of a less-than-desirable situation, however, lies in setting realistic expectations and having a solid Plan ‘B’ in case things go awry.

Many high-demand programs have limited enrollment; if you find that your marks weren’t quite as high as you had hoped, there is always the option of returning to high school to upgrade. At the University of Guelph, there is no penalty for repeating a high school course, and we will always use the higher mark when calculating admission averages! Life doesn’t often offer us a “do over”, but this is one instance where it does!

Some university programs and majors at U of G have a Plan ‘B’ built right in. Many students have already received alternate offers to these programs, including Biological Sciences instead of Biomedical Science and Human Kinetics, Major-to-be-Determined instead of Studio Art or Criminal Justice and Public Policy, and regular programs instead of Co-op programs. These are programs that require a higher admission average, and though an applicant may not be admissible to the major or co-op program they applied to, U of G does its best to extend the alternate offer if they are admissible to it instead.