For The Graduates This Year
Photo by Brianna Mellings
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Scholarships & Bursaries
Visit our Scholarships & Bursaries page to learn more.
How Do I Support My Learner Through Graduation At PSII?
- Talk about your experiences and ask clarifying questions about your learner’s perspective.
- Talk about money. There can be significant concerns from learners about how they’ll afford tuition and living expenses. Having a clear understanding of the financial situation helps them know how much energy to direct towards scholarship and bursary applications, helps them make decisions about applying for financial aid, and helps them to decide whether living away from home is feasible or not.
- Attend virtual information sessions or tours together, or visit campuses and go on tours if they’re not too far away.
- Check in about application status every two weeks or so.
- Help your learner figure out how to pay application fees (this process often requires a credit card)
- Help your learner remember significant things they’ve done. Some university and scholarship applications ask learners to share how they have contributed to their community or gone above typical classroom settings. Help learners keep track of all the experiences they’ve had.
How Can I (as a learner) Access These Resources?
- Speak to your Org. teacher about your goals and hopes
- Book time with staff to brainstorm and research.
- Attend monthly post secondary meetings to find out more information.
- Attend sessions to get informed about awards, grants, scholarships, and bursaries
- Visit websites and schools that you need/want info about. Go with the school, or book your own (family) or virtual tours
- Start a Trello card and/or spreadsheet to track important information
- Put important dates in your calendars with reminders and alarms
- Break down these tasks into manageable pieces
- Ask for support when you need it
Frequently Asked Questions
How many schools should I apply to?
We recommend you apply to 3-5 programs at post-secondary institutions. It usually takes a few months to hear back from a post-secondary institution and sometimes our thoughts and opinions change during that waiting period. It is good to have a few options when it comes to making a final decision.
If I don’t know what I want to study, what should I do?
Talk to your org teacher, attend tours and info sessions. Find out what career paths open up by completing different programs.
What is the difference between a certificate, a diploma, a bachelors, a masters, and a PhD?
| Certificate | one year | Some examples are bookkeeping, automotive technology, medical laboratory assistant. |
| Diploma | two years | Some examples are cybersecurity technician, business administration, visual arts, medical radiology. |
| Bachelors | four years of full-time study | A student is considered full time if they take 3+ classes per term but one would have to take 10 courses per year to complete in 4 years. It is okay to take more than 4 years to complete a bachelor’s degree. |
| Masters | two years or so | Requires you to have a bachelor’s degree before you can apply |
| PhD | 5 to 7 years | Requires you to have a master’s degree before you can apply |
What degrees will make me money?
Depends! It can be a bit of a balance when trying to figure out what one wants to be doing with what learning will support finding a career that lets one live a certain lifestyle.
What if I don’t have the entrance requirements?
We want to help and support you to meet entrance requirements – and at PSII you have more freedom in how you are going to meet these than at most schools. That being said, please try to find out the requirements early so that you have the most flexibility and so we can offer the most support.
What if I chose the wrong program? What if I hate it?
There are always options. Any time you spend learning is time well spent. Please remember that experience in one field often involves learning and developing skills that are directly transferable to other fields.
How can I pay for university/college? Should I work first to save up money?
This depends on individual circumstances and goals. Please take a look at our scholarships, bursaries, loans resources and discuss with PSII teachers and Nahomi to explore options.
If I want to take a gap year, do I apply now or next year?
Some schools will let you apply after graduation and then, defer your entrance. Make sure you check what each school’s policy about this is.
What are some cheap ways to travel?
- Organizations such as workaway.info allow learners to work off their accommodation and food expenses in exchange for expertise and labour. This could involve helping out on a farm, helping with childcare, teaching English, or being involved in environmental sustainability projects (to name a few). There are other similar organizations that do the same thing.
- Some more expensive travel options involve getting involved in gap year programs. These often include formal language instruction, help with work placement, etc. Googling “gap year programs” will return many possible options
- An extra note that, as a Commonwealth citizen, there are many other Commonwealth countries that offer youth mobility visas. These allow Canadians to work in other countries for up to two years. Some examples of countries that have youth mobility visas include the United Kingdom and Australia. There are more!
Why would I move away from home/why would I stay here?
Explore your options. There is no right or wrong path and your decision is not binding. You can change paths – more easily at some points than others, but it is always possible because there are many ways of achieving one goal. Please know that you can contact us even after you graduate if you want some help figuring these situations out. We don’t stop caring just because you have graduated!