Prospective Students and Applicants
Prospective Students
Prospective students are people who may have an interest in studying at the University of Toronto, whether or not they have submitted a formal application to the University. These include any visitors to campus – either for campus tours or open houses – as well as any prospective students who attend recruitment events.
Applicants
Applicants are any students who apply to study at the University.
- Undergraduate applications are typically received through the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) but may be submitted directly.
- Applications for graduate studies are mostly received through the School of Graduate Studies admissions application system.
- Some professional programs have their own processes and systems.
Information we collect about prospective students and applicants
For prospective students we only collect contact information and program of interest information.
For applicants, we collect information to inform the application and selection processes (e.g., grades and academic history), and to enable analysis of our processes for fairness and equity (e.g., demographic information).
Some of this information is transferred to a student record if the applicant is admitted to the University.
Note: Documents for unsuccessful applicants, or applicants who did not register, are securely disposed of after two years.
Find more information on access to student academic records.
Why do we collect this information?
To support the admissions process
- To determine student admissibility to the University and program of study.
- To determine eligibility for merit-based funding and needs-based financial assistance.
- To help us achieve a more equitable and diverse representation of students from across the globe.
To evaluate and improve the admissions process, and to assist with planning
- Aligned with our mission, student information collected is used to evaluate our applicant review processes. This helps us fulfill our commitment to reflect the diversity of our global applicant pool and student excellence.
- We analyse trends in application and enrolment as well as student pathways into programs, and the characteristics of successful and unsuccessful applicants.
- These analyses help us evaluate the admissions process and plan for faculty recruitment to meet demand.
Who should I contact if I have further questions?
If you have any questions about the University’s data practices, please contact the University Registrar’s Office. Your particular question may be better answered by another official at the University, but the University Registrar’s Office will direct your inquiry to the appropriate official at the University.
You may also wish to contact the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Office.