MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS – WHY STUDENTS NEED THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL ENGLISH FOR ADMISSION (AND SUCCESS) FOR UNIVERSITY

There are tons of reasons to have the university-level English course as the mandatory requirement for admissions in all programs.

When every senior is making the plans to apply to university, most of them are making sure they meet the requirements.

One of those same requirements is ensuring you have taken (and passed) the university prep level English course, also known as ENG4U. It is a compulsory course but still, many opinions are skewed about this requirement.

Like I can certainly see many people asking, “what’s so wrong about my ENG4C?”

First off, this article is not specifically here to say that there’s anything wrong with ENG4C or any other college level or even workplace level courses in English or any other subjects. Honestly, even just obtaining your full OSSD is a great accomplishment and solid step to success in your life.

However, there is a reason that ENG4U is often called university-prep English. Literally, it is meant to at least somewhat prepare you for university. Basically, all university programs have a lot of writing involved in the completion of most their courses. Think paper after paper and then also even more papers after breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime. So, completing ENG4U means you are putting in the work to lay down a solid writing foundation of knowledge to build upon once you start your university studies. Which is an essential for success in your university level dreams.

With university, it is considered one of the higher levels of academia in our education system, with the highest levels being Masters’ degrees and medical schools. To be admitted to these intense programs, it can be almost guaranteed that on top of working hard, you will also need demonstrate prior and during the program that you will consistently put your best foot forward to completing your educational goals. With going the extra mile and completing your ENG4U instead of ENG4C, you’ve successfully demonstrated that you are willing to put in the work to complete higher levels of courses.   

Another major thing about having ENG4U as a requirement, it also prepares us for the real world in a way that many miss. Honestly though, in our adult lives within today’s society – there are always requirements all around us in different ways. Some are very straightforward, like meeting the height requirement for a ride (personally my sweet but small 3’8” niece sometimes fails) or making sure your kid is now big, tall and old enough to no longer need the lame booster seat. But I mean, tons of things in our daily lives have requirements. Nurses have vaccination requirements.  Truck drivers have AZ licenses as their requirements. Most jobs themselves have tons of different requirements varying from needing your OSSD or Grade 10, a driver’s license, being bilingual, being experienced in a specific field of work, skill or position, having certain certifications like Smart Serve or First Aid. So, I mean – requirements shouldn’t come as a surprise when thinking of university since requirements are constantly all around us.

One of the last things I’ll mention about why ENG4U is a good requirement for university admissions is that challenging yourself academically should be your own prerequisite for your own educational journey whether it’s to university or not. What I mean specifically is that pushing yourself into taking something more challenging for yourself rather than playing it safe is the way you learn more both academically and personally. Not everything should be particularly the easy way especially if you have greater goals in mind. With greater challenges early on in your academic life will mean more experience dealing with the academic challenges that will surface in your time in your post-secondary studies.

Overall, whether you’re just anti-writing, or like me struggling in the English (and math and all of it) department, I’ll have to unfortunately tell you that university prep English is a requirement for university admissions for quite valid reasons. But my advice is to always try hard and if that doesn’t work, try even harder and I’m sure we will all get there (someday). University and life have tons of requirements and with the right amount of work and dedication, anyone (including us) can make it.

Yours Truly, Callie Paul

Disclaimer: this blog post was published as assignment for school so please don't be too alarmed that it's different that my other former posts.