If you’re looking for a high-quality education in one of the best cities in Canada, Queen’s University should be on your radar! Ranked #11 overall, it’s known as one of the best amongst the medical-doctoral universities within Canada. Here at GrantMe, we’ve helped many students apply to and get into Queen’s. Here’s our top advice on how to get admitted to Queen’s University.

Program Academic Requirements

Your first step is to check out the admissions requirements for the programs that you’re interested in! Most Queen’s University programs require you to have completed a few specific high school courses and achieve a minimum grade point average (GPA). This minimum GPA is typically around 80%. However, many recommend aiming for a GPA in the 90% range to be a competitive candidate. 

Check out the academic requirements for your program on their website here!

General Application

Once you’ve checked the program requirements and ensured that you’re eligible, it’s time to get started on the real process of how to get admitted to Queen’s University! 

The process starts with the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre—also known as OUAC! This one platform allows you to apply to any university in Ontario, making it easy to apply to multiple universities at once. Once you create an account, you’ll need to fill out some basic information about yourself and select the universities and programs you want to apply to. 

You will eventually also need to upload your transcripts to verify your grades. 

You can apply to Queen’s via GrantMe while also getting guidance and support along the way!

Personal Statement of Experience (PSE)

For most applicants, your next step in how to get admitted to Queen’s University will be to complete a Personal Statement of Experience (PSE)! While other universities admit students solely on grades, Queen’s also takes into consideration your achievements and involvements outside of school. Your PSE is your chance to show Queen’s why you’re an ideal candidate. 

Activity Summary

The first step is to complete an activity summary. This is a list of your extracurricular activities, volunteer involvement, work experience, awards, and achievements!

You’ll have a limited amount of space to add your activities, so you want to make sure you’re fully expressing your involvement! Try to list a mixture of initiator, leader, and member roles. 

Initiator roles are volunteer roles in which you started an initiative like a new club or project. Leader roles are a step down from initiator roles, like being a coach or a camp counsellor. Lastly, member roles are involvements in which you volunteered as part of a team. For more help on choosing which involvements to highlight, check out our article here!

Essay

Next, the PSE asks for a short essay:

Choose one extracurricular activity or one employment opportunity you have listed on your Personal Statement of Experience. In 300 words, or fewer, describe the impact of this experience and the greatest learning outcome for you. Your answer will be evaluated for content and writing style.

Choose your most impactful experience from your activity summary! This will likely be an initiator or leader role.

To help you clearly and powerfully communicate your experiences, use STAR structure! STAR is a 4-part acronym that will help you powerfully describe a specific volunteer or extracurricular experience. 

• S — Situation (who, what, when, where)
• T — Task (your objective)
• A — Actions (what you did, how you did it, skills you used)
• R — Result (qualitative or quantitative proof of your success) 

Use this formula to discuss your volunteer involvements in your application! STAR will make your writing powerful and easy to follow. For more help using STAR, check out our article here!

To access in-depth coaching and guidance on your writing, check out the GrantMe platform! Our trained essay editors know exactly what the selection committees look for and can help you draft a winning essay.  

Supplementary Essays (SE)

Depending on the program you are applying to, the process of how to get admitted to Queen’s University may include two supplementary essays! For competitive programs like commerce and health science, your supplementary essays can be the deciding factor on whether or not you are offered admission. 

You have a three month window to submit these essays: the beginning of November to the end of January. The essay prompts change each month, so you want to make sure that you plan ahead and start the application when you have time to dedicate to it. If you start the essays in December for example but then run out of time and don’t submit them before January, the questions will change and all of your hard work will be lost. 

Here are two examples of what the potential prompts may look like:

1. Tell us about who you are. What elements have shaped who you are today? (maximum 2000 characters with spaces)
2. Describe a transformative experience that led to a better understanding of yourself or others. (maximum 2000 characters with spaces)

You want to take this opportunity to show Queen’s why you are an excellent candidate for admission. Always try to relate the prompt to a volunteer or leadership opportunity you engaged in! 

For example, if you had the first question, you could describe how you are a compassionate person, which led you to volunteer in your community!

Connecting to your leadership involvements demonstrates your character through your actions instead of just your words. It also highlights your skills and shows them the impact you could create on the Queen’s campus!

Here are some tips on how you can structure your essays.

Introduction

Start with a hook!  Think of something that will capture the reader’s attention and encourage them to keep reading—this could be a personal story or a powerful statement. Give the reader a snapshot of your “character”—what specific event/person/experience motivated you to be who you are today?

For examples and tips on how to write a compelling hook, take a look at our article here! 

Body Paragraphs

Choose one volunteer involvement to focus on for this essay. Then use STAR structure to describe your involvement!

We also recommend spending some time discussing how you hope to contribute to the Queen’s community! What clubs or opportunities do you want to get involved with? How will you bring a new perspective or initiate new projects within them? What new clubs or initiatives could you start on campus? Try to be specific here. Don’t forget to connect how the skills and experiences you gained during your past volunteer experience will help you to contribute to Queen’s. 

Conclusion

Finally, end with a brief conclusion that provides a reflection on your hopes for the future at Queen’s!

Follow these steps and you’re sure to ace the Queen’s University admissions process!

If you want even more support, GrantMe can help you stand out. We provide personalized scholarship matches, essay editing, and mentorship from past winners to maximize your success. Complete our short scholarship eligibility quiz to learn more about how GrantMe can help you achieve your post-secondary goals.