McMaster Universit y mcmaster.ca/future
Guide for Parents
COMMUNITY
The community that your son or daughter will become a part of – in residence, across campus, even the city in which the university is located – can play an important role in how quickly and comfortably your son or daughter settles in to their new “home away from home”, and ultimately to their personal and academic success at university. We appreciate that making the decision of which university to attend is a difficult one for students as well as their parents. In this brochure, we have provided answers to some of the
HAMILTON IS HOME TO... Just over 500,000 people
questions you may have already thought about or that may come along later. We have included contacts and websites for many areas on campus, where you can find much more information. The Student Recruitment Office serves as the go-between for senior high school students and their parents as they work through the process of selecting, applying and choosing a university. We have developed this brochure to help you feel more confident about helping your son or daughter make the important decision of where they are going to spend the next four (or five) years of their life. If we can be of further assistance to you or your son or daughter, please contact us at 905-525-9140 ext. 23650 or http://ask.mcmaster.ca
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The Hamilton Tiger Cats The Hamilton Bulldogs
Planning on becoming a Mac parent? Refer to the “Student Affairs Mac Parents” website at studentaffairs.mcmaster.ca/parents
Our City – Hamilton
Our Campus
www.tourismhamilton.com
mcmaster.ca/future/tours/
Hamilton is a diverse city of more than 500,000 people located in the centre of the Golden Horseshoe in southern Ontario. The ninth largest city in Canada, Hamilton boasts more than 150 kilometres of hiking and biking trails and an expansive waterfront.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit McMaster’s campus we encourage to you to plan a trip to Hamilton with your son or daughter. Completely self-contained, with a 30-acre pedestrian-only centre core, our 300-acre campus is a community unto itself. The campus is surrounded by Cootes Paradise, a wild-bird sanctuary and kilometres of hiking trails on two sides, and by Westdale on the other two sides.
McMaster is located in the west end of Hamilton in a quaint village called Westdale. This well-established community provides amenities such as banks, grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, unique clothing and specialty shops and even an old-style movie theatre, all within a 10 minute walk of campus. Many of our students find off-campus housing in Westdale due to its close proximity to the university and wide range of rental options and properties. By the way – did you know that all full-time McMaster students receive a Hamilton Street Railway bus pass, good for unlimited use between September and April, as part of their tuition payments? This makes it convenient and easy for your son or daughter to get around town, visit friends, go shopping, get to work or simply get to know Hamilton. To find out more about what Hamilton has to offer, visit the Tourism Hamilton site noted above.
If you are unable to visit our campus, be sure to explore our Virtual Tour. Our tour portal allows you to take a Guided Tour that follows the same route as an in-person walking tour, create a personalized tour or simply explore major campus hotspots. We are continually adding videos, updating photographs and providing links to showcase our picturesque campus.
60 The number of waterfalls that flow in Hamilton – the reason why we’re known as the “City of Waterfalls”.
150 Hamilton boasts more than 150 kms of hiking and biking trails.
1356 The number of acres of natural space that dot our beautiful city. 3
LIVING ON-CAMPUS
Our Residences
Residence Life
housing.mcmaster.ca
The purpose of the Residence Life team is to support your son or daughter in having a safe and enriching residence experience. Whether the student has concerns about sharing a room for the first time, living within a community of diverse individuals or even how to operate the washing machine, the staff of the Residence Life team are there to help.
For many first-year students (and their parents), the thought of living away from home in a university residence is both exciting and a little worrisome. Most students living in residence become fast and close friends with their new roommate(s). Prior to moving into residence in September, your son or daughter may be able to contact his/her ‘rez-mate(s)’, provided that the student(s) gave permission to release their e-mail address. Here are some facts that may help to ease your mind about your son or daughter moving out on their own.
A Secure Environment Providing a safe environment for students living in one of our residences is a priority. All of our residences are equipped with state-of-the-art swipe card locks on all main entrances. These are video monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by our Security Services staff. Your son or daughter will have a key to their room. It is their responsibility to keep it locked when they are not in the room – even if they are just going down the hall to visit a friend! Every building’s main entrance is equipped with an intercom that rings directly in the student’s room. When visiting your son or daughter, call them on the intercom and he/she will come to the main door to let you in. These measures along with 24 hours a day, seven days a week security patrols of campus makes for a convenient and safe living environment.
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House/Community Advisors (HCAs/CAs) are paid part-time employees of the university as well as being senior full-time students who live on each floor of our residence buildings. They are trained in peer helping, understanding issues of diversity, conflict management, and connecting students with campus resources. House Program Advisors (HPAs) are paid part-time employees of the university and senior full-time students. HPAs live in each residence and organize various events and educational programs within the building. Along with the HCAs and CAs, they help to develop and maintain an environment in residence where students can learn, grow and succeed at university. Residence Managers are full-time, live-in, professional employees of the university who are responsible for the overall management of the residence communities. Whether its answering questions, providing counselling and advice, or working closely with students to manage community living issues, the Residence Managers are available to support the needs of the residence community at McMaster.
A SAFE ENVIRONMENT Living Off-Campus
Security Services
There are a wide variety of services available to our off-campus community including:
security.mcmaster.ca
Off-Campus Resource Centre (www.macoffcampus.ca) - on-line searchable rental listings - resource materials such as the Landlord Tenant Act Society of Off-Campus Students (SOCS) (www.mcmaster.ca/socs) - provide an information network geared towards helping off-campus students to succeed in their studies at McMaster - help off-campus students meet new people and get involved in the McMaster community. - organize intramural sports teams and attend McMaster sporting events.
Security Services is committed to preserving and maintaining an environment where diverse social, cultural and academic values are respected and allowed to develop and prosper. In 2010, Security Services received an A for Personal Safety and Security at a Canadian university. conduct safety/security reviews patrol the campus 24 hours a day, 365 days a year provide escorts outside of SWHAT hours (see SWHAT) personal safety is their highest campus priority provide crime prevention programs developing and/or updating best practices on how to prevent and how to respond to any crisis situation respond to and investigate all offences and emergencies on campus
Student Walk Home Attendant Team (SWHAT)
monitor campus CCTV cameras maintain communications with local police, fire and ambulance services
http://www.msumcmaster.ca/swhat.htm A service provided by the McMaster Students Union (MSU), SWHAT is a team of volunteers that provides the entire McMaster community with safe escorts both on and off campus. Walk Safe, Walk SWHAT! teams consist of one male and one female and provide escorts of up to 30 minutes off-campus and anywhere on-campus operational between dusk and 1:00 a.m. 7 days a week during September to April bus stop service where escorts will wait until students get on the bus safely with advanced notice will ride the bus with students and escort them within 15 minutes from where they exit the bus SWHAT volunteers also patrol campus and the surrounding neighbourhoods
Emergency First Response Team (EFRT) http://www.msumcmaster.ca/EFRT.htm The first of its kind on a university campus in Canada, EFRT is a volunteer organization provided by the MSU that responds to emergency calls across campus. all members are extensively qualified as pre-hospital care providers (CPR and extensive First-Aid training) directly linked to Security Services dispatch rapid response (within one to two minutes) to provide emergency care until an ambulance arrives provide treatment and transport to McMaster University Medical Centre’s Emergency Department or Student Wellness Centre for non-emergent calls operate 24 hours a day seven days a week throughout the school year
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ACADEMICS
Picking a Program How many of us were certain of the career we wanted to pursue when we were 17 or 18 years of age? How many of us have changed (or wanted to change) careers at least once? Then it should come as no surprise that your son or daughter may not be absolutely certain which university program he/she should choose. Here are some tips that may help narrow down the choices. 1. Identify the academic courses your son or daughter excels in at school. Which of these subjects come naturally or easily to him/her? For example, a student struggling in biology but getting high grades in English and perhaps other languages may be better suited for a Humanities program as opposed to a Science-based degree. 2. Explore interests and activities outside of academics as possible links to longer term career options. A student with an affinity for mathematicss who loves to build things or figure out how things work may find an Engineering program to be a good match. 3. Look for a flexible first-year program that allows students to try out different course/subject options either within a specific Faculty or across Faculties before having to commit to a specific field of study. At McMaster, most of our 19 Level I programs are structured this way. 4. Remind your son/daughter that it is okay to change their minds once they are at university. Their university experience will provide them withh the opportunity to grow and develop both academically and socially. Many students enter university with a very narrow vision of career options (e.g. doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc.), however, they will come
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to realize that there are many different paths that can lead them to a particular career choice. They will also quickly learn that there are many other exciting career opportunities out there. Transferring between programs is usually “possible”. How challenging the process is depends on the specific programs involved in the change, and the grades the student has achieved in university.
Questions regarding the admissions process? Please contact the Student Recruitment Office at ask.mcmaster.ca | 905-525-9140 ext. 23650 Stay connected by visiting our Future Students website at: www.mcmaster.ca/future
What McMaster Has To Offer
Basis And Timing Of Offers
McMaster offers 19 Level I programs that students can enter directly from high school. Complete details are available in our Viewbook, distributed to students during high school visits and at the Ontario Universities’ Fair last fall. Information is also available on each program’s website. Most of these programs have a general first-year structure, which gives students more time to explore their options for second year and beyond.
Each university in Ontario has slightly different policies and timeframes when it comes to the admission process. The dates and processes noted below are specific to McMaster.
Arts & Science Program www.mcmaster.ca/artsci Bachelor of Technology www.learningin3d.ca Business www.degroote.mcmaster.ca Computer Science www.cas.mcmaster.ca Engineering www.eng.mcmaster.ca Environmental & Earth Sciences www.science.mcmaster.ca Health Sciences www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/bhsc Humanities www.humanities.mcmaster.ca Integrated Science www.science.mcmaster.ca/isci
February – March McMaster begins to make early conditional offers of admission to applicants who are at the top or above the established cut-off range for their program, based on at least three final or six midterm Grade 12 U and/ or M courses and proof of registration in any additional Grade 12 U and/or M courses to total six (including those required for the program applied to).
April – May Offers of admission will continue to be made as new grade data become available. Midterm grades from second semester courses will be taken into consideration.
Arts & Science, Bachelor of Health Science and Integrated Science Offers
Mathematics & Statistics www.math.mcmaster.ca
In order to treat all applicants in a fair and equitable manner, McMaster will wait to review second semester midterm grades along with the mandatory supplementary application forms for all applicants to the above programs. As a result, most if not all of their offers will go out in May.
Medical Radiation Sciences hshs.mohawkcollege.ca/MedRadSci
June 1, 2012
Midwifery www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/midwifery
The response deadline for offers of admission as well as residence application and deposit. This is a common response deadline for accepting an offer to any Ontario university.
Kinesiology www.mcmaster.ca/kinesiology Life Sciences www.science.mcmaster.ca
Music sota.humanities.mcmaster.ca Nursing www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/nursing Physical Sciences www.science.mcmaster.ca Social Sciences www.socsci.mcmaster.ca Studio Art I www.humanities.mcmaster.ca
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SUPPORT SERVICES Student Success Centre Stude studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca studentsuc The new Student St Success Centre is committed to providing quality services that guide students toward the achievement of their academic and development goals. Students are supported from they accept our offer to attend – to their years at the University as they make choices, the time the deal with is s issues and improve skills that will prepare them for future success upon graduation. Services include: in orientatio orientation o programs (Summer Orientation Days, We Welcome e Day, Welcome Week)
service-learning and volunteer experiences (both locally and abroad)
program programss to assist students and parents in transition transitt
career and employment services (career fairs, drop-in clinics)
First Gen Generation Program
career counselling
understa understanding academic expectations
job postings/on-campus recruitment
academi academic skills development opportunities
resume, job search & interview skills workshops
leadersh leadership development opportunities
transition from high school to university
Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Stude sas.mcmaster.ca sas.mcmas SAS offers various supports for students with disabilities including: learning strategies assistive technologies test & exam administration note taking programs classroom accommodations
Student Wellness Centre wellness.mcmaster.ca Services are available to all McMaster students and include: personal/psychological/academic counselling mental health support
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medical and health services wellness education
McMaster is committed to ensuring student success. We recognize that the transition from high school to university can present challenges for students. There are support services in place for everything from how to study for and write your first university exam to time management and relaxation sessions. The areas below are just a sampling of what’s available.
Office Of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships (SFAS) sfas.mcmaster.ca The Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships (SFAS) deals with all matters atters regarding student loans, bursaries, scholarships, work programs, emergency loans and counselling. selling. SFAS staff can answer all your questions regarding the cost and financing of your son or daughter’s university education. For example: What does it cost to attend McMaster? What programs are available to help me fund the cost of my post-secondary dary education? How can I access financial aid programs? How do we plan a realistic budget? What types of entrance scholarships does McMaster offer? How do I qualify for entrance scholarships? When will I know if I’m going to receive an entrance scholarship? How and when do I pay my fees? Their website is a wealth of information including a parent’s website designed with you in mind.
Academic Advisors Each Faculty provides students with access to academic counselling from professional academic advisors who can offer advice and support in many areas including: selecting first-year courses planning an academic program preparing for admission to professional schools explaining academic policies and procedures referrals to academic support services
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PLANNING YOUR BUDGET
When developing a financial plan, you and your son or daughter should... 1. Research all costs associated with attending and completing postsecondary studies. 2. List all known resources (savings, investments etc.) 3. Research and assess all possible assistance options.
Use our Cost Estimator to get a ballpark of total expenses:
4. Examine personal habits and spending behaviours.
future.mcmaster.ca/money-matters/cost-estimator/
5. Prepare a realistic budget that can be maintained.
You may wonder how much a year at university will cost. While expenditures at university will vary by student and their academic programs, the chart below should provide you with a general idea of the costs that a typical student incurred at McMaster in 2011-2012. This budget uses Social Sciences I tuition, with double residence room and regular meal plan costs in the on-campus example, and expenses for a shared three-bedroom apartment in the off-campus living example.
At home (local) Tuition Fees Accommodation
$6,300** 0
At home (commuter)
On-Campus
Off-Campus
$6,300**
$6,300**
$6,300**
0
4,580
3,665***
Food (Meals)
900
900
3,000
2,750
Books and Supplies
1,300
1,300
1,300
1,300
Personal Expenses
1,000
1,000
1,000
1,000
Transportation
0*
2,100
0*
0*
Entertainment
1,000
1,000
1,000
1,000
Total
$10,500
$12,600
$17,180
$16,015
* a Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) bus pass is included as part of the student’s supplementary fees. ** tuition fees including all supplementary fees, for 2011-2012 range from $6,275-$10,340 for Canadian students and from $17,242-$25,564 for visa students *** based on shared living expenses
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FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS
Honour Awards
Financial Aid
McMaster’s entrance scholarship program is designed to provide as many eligible first-year students as possible with recognition of their academic achievement. As such, our entrance scholarships are available to any qualified applicant achieving an 80% or greater final admission average.
Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP)
automatic award (does not require a separate application)
The Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships administers the Ontario Student Assistance Program on behalf of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Detailed information on OSAP is available at http://osap.gov.on.ca
Bursaries
based on final admission averages
Average Required
Amount
95%+ (President’s Award)
$2,500
90-94.99%
$1,000
85-89.99%
$750
80-84.99%
$500
Working On Campus Finding part-time employment on campus is a great way to offset university expenses. At McMaster, we offer our students a wide range of opportunities to earn a few extra dollars as well as gain valuable work experience.
McMaster provides bursary assistance to students who demonstrate financial need. A bursary is a non-repayable grant, not a loan. Bursary funds are intended to assist with a student’s education-related costs. Bursaries are awarded based on financial need, and are available to all registered McMaster students who qualify. application process and deadlines are posted on the Student Financial Aid & Scholarships website students must apply to OSAP (or other government loans) prior to applying for bursary funds students apply once they are a registered student at McMaster
Approximately 600 jobs on campus employment available in over 100 departments across campus positions range from administrative support, and customer service to athletic coordinators and more! online applications available through MUGSI or careers.mcmaster.ca supported by both the Ontario Work Study Program and the McWork Program
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Still have questions? ask.mcmaster.ca ADMISSION INFORMATION
STUDENT SUCCESS CENTRE
Web: mcmaster.ca/future
Web: studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca
E-mail: ask.mcmaster.ca
E-mail: studentsuccess@mcmaster.ca
Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 23650
Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 24254
STUDENT WELLNESS CENTRE
HOUSING
Web: wellness.mcmaster.ca
Web: housing.mcmaster.ca
E-mail: wellness@mcmaster.ca
E-mail: resadmissions@mcmaster.ca
Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 27700
Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 24342
CAMPUS TOURS Web: tours.mcmaster.ca E-mail: liaison@mcmaster.ca Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 23650
STUDENT ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES Web: sas.mcmaster.ca E-mail: sas@mcmaster.ca Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 28652
OFF-CAMPUS RESOURCE CENTRE Web: www.macoffcampus.ca E-mail: macoffcampus@mcmaster.ca Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 24086
STUDENT FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS Web: sfas.mcmaster.ca E-mail: awards@mcmaster.ca Phone: 905-525-9140 ext. 24319
Hamilton, Ontario Canada L8S 4L8 905-525-9140 ext. 23650 mcmaster.ca/future