Canadian University Event at David Thompson

For students who are interested in going to a Canadian university outside of BC, there is an info session that will take place at David Thompson Secondary on November 18 from 1 - 3 p.m. This is an opportunity for you to connect with representatives from universities across Canada. Sorry, but I don't have any information as to which schools' representatives would be there.

If you are interested in going, you would need to pick up a permission form to excuse you from the afternoon classes on the 18th. I would also need proof that you have been at the event when you come back. For permission forms, you can come see me, or Mr. Hayes at the career center.

Calendar of Important Dates (November)

Starting in October-November, I will be posting an entry like this one towards the end of each month. In these entries, I will list important dates that would be coming up the following month. While every effort is made to make this list of dates accurate and complete, I may not be able to cover all of them. It is up to you to stay organized and informed. And finally, don't procrastinate! Have your applications ready, and submit them early!

Upcoming November Dates:

• Nov 1 - Financial Aid Application Opens for Trinity Western University
• Nov 1 - Application for the Fall 2010 semester opens at Kwantlen Polytechnic University
• Nov 1 to 7 - BSc Applicant for the nursing program at Kwantlen must submit their applications this week
• Nov 4 - SFU Counsellors' Day - I will not be in my office that day
• Nov 5 - Parent-teacher Interviews at Temp
• Nov 12 - Post-secondary afternoon at Temp
• Nov 12 - MacLean's OnCampus Virtual Tour (3:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST)
  
• Nov 15 - Early award application deadline at UNBC
• Nov 18 - Part-time studies information session at BCIT
• Nov 19 - UBC info session at Temp (during instructional planning period)
• Nov 20 - Registration for January 2010 semester begins at Langara College
• Nov 28 - SFU Super Tour
• Nov 30 - Self-reporting phase 1 closes at UVic

If I have missed an important date, please let me know via e-mail. Thanks!

BCIT Info Session

BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) will be having its big info session this Wednesday (Oct 28) from 5 to 8 p.m. at their Burnaby Campus. Even though BCIT will be coming to Templeton on post-secondary afternoon, this is an opportunity for you to explore BCIT's campus, and to talk to staff and student of a specific faculty or program, who probably can answer your program-specific questions.

For more information, go to BCIT's info session website by clicking here

Also, from now until Wednesday, Oct 28 at 8 p.m., BCIT will be hosting an event called 3 Blog nights. In the event, there will be texts, videos, and tweets to help you know more about BCIT.

To participate, click the following site: Click Here

MacLean's On Campus Virtual Fair

Want to take a tour around all the university and college campuses before deciding on the one you would attend? While you probably can't physically visit every campus in Canada, this may be the next best thing. MacLean's magazine is offering an event called the MacLean's OnCampus Virtual Fair. The event would allow you to visit college and university campuses across the country at the comfort of your home/school computer. Representatives from many schools would be available to talk to you virtually in the virtual convention hall.
The event will take place on November 12 (Thursday) from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (EST). Translate that into Vancouver time, and it's 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. Some of the information materials will remain present until February 2010.

You have to register to take part in this, but registration is free. To register, click the following link: Click Here

LPI Registration (via fax, mail, or in person)

For those of you who wish to register for the LPI through fax, mail, or in person, you must first print out the application form. To do so, go first to LPI’s registration page by clicking here.

As you move down the screen, you will see a place where the application form can be found. See the screen shot below. Click onto the “this form” hyperlink.

Print the registration form, which looks like the figure below:
Read through the important information, and fill out P.7 of the form, which looks like this:
Make sure you write down Dec 3 and 3:30 as the exam date and time. Templeton Secondary would be the location to which you are writing the exam for the ONE AND ONLY school sitting.

Complete the remainder of the registration form and submit it in the method you choose (fax, mail, or in person). Remember: if you are sending the registration in by mail, the LPI office MUST receive your registration form BEFORE November 22 in order to register you for the Dec 3 school sitting. If you are applying in person, the LPI office closes at 4:00 p.m. daily.

Still having trouble? Come see me, and we will try to figure it out together.

LPI Online Registration (Tutorial)

A number of students have approached me and have asked about the way to register for the language proficiency index (LPI) exam. Apparently, a number of you are having trouble registering.

The first thing you need to decide is the method of payment. If you are using a credit card, you can register online or via a fax. If you want to pay with a cheque, then you must mail your application in. If you want to pay using debit, then you must go directly to the LPI office to register. (Sorry, but it does not appear that the LPI office would take cash)

Because I have received a number of questions regarding the online registration process, I’ll spend more time talking about it here.

First, go to the LPI online registration site: Click Here

You will then see a screen like the one below, click on the link that takes you to the secondary school registration page.

Once in this page, go to its very bottom, where you can check off the “terms and conditions” button. Then, click “continue” (see screen shot below):
This will take you to the high school online registration page. After filling out your personal identification information, go to the second section where you’d see a pull-down menu. Click onto it, and find Templeton. As a Templeton student, you can only register to write an in-school exam at your home school.

Complete the remainder of the registration form. Click “submit,” and you are SET!

Still having trouble? Come see me, and we will try to figure it out together.

Remember: registration closes at midnight, November 22. Register early - this is the ONLY sitting you will be allowed to write at the school.

UBC Engineering Open House

The Faculty of Applied Science (i.e. Engineering) at UBC will be having its annual open house on November 7, 2009 (Saturday) from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Representatives from different engineering departments will be on hand to answer questions and to provide information.

For more information, you can go to the following site: Click here

UBC Engineering also has an online community that has been launched recently. In it, you'll find student blogs, twitter updates, YouTube videos, and other information. Go check it out by clicking here.

University of Toronto Info Session

U of T will be holding two information sessions in the Greater Vancouver area in November. Mark the dates down:

Engineering: Monday, November 23 at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel in Surrey.

Engineering, Arts, Science, Business: Tuesday, November 24 at the Vancouver Convention Center (999 Canada Place)

You need to register to attend these sessions. For more information or for registration, go to the following site: click here

Or, you can copy and paste the following link:
http://discover.utoronto.ca/infoevent

Post-Secondary Day + UBC Visit

Mark this down on your calendar: Templeton's post-secondary day will take place November 12, 2009 (Thursday) in the afternoon. Representatives from 12 post-secondary institutions will be here that afternoon. The schedule is as follows:

12:40 - 1:15 p.m. - Session I
1:20 - 1:55 p.m. - Session II
2:05 - 3:15 p.m. - Mini Fair (open to all students and parents)

You are free to attend any two sessions in Sessions 1 and 2, space permitting. During the mini fair, feel free to visit each school's table in the old gym, and pick up any information you have not yet picked up.

UBC will not be in attendance for the November 12 sessions, but they will be at Templeton on November 19 (Thursday) during our instructional planning session. Representatives from UBC will be presenting in the auditorium that afternoon.

In preparation for these two afternoons, please begin compiling your questions. Ask the school representatives about admission, application deadlines, financial services/assistance available, or program-specific information, just to name a few.

Update on Grad Transition's Documents

Several of you have asked me after instructional planning today regarding grad transition papers you have started to fill last year with Mr. Atkinson.

I have spoken to Ms. Mogyorosi, and she said that you can choose either to 1) continue and complete your existing forms, or 2) transfer all info onto the new sheets that were given out today.

Regardless of the format to which you wish to complete these forms, here are the basic requirements:

1. Complete the physical health log, and submit to one of the administrators.
2. Complete three term-specific documents and submit them before the end of each term (the term 1's document is due November 30, 2009)
3. Present your graduation transitions documents through an exit interview with an administrator (sign-up in May of 2010; interviews will take place in June of 2010

Again, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to come in and see me, or any one of your administrators (Ms. Mogyorosi, Mr. Mustapich, or Ms. Ward).

If you want to read the actual document from the Ministry of Education outlining the requirements for graduation transitions, you can click on the link below:
Click Here

Important Post-Secondary Documents (Downloadable!)

Thanks to J. Mulder from David Thompson/Killarney Secondary, and our very own Mr. Paul Hayes, I have a few documents that you can download as you prepare yourself for post-secondary application. All files have been converted to .pdf format and are downloadable. To conserve paper, please print out ONLY the pages that you require.

For each file, I have written down a title and a description of what the file contains. Below it would be a direct link that would take you to the actual document. Please note: you need a google account to open these documents at Google Docs. (Any account with Google would allow you to open these files, so you don't have to do both)

To open a g-mail account: click here

To open a google docs account: click here

Application Dates Info: this document outlines the opening and closing dates for most of BC's post-secondary institutions.
Google Docs Direct Link: Click Here

Tuition and Application Fees Info: this document outlines the application fees and the tuition fees for most of BC's post-secondary institutions - it's very useful when you are considering student loan application.
Google Docs Direct Link: Click Here

Admission Averages: this document outlines the admission averages for the major faculties at SFU and UBC (Vancouver and Okanagan campuses). While admission averages vary from year to year, it is a good reference to see how well you need to do to be admitted into the faculty of your choice.
Google Docs Direct Link: Click Here

Admission Requirements: UBC - this document details the required courses you need to have when applying to UBC. Please note: the required grade 12 courses are ones you will be evaluated on, while the required grade 11 courses are ones you just need to have completed, regardless of grades.
Google Docs Direct Link: Click Here

Admission Requirements: SFU - this document details the required courses you need to have when applying to SFU. Similar to the UBC document, you will only be evaluated based on your grade 12 required courses.
Google Docs Direct Link: Click Here

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to come see me or Mr. Hayes.

Legal Information

If you have not applied for a social insurance number (SIN) yet, this is probably a good time to apply for one. Not only do you need your SIN to work, but you also would need SIN when applying for a lot of schools and scholarships.

SIN application is done through Service Canada. You can go to its website by clicking the link below:
Service Canada

Some of you may have a preferred name that is different from your legal name. Please note: on all official documents, including your transcript, your LEGAL NAME will be printed. If you want to have a different name printed on those official documents, a legal name change is necessary.

Legal name change is done through Vital Statistics. For more information, go to its website:
Vital Statistics

Langara College is accepting application

Langara College (Click here for its website) is currently accepting applications for the 2010 - 2011 academic year.

Have your application submitted early, as some seats come on a first-come, first-serve, basis.

For more information, please visit Langara's website, or come in to see me.

Welcome, Grads of 2010

Welcome, grads of 2010! This is IT - your grade 12, graduating year. Let's make this the best year possible.

Please bookmark this blog, and re-visit it often. All information I receive that is related to graduation, post-secondary studies, and scholarships, would be posted here.

If you have any questions, please come in to see me at my office, or you can e-mail me at eleung@vsb.bc.ca

Have a great year!