How to support your child's university application without taking it over

OUAC builds the Ontario application around the applicant. Your student creates the account the first time they log in, and they can't submit until they verify their own email address. They'll need their Ontario Education Number, the 9-digit number on their report card. The fee is $159 for the first three choices and $51 for each extra one.

Put the application in your student's name and inbox, not yours. Universities send offers, document requests and portal logins to the address on the application. If those emails land with you, your student misses deadlines they don't know about.

You can still be useful on the day. Sit with them for the first login, check that the email address is spelled right, and help them find the OEN. Then step back while they choose programs.

Universities are clear that written answers must be the applicant's own. Waterloo's FAQ asks, "Can I have someone else complete my AIF?" Its answer is no. It says an application may be rejected or an offer revoked if it has reasonable grounds to believe someone else wrote the form.

UBC asks a similar question of its personal profile: does it "authentically reflect your own words?" Its advice is to be specific and be true to who you are. A parent's polished sentence often sounds like a parent, and readers notice.

Good feedback asks questions instead of rewriting. "What did you actually do at the food bank?" helps. Retyping the paragraph doesn't. Our supplementary applications guide explains what each school asks for.

The jobs that suit a parent are the ones a 17-year-old finds hardest to hold in their head. Dates, money, travel and paperwork come first.

Keep one shared calendar with the OUAC deadline, each supplementary deadline and scholarship dates. Our Grade 12 timeline lists them month by month, and the deadline planner saves them in one place. Then talk about money early, so the shortlist fits the budget. The paying for university guide covers RESP withdrawals and OSAP.

Many parents applied to university somewhere else, where one national exam or a family decision settled the place. Ontario works differently. Your child applies to individual programs, and the high school sends grades to OUAC for current Ontario students.

Your child's guidance counsellor is the free expert in the building. OUAC says the counsellor has the Ontario Education Number on record, and the grades screen in the application is read-only. If a mark is wrong, your student reports it to the counsellor, not to OUAC. Ask for a meeting in early Grade 12, and go with your child if they'd like you there.

OUAC tells applicants to talk to guidance counsellors, family, teachers and friends while they research. That's your opening. Ask what draws them to a program, what a typical week looks like, and what they'd do if the first choice says no.

Choice order on OUAC doesn't affect scholarship or admission consideration unless a university says it does. So there's no need to argue about ranking. Offers arrive by May 28, 2027 for students who apply by January 15, and June 1, 2027 is the earliest date a university can require an answer and a deposit.

When offers come, share the costs side by side and let your child decide. Our offers guide explains how accepting works.

The rules change on the first day of classes. U of T Scarborough says that under Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, a student must give permission before the university releases any information to a third party, even a parent. That includes grades, courses, academic status, residence status and fees owing.

Carleton says the same about student accounts. It won't discuss your student's account without their express written permission, and students give that consent through their own online account.

If you're paying the bills, ask your student to set up consent before September. Agree on what you'll see and what stays private.

U of T Scarborough's student experience office gives parents a short list of what helps. Ask open-ended questions. Discuss issues without lecturing. Acknowledge doubt and homesickness, and resist the urge to fix the problem. Offer resources so your student makes the decision.

It also tells parents to expect changes. Replies may come slowly. Marks often drop in first year while students learn new study habits, then improve. Students living at home and parents may want different things from home life, so talk about it before September.

Independence has limits. If your child seems overwhelmed, stops replying for a long time, or talks about not wanting to go on, reach out directly and get help.

Good2Talk offers free, confidential support to post-secondary students in Ontario, 24 hours a day. Students can call 1-866-925-5454 or text GOOD2TALKON to 686868. Anyone thinking about suicide, or worried about someone who is, can call or text 9-8-8 at any time. In an emergency, call 911. Our mental health resources guide lists campus and provincial services.