Western's Supplementary Essay Questions: Which Programs Require Them

Western's default is grades, not essays

Western University admits most first-year applicants directly from their OUAC 101 admission average. Unlike schools that require a written supplementary component across most programs, Western's standard process does not ask general applicants for an essay, personal statement or short-answer form alongside the application. Your Grade 12 U/M average, checked against the specific program's prerequisites, drives the decision for most programs.

This makes Western different from schools where a supplementary application is the norm rather than the exception. If you are applying broadly to Ontario universities and building a checklist of extra requirements, most Western programs will not add one.

Where Western does add a supplementary step

A small set of limited-enrollment or professional-track programs ask for more than your average. The clearest example is the Ivey Advanced Entry Opportunity , known as AEO, which offers secondary school applicants conditional pre-admission into Ivey's Honours Business Administration (HBA) program. Rather than a straightforward grades-only offer, AEO functions as a pre-admission agreement: you enter Western in a lead-up program and must maintain specific progression standards through your first 2 years to keep your conditional spot in HBA.

Programs built around performance, like Music, typically assess applicants through an audition rather than a written or video component, since the skill being evaluated is inherently practical rather than something an essay can demonstrate.

Why you cannot rely on a fixed list

Which programs carry an additional requirement, and what that requirement looks like, can change between admission cycles as Western adjusts specific programs. Rather than working from a list that may be out of date by the time you apply, use Western's own admission requirements tool for your specific program and application year. Search by the exact program name, not just the faculty, since a supplementary step can apply to one specialized route within a faculty while the rest of that faculty admits on grades alone.

How to prepare if your program has an extra step

• Identify early whether your specific program has any component beyond OUAC 101, since these often carry earlier internal deadlines than the general application.

• For a conditional or pre-admission route like AEO, read the progression requirements closely. Getting in is not the finish line if you need to hold a specific standard for 2 years afterward.

• For an audition-based program, prepare the performance piece specified by the program, not a generic sample, and check the submission format required.

• Do not assume a supplementary step replaces the grade requirement. Every route described here still runs on top of meeting the program's academic prerequisites, not instead of them.

What to check before you apply

Search Western's admission requirements tool for your exact program, confirm whether any additional application, form, audition or conditional-entry route applies, and note any internal deadline separate from the general OUAC deadline. For a route like Ivey AEO, also read the specific progression standards you would need to hold in first and second year, since a conditional offer only turns into a guaranteed one if you meet them.