REVIEW OF Ontario eSecondary School BY Alum, Michael Hall

(5) Overall Experience

My experience at Ontario eSecondary School (OES) was phenomenal. I was able to finish my grade 12 at my own pace which has helped me develop time management skills, independence and confidence. Having to create my own schedule for my education was an experience that I never had before. It pushed me to become more competent and responsible which has really helped in post secondary. It was also very helpful that I was not restricted to particular times, and could work away at my classes at my own leisure. The teachers were also very helpful and a huge reason why I did so well at OES. I felt like they truly wanted to see me do well and made themselves available whenever I needed help. Their online format was very straightforward and easy to use and I had no problems with that either.

(5) School Leadership

I didn't come across any issues at all when contacting OES about anything. Everyone was very helpful and replied to any question I had very quickly. All contact was through email and video chats so it was very simple. I could always count on getting thorough and friendly assistance from the administration team and that made my time at OES very simple. They were able to cater to my needs when it came to the payments for my courses and were very flexible as well.

(5) Teaching

The teachers would message me every so often to make sure that I am doing well, and in some courses there would be a video/audio call after every unit to make sure everything was okay. The teachers always kept to their word regarding the times they would be available to answer questions which was really helpful. The instructions for the courses were all clearly laid out on the website and I had no trouble completing assignments and tests. They were very helpful assisting me with finding a proctor to watch me do my tests which was something that made my time at OES very simple. The teachers all made very interesting courses and were clearly experts in their field.

(5) Academics

With OES, the courses are self paced. You have 6 months to complete each course which was more than enough time for me and is more time than a regular school semester will give you at a public school. What I really liked about the courses was that you could complete them as quickly as you wanted. There as no need to do the course everyday so if you work better in "spurts" then OES is a great choice because you could spend 5 hours in one day on a course if you really wanted to. You get to build your own schedule which was great in teaching me self responsibility and independence. They have a very large course selection in sciences, mathematics, humanities, business and more.

(5) School Life

Because the courses are entirely online, there was no stress involved for me. I could work at my own pace and build my own schedule which made my life a lot easier. I could work at home, at the library or on the go which was great for my lifestyle. If you are travelling that is no problem because the courses are all online. I didn't need a particularly good computer either I just used a cheaper laptop and it got the job done, although that may be different if you're going into the computer sciences. I was able to work full time while completing school which was something that I believe is only possible with the unique format that OES supplies.

(5) Admissions

There was no stress involved when applying for the school whatsoever. I simply emailed the school, explaining my situation and they set it up for me very quickly and easily. I was very impressed with how smooth the whole process was. I had a great conversation with admissions about what I wanted to do at post-secondary and they helped me pick the courses that both helped prepare me for the program and fulfill the required prerequisites. They very thoroughly explained how the school worked and how to work on and complete the courses. I never had a problem with admissions and felt very confident and prepared for my courses at OES because of their great help. Emailing them is very simple and they reply very quickly.

(5) University placement and counselling

The staff at OES knew my situation very well and helped me a lot through the university application process. They were able to send my transcript to my school very quickly which helped greatly in applying on time. They sent me reminders to make sure I applied on time as well. I don't believe they could have helped me anymore than they did when it came time to applying to university. Because of the course format that OES has, I felt far more prepared for university when I started. I had no trouble being accepted into my program either. The transition from high school to university was a very smooth process and that is thanks to the great staff at OES that helped me each step of the way.