We know that your first year at university can be challenging and overwhelming. We have put together a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the IYO program to help you navigate the program and understand what to expect.
Please reach out to yueli@yorku.ca if your question isn't included here. We would be delighted to assist you.
Most courses will be delivered in person, although some may be delivered in a blended or online modality. It will depend on the courses you choose.
Some courses may have pre-requisite requirements. This information is provided on the course portal. Please ensure you check these requirements before you take a course. You may also reach out to your academic advisor to confirm or for guidance.
Students taking a Science undergraduate program should note that Science courses typically have a prerequisite, if you're lacking a prerequisite for a course you are taking in first year, your advisor will recommend an alternative course.
No, once you begin IYO program, you cannot switch to the regular undergraduate program. You must complete IYO to progress to Year 2 of your undergraduate degree.
At this time, all programs in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, and the Faculty of Science are available for IYO. For the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, at this time the program available is Cities Regions Planning (CRP). Excluded in the Faculty of Science is the undergraduate degree of Neuroscience. Also, currently IYO is available only for the Keele campus programs.
You will work with your Faculty Advisors to plan your credit courses schedule, which will typically be Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. The team at the English Language Institute will provide you with your non-credit ESL course schedule.
After accepting your undergraduate program offer, international students are required to pay a $2000 non-refundable acceptance deposit. This non-refundable deposit is part of your tuition fee and will be credited to your student account. Paying your deposit is required in order to release your Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) and to access your course enrolment. (note: International students who receive a study permit refusal can receive a full refund of their deposit.)
To learn how to pay your registration deposit, please see the section “Paying from an International Bank Account" section of the Paying my account page. Paying your deposit is required in order to access your course enrolment. You will not be able to register if you have not paid your deposit.
Minimum fulltime course load is 18 credits (9 credits per term). 24 credits in total are planned over two terms in this program. Please reach out to your academic advisor for assistance on finalizing the load for your IYO. This works out to typically 6-8 courses for the year.
Please send us an email to yueli@yorku.ca with the conditional offer letter for your undergraduate program telling us you are interested in applying for this program.
Yes. However, you must contact the relevant Faculty Advising office. These include:
- Faculty of LA&PS: lapsadv@yorku.ca;
- Faculty of Science: intlsci@yorku.ca;
- Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change: eucadvise@yorku.ca.
No, enrolling into IYO means you have met the language proficiency requirement to begin your undergraduate program without submitting any further proof of your English language proficiency.
Yes, you will have the option to complete these credits before the second year of your program begins. Your academic advisor will guide you on your options.
The fees for IYO are a flat tuition fee – this means that regardless of the number of credits you do (up to a maximum of 24 credits), you are required to pay $49,500 for the program over two terms.
Attending the non-credit ESL courses is mandatory. You should attend all classes. Attending classes will help you succeed in the program and your studies. If there is an emergency and you are unable to attend one of the classes, please notify your instructor as soon as possible.
Yes, the non-credit ESL courses are mandatory and need to be completed.
No, IYO is currently available only for eligible faculties at the Keele campus.
Please read your offer letter. It has the date by which you can provide your English proficiency tests. To switch to the regular undergraduate program, please provide the Admission Office your language test results and request your switch. For further reference, these dates are typically August 15 for the fall intake and November 15 for the Winter intake.
The tuition fee for IYO is CAD$49,500 for the program to be paid over two terms. Fees include up to 24 credit courses, 10 hours per week of non-credit English language courses and extensive academic and language training support throughout the program. For years 2 to 4, it will be regular tuition fees.
The non-credit ESL courses have a special focus on academic English and will help you improve your speaking, listening, writing, reading, vocabulary and grammar. You will take the non-credit ESL courses at the English Language Institute for two consecutive terms.
Your credit courses are offered by the York University Faculties. Your advisor can help you register for these courses. You will work with your Faculty advisor to plan your course schedule, which will typically be Monday to Friday.
You need to pay $2000 to register for your undergraduate program.
Once we receive your payment, you will be cohorted to IYO within your Faculty.
You will receive a “confirmation of registration to IYO’ that will confirm that you are cohorted into IYO. This email will also have your updated visa letter. Once you receive this confirmation, please check your MyFile a week later for updated offer letter and your updated visa letter. You will receive your Provincial Attestation Letter within 2-3 weeks of registration. Note, you will need these three documents to apply for your study permit.
In general, you are expected to maintain above a 60% GPA to pass the courses. Throughout this first year, you can access special support to help you keep on track to move to your second year.
Note though, that some majors may have different progression requirements. It is your responsibility to review the progression policy for your undergraduate program and your mandatory year one courses to ensure you progress to year two of your program.
All students in this program follow the undergraduate policies on passed of failed courses for academic credit. For more information on this, please review Policy on Repeating Passed or Failed Courses for Academic Credit / Politique sur la reprise de cours réussis ou échoués pour obtenir des crédits universitaires.
ESL Humanities and General Education focus on many types of content (e.g., Canadian Culture) but are delivered with supports for ESL students. This often means more tutorial time, less lecture time per week to support content acquisition.
Non-credit ESL is focused on language development and acquisition, with a special focus on academic English along with the 4-skills development (speaking, listening, writing and reading) and vocabulary and grammar.
Term wise fees are $24,750 and are due before the start date of your program. Note that fees are subject to change.
You will receive your first email from advising within two weeks of registration into IYO.
There will be a few courses defined as mandatory for you in your year 1. You must ensure you take these courses. Your faculty program advisor will help you in selecting these mandatory courses.
IYO is available for the Fall (September) and Winter (January) intakes. The terms for Fall intakes are September to December and January to April; for Winter intakes the terms are January to April and May to August. You need to take the two terms consecutively (you cannot take a break between term 1 and term 2).
Note that the Cities Regions Planning (CRP) program in EUC is only available for the Fall term.
Yes, in most core credit courses, except for the non-credit EAP course in term 1 and 2.
We will provide most of the schedule for you. With the guidance of your academic advisor, you may select electives, general education and other courses from the options provided for IYO. You must make sure the schedule of these electives fit in with your other mandatory courses. Please reach out to your academic advisor for assistance.
