Prospective Students

Prospective Students

Our various programs in Astronomy and Astrophysics offer challenging yet immensely rewarding opportunities for students planning to pursue undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. A robust, collaborative community of award-winning faculty-researchers, scientists, graduate students and staff–joined by the related, university-affiliated astronomy research institutes: the Dunlap Institute and CITA—all help to make University of Toronto the premier place to study astronomy in Canada.

Preparing for our programs:

Our programs are grounded in physics and mathematics, so a background in high school level physics and calculus are listed as mandatory prerequisites: You will need to have completed senior-level high school physics and mathematics before entering our programs. 

A background in high school chemistry would also be helpful.  Recent trends in astronomy research see the utilization of computer science knowledge becoming ever more applicable in the field, so having some high school level training in computer programming is also recommended as good preparation.

In terms of a second spoken language: Spanish is recommended if you are planning to continue with studies higher than the undergraduate level since many observatories happen to be located in Spanish speaking zones of the Americas.

Applying to our programs:   

Students apply to the Physical & Mathematical program stream upon entering their first year of studies. As you near the completion of your first 4.0 course credits (or their equivalents), you will be able to officially declare your Program of Study (Subject PoSt) in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

For more information on applying to University of Toronto please see here.

If you have specific questions about applying to University of Toronto, please email: recruit.artsci@utoronto.ca

Not a science student but still interested in Astronomy?

Our department also offers courses for students who do not have a background in math and physics. These are among the most popular courses at University of Toronto and also count as breadth-requirements. These courses include: AST101H1 & AST201H, and later on AST301H1 (n.b. AST101H or AST201H must be completed prior to taking AST301H).