Prospective Student Profiles
Bachelor of Applied Science in Digital Technologies (BASc)
We’ve received more than 400 applications for our fully work-integrated degree program in Digital Technologies.
250 High-potential high school grads
88% average GPA
26% self-identify as women
Prepared for top universities for computer science and engineering
Strong math and science foundation
Completed related extra-curricular tech & programming competitions
Have work experience, typically customer service-related skills
110 Mature, Transfer and Professional students
53% have a University degree or College diploma
35% self-identify as women
40% of the students with a background in Science and Engineering
25% of the students with a background in business
Case Study
Real Examples of Work-Integrated Learning in action!
Meet: Carmela
As a high school student with disabilities, Carmela was advised to look for a program that would support her until graduation.
This drawing represents how Carmela thought a prejudiced stranger could perceive her by just looking at her GitHub profile picture.
“This nervousness has since died down. Shopify has given me a space to see people like myself doing all sorts of amazing things.
Valuing representation helps us value and empower one another—for who we are, what we represent, and the positive impact we have.”
Since Carmela joined Shopify in 2020, she has contributed to real projects, applying her Ruby programming, database, testing and front-end development skills.
Meet: Caylin
“Since graduating, I’ve contributed to and led many impactful projects on my team, given three internal talks, received a promotion, won a contributor award from Kubernetes, got asked to speak at two conferences and got accepted into the Kubernetes Open-Source Experience program at Shopify.
Thanks to the Work-Integrated Program removing the stress of co-op selection and internship job hunting, I was able to focus on getting varied experiences during my time in the program.”
First 8 months: Learn solid programming and developer workflow
Year 2: Orders Team with Ruby and Rails
Year 3: Infrastructure Security, learned cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure
Year 4: Network Foundations and learned more about Shopify’s Network
Graduated: Degree in Computer Science! Started at Shopify on InfraSec, full time!
Prospective Students
Examples of the types of applicants you can expect as part of this program
Phoebe
The High School Entrepreneur
Phoebe is a high-achieving grade 12 student with an entrepreneurial spirit and a high GPA, who plays tennis competitively. In high school, she started multiple small businesses, including giving tennis lessons and making and selling environmentally friendly soap via Instagram and Snapchat. She created her own website and discovered an interest in coding and web development when trying to promote her small business. She has taken many 4U high school courses relating to STEM and joined a girls’ coding club online. With a passion for environmental sustainability, Phoebe aspires to make a positive impact on the world by combining her natural inclination towards technology with a degree that will help put her talents into practice.
Amir
The High School Coder
Amir is a hard-working grade 12 student with a passion for technology. He joined the FIRST Robotics league at the age of six and over the years honed his skills in robot building and programming. Amir has remained an active member of the league and now volunteers as a mentor to younger students. He has been creating his own apps and video games since the age of 11 and has attended numerous coding summer camps and boot camps. Amir regularly participates in hackathons and was awarded third place at TOHacks for his AI-powered baby monitoring system project. With a clear goal of working in the technology field, Amir seeks to gain hands-on work experience. He feels that traditional testing methods don’t capture his true ability, since he does his best work in a project-based, hands-on environment. He is looking for an experience that takes him out of the classroom and into the real world.
Simone
The Upskilling Mature Student
Simone holds a business management degree and eight years of HR experience at an energy company. In her free time, she taught herself how to code and build a website as a passion project to display her design projects online. When the pandemic started, Simone had an opportunity to work closely with her company’s IT team as they transitioned to an online work environment, where she continued learning about digital technologies and discovered her passion for this area of work. Simone’s employer would like to sponsor her to complete this degree, so she can upskill and change roles within the company. Simone is thrilled for the opportunity to pivot her career path and increase her earning potential as she nurtures her passion for technology.
Dominic
The Mature Student Changing Careers
Dominic is a high school science and math teacher with an undergraduate degree in statistical mathematics, and a Teacher’s College diploma. As he began looking for ways to integrate technology into his curriculum, he discovered his passion for information technology and software development and is considering changing careers. Dominic is married and has two children, so he is interested in university programs that allow him to earn a new degree without interrupting his employment.
Talia
York University Transfer Student
Talia is a current York University student studying Information Technology and is interested in getting as much hands-on work experience as possible. She excelled in her first-year courses, completing her first year with an average grade of 85%. Outside of class, Talia is an active member of the York community, often getting involved in clubs and volunteering for on-campus events. Talia excels in hands-on learning and, having established a foundation in economics and programming, is eager to gain even more practical experience. After hearing about the Digital Technologies program, she thinks it would be the perfect path for her, combining hands-on work with learning.
Matt
University Transfer Student
At 21 years old, Matt just completed the second year of his diploma to become a Computer Systems Technician student at a large college in the Greater Toronto Area. He is very passionate about digital technologies and wants to pursue a career in the field. After some consideration, he decided to pursue a university degree that would better prepare him for a career in the field, after finding himself unfulfilled by his current program. Matt works part-time on Best Buy’s GEEK Squad, where he learned a lot about computer hardware and software technology. In his free time, he taught himself to code JAVA and C++ and created his own website where he sells custom miniatures that he designs and 3D prints. Matt enjoys the fast-paced experience of learning on the job and wants to maximize the amount of time he gets to do what he loves.