When Evan Wray applied to the University of Calgary engineering program last year, he felt confident his average of 89.5 per cent would be good enough to earn him admission.

"I 100 per cent felt like I had the grades," said Wray, who graduated from Calgary's STEM Innovation Academy public charter school in the spring.

The program was his top choice — it would allow him to save money by living at home, and he wants to work in the oil and gas industry.

Instead, he was surprised to learn he had been rejected, and left scrambling to figure out a back-up plan he did not consider he would need.

"We were told growing up that if you work hard, and you work as hard as you can to achieve something, that you'll get it, right?" said Wray. "And I worked extremely hard to get my grades up, and that

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