An Un-American Approach to University Enrolment Management

[ucbalumnus]

@turtle17

I always thought of Toronto as sort of like Michigan plus Michigan State, and UBC like some average of UW and the UCs. If you are in Michigan, is admission to UM and MSU really that different than above descriptions of the Canadian system, or in Ohio to Ohio State, or Pennsylvania to Penn State, or Texas or North Carolina or Iowa or… even used to be true of California, but its population may have somewhat outgrown the system.

In California, it is not actually that hard to get into a UC. But, because of the hierarchy of perception, most aim for UCB or UCLA, making those campuses very difficult to get into. Less selective ones like UCR or UCM as seen as a “consolation prize”.

The impression I get is that there is much less of a perception hierarchy among Toronto, UBC, and McGill, so that the top-end students across Canada are not all trying to get into the same one. Is that actually the case?