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<p>Make that six. Williams just announced it is no longer need-blind for internationals beginning with the class entering this fall.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/williams-college/867174-williams-ends-need-blind-admissions-international-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/williams-college/867174-williams-ends-need-blind-admissions-international-students.html</a></p>
<p>@darks0ulz: Umm, when I used the word “top school” I meant the top 10-15 schools that are actually need-blind for Canadians. </p>
<p>If you were talking about a school that wasn’t in the top 15, then yes, I’d agree with you that those students aren’t that much better than UofT/Waterloo ones. But then you used a Harvard student as an example, so I assumed you were talking about a school in the top 15. </p>
<p>What kind of a Canadian who needs financial aid would bother applying to a non-Ivy/non-top 15 school anyways?</p>
<p>Many would say that the level of education in any top 25 school is relatively the same. IMHO, the only thing a top 10 school has over a top 25 school is prestige…</p>
<p>US schools have only become so demanding recently. When the US had the population Canada does now, you would probably find it just as easy as it is in Canada now.</p>
<p>EDIT: I was replying to an earlier comment but I guess you can’t quote here…</p>
<p>@darks0ulz: And the student population, the endowment, and the financial aid for internationals (of course)…</p>
<p>“Generally speaking, in order to find your “American” gpa, you can add around 10-15% to your average” This just made my day.</p>
<p>Remember, you’re competing against fellow Canadians. The same 10-15% is applied to everyone across the board (a student with a 95 doesn’t compare with a student getting an 85). So it doesn’t really matter in the end…</p>
<p>Why did it make your day? Did it make you happy to be deluded or did you laugh out loud at the absurdity of that statement? I hope the latter.</p>
<p>I think Canadian GPAs are deflated by at most 5%. If you have an 85% average and you’re going “■■■■ MY AVERAGE IS EQUIVALENT TO 100% IN THE U.S.” you’re just a fool.</p>
<p>IMHO, marks are inflated in grade 12. Some of my IB teachers practice grade deflation (making the class medians in the mid-high 70s). I had a tough time breaking an 80 in Grade 12 English taught by a professor. I put an insane amount of effort into that class too.</p>
<p>While some of the academic teachers (I did both IB and a few academic grade 12 courses), inflate marks to help students get into decent schools. I didn’t have any trouble getting mid 90s in Gr 12 Academic Biology with minimal studying…I would be the first to admit I didn’t deserve the mark considering the effort I put in but yeah.</p>
<p>Marks become less deflated as you go down the grades since in Canada, those marks really don’t matter and teachers don’t bother to inflate.</p>
<p>^I actually kinda agree. I mean, I have had an upward increase in my GPA every year since grade 9 and I have noticed that students in the top 10% at my schools have the same trend. The averages for the highest overall average per grade are all progressively higher at my school. 96 was the highest gr.9 avg. at my school while 98 was for gr.12. </p>
<p>I can tell some teachers just want students to succeed. They don’t like ‘boost’ marks, but they try to give out pointers and ‘tips’ on what might be on the next test. Like a gr.12 Data teacher at our school drops a student’s lowest test mark before the marks on midterms in gr.12 go out. That’s one example from my school.</p>
<p>But the adding 10-15% is BS and why does it even matter if everyone gets the boost? It’s not like you’re the only one to get that boost if it was even true.</p>
<p>My average is not that insanely high but I rank high. So which is more important?</p>
<p>Rank, definitely.</p>
<p>A lot of misinformation on this thread unfortunately. US schools understand the Canadian grading system. I was really, really worried about this and called like 20 schools and all of them said the same thing… they know that Canadian grading scale is very different. When applying, your school counselor will fill out a form where he/she will write down the grading scale. For example, my counselor wrote 80-100 was an A, 70-80 was a B and so on and so on. Top 15 or Top 20 schools like Emory(where I am going next year) usually want high 80s and 90s. However, your courseload should be difficult… I had a full IB courseload and they took that into account when looking at my average. For example, I had a 92% average in Full IB. If I had easier courses, I probably would have to make up for it with a higher average. However, I advise students to take a challenging courseload… it will serve you well in college. There is no rule of thumb of adding a certain percentage to Canadian grades. DO NOT LISTEN TO SUCH ADVICE. The US schools care about how well you did compared with your classmates. They will NOT compare you to American students. For admissions into top schools, try to be in the Top 5% and if not, aim for top 10%. Under that, you should try and get your rank up. I did this whole process so if anyone has any important questions about US admissions or any questions about Emory or any other college, feel free to PM me. Good luck to all!</p>
<p>^ wow, that’s so helpful
you should start a whole new thread just so everyone could see this. ;D</p>
<p>Hmm, do you think I should start a new thread where people can ask me questions… because I went through this process for a long while. Maybe.</p>
<p>definitely.
xD</p>
<p>be selfless! ;D</p>
<p>alam1, you should do like a FAQs tread and where we can ask you q’s as well, unless you just like PMs better</p>
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<p>Utter and completely nonsense. Listen, you really need to stop listening to each other-- it’s the blind leading the blind, driven by imaginary infatuations. </p>
<p>I’ve taught at an Ivy for many years, as did my spouse. Also at a tip top US school. now at a canadian one. I currently oversee my professional association of 20,000 faculty members. The differences are GROSSLY overrated. </p>
<p>If you can get into a US school- given their selectivity- you can easily, absolutely easily achieve just as much at a Canadian school. The only difference my spouse and I have found is at Canadian schools, there is greater variability among students. There is nothing stopping you from going to say Waterloo and writing 5 papers, and publishing with facuty, and doing cool internships or graduating early. That is about YOU not the school. At Canadian unis, every single class we teach has super students…they get great grades, are known by the faculty, are actively involved…and every year we send our best students to top US grad schools, with full tuition covered and a living stipend and they do very very well. The students from MIT and the students for U of Toronto who go to say Harvard or Stanford for grad school- and yes, you can easily go to a top US grad school from a great canadian school- do equally well. </p>
<p>If your folks can afford about an extra $150,000 for your simple undergrad education, please understand that what you are purchasing is a) a great bumper sticker for the family car (aka ‘prestige’, which is a really big deal to some families) and b) some additional job opportunities/possibly a better job market for some fields (though lately the US market sucks). </p>
<p>I just think its really sad when perfectly qualified Canadian students burn out their parents finances when their contemporaries graduated from Canadian schools- because they simply had confidence- and both of them end up at the same place.</p>
<p>You (and other older posters on this board) keep perpetuating the myth of the high cost of undergrad education at the top colleges in the U.S. For poorer students attending an Ivy often ends up costing less than Canadian schools. Read up on financial aid policies.</p>
<p>Not too many prospective undergrads want to pursue doctorates so you can quit talking about stipends as well.</p>
<p>^It’s going to cost me and my family (a lot) less to attend Yale compared to a Canadian school with or without residence.</p>