<p>1of42, now that you've been in Princeton for one semester, can you tell me what the average grades were in your classes?</p>
<p>I suspect that even at the Ivy Leagues, grades are still maintained at an over 85% average.</p>
<p>Lol at 1of42. Yeah right!!!
Back that up please.</p>
<p>Princeton is known for heavy grade deflation relative to other American colleges. If that is true it might influence iof42's judgment about the level of difficulty of American elite colleges in general.</p>
<p>^Yeah and the same is true for many Canadian schools.
You honestly can't compare two schools you haven't attended. I'm not saying that Princeton is worst or better because until I attend ALL Canadian schools and then spend a semester a Princeton I can't make the comparison and neither can anyone else.</p>
<p>The Canadian system is very different from the American systems. But you have to give UofToronto, UBC and McGill credit. They are all well known international schools and yet they are all PUBLIC. They aren't getting 40,000 a student at most they get 10,000 (commerce programs). As a Canadian I pay 6000 in all for science at UofToronto, if I went to McGill because I am a Quebec resident I would have paid around 2000. So to get such a top-notch education at a low price is amazing.</p>
<p>Sure we don't have small class sizes or the best building but its not like our Profs were educated at "Burger King University" and can't put a sentence together. The schools have some great profs coming from all over the world.
At least I can say I had a math prof from ITT, a stats prof from Swiss, a french prof from France, a bio prof from Oxford and etc. I'm getting a worldly education, which I'm sure alot of Ivies have...but I get it ALOT cheaper.</p>
<p>tmacgirl, what you have to realize is that Ivies and other top schools like Stanford/MIT are brand name schools that come along with a title of prestige and commands respect. The quality of education might be similar but a degree from an Ivy League school and a degree from UBC/UT is that a degree from the Ivies warrants higher respect among employers, better networking due to more successful alumni, and in some cases, an elevated sense of social power etc. </p>
<p>By no means I am trashing Canadian universities as I attend UBC myself but unfortunately that is the reality, however cruel that might be.</p>
<p>Technically one could ask if elite college graduates are on average more successful than non-elite college graduates because they attended an elite college or because the elite colleges select the type of student who will be successful regardless of whether he attends a state university or an Ivy.</p>
<p>In other words, are you successful because you are attending Harvard or are you attending Harvard because you are successful?</p>
<p>I recently got accepted to Duke University, and is debating to whether study pre-med (lifescience) at the states or in Canada (I’ve been accepted to McGill, UofT, Queens, Western etc). I really just need the highest possible marks to get into med school, but I don’t know where would give me the highest chance. I know that US schools (ie: ivy and duke) require a lot of humanities courses (ie: arts history etc). Humanities courses are known to be “hard to get marks” courses. Whereas Canadian schools don’t require as many of those courses. What is your take in my situation?</p>
<p>Well, the humanites courses will give you a better grasp on life and make you a more well rounded person! That’s the reason I want to go to the states - the whole liberal arts idea really appeals to me. Even though I want to study art and art history, I’m really keen on sociology, languages, biology etc. So, I’d say that if you’re interested in just the marks, and just the sciences, maybe stay in Canada. That being said, Duke has a great reputation, and the you might end up really enjoying the classes you have to take! Do what feels right!</p>