Applicants from Canada, a question

cfuc_4 · 03-18-2005, 11:31 AM

Hello everyone, I'm new here, and i would first just like to say nice to meet you.

Now there is something that i've been wondering about..... as you may know, in US high schools, any thing above 92% (or in some schools 90%) is considered an A, but in canada if you can get above an 80% that is already considered great. So if you get for example 94%, it would mean very different things in the two countries. In US, it would be A-, which is not that great, but in Canada it would be excellent. Do you think American universities know that?

and furthermore, in Canada the failing mark is 50% and in US it is around 64%, so there is a big difference. It doesn't mean Canada is easier, it is just that teachers mark harder. So would universities take that into consideration?

hajen · 03-18-2005, 01:45 PM

i hope so, i feel schools here mark harder

cfuc_4 · 03-18-2005, 01:49 PM

do you know where you are applying to?

hajen · 03-18-2005, 01:53 PM

im applying as a transfer student from u of t to cornell

spiritedaway · 03-18-2005, 05:42 PM

I remember hearing this question brought up at an ivy-information session held in Toronto. The Cornell admissions rep said that they understand that *most* Canadian high schools grade harder than in the US, and that they take this into consideration when you are applying. Apparently, they said that a 90 average from Ontario is considered excellent.
(Note: I wasn't actually at the info session when this question was asked, this is just what I have heard ~ therefore I might be wrong).

cfuc_4 · 03-18-2005, 05:48 PM

Thank you spiritedaway, i really should go to one of those sessions.

spiritedaway · 03-19-2005, 06:05 PM

happy to help

Newbyreborn · 03-19-2005, 08:50 PM

i was at that session held at marriott eaton hotel, yeah, they said anything above an 80% is great, and anything above 90% i excellent.
i remember so many chinese "scholars" at that meeting.
it was scary, i was surrounded by nerds

cfuc_4 · 03-19-2005, 11:44 PM

you know, i wonder sometimes if everyone on this site is chinese. (well not everyone but the majority). I would make a poll thingy if i could, but i don't know how. lol

hajen · 03-20-2005, 01:07 AM

hey newbyreborn, do you remember whether they said 90 is excellent in general, or did they distinguish between subjects eg social science subjects vs math/science? thanks in advance

hypoxia · 03-20-2005, 11:26 AM

I've been told by a student at Dartmouth (New Hampshire, not Nova Scotia) that the American Ivy League admission officers give us canadians an automatic boost from 5-10%. Who knows if it's true tho. (She says she was told someone who has something to do with admissions lol)

kitkattail · 03-20-2005, 03:17 PM

Dude, I hope that's true, because that would be truly awesome!

03-20-2005, 05:48 PM

Wouldn't matter. You still would require a 95+% without some extraordinary "hook", assuming that you're the average applicant in order to be competitive for the upper Ivies.

wanted_exe · 03-20-2005, 06:07 PM

yes. they do look at it differently. The last time I went to an ivy league meeting they definitely confirmed us that they know that a 90% here is of different value than 90% in the states.

03-20-2005, 09:13 PM

Differently sure, but 90% won't even guarantee you admission into any program that you want in Canada even as a Canadian resident.

By comparison, Canadian institutes are vastly more easy to gain admission into for Canadian residents than the top ten institutions in the United States.

Keeping that in perspective, 90% isn't sufficient in most cases - unless, of course, an exceptional "hook".