<p>With regards to the average GPA’s, the average GPA at the top Universities for Americans are some where around 3.7-5.0. The McGill/UToronto/UBC/Queens/Waterloo group of Unis are already quite difficult to get into for Canadians living in Canada; and of course it doesn’t get any easier for international students. </p>
<p>With regards to what the top colleges are, I would also add a few other schools to those already mentioned. </p>
<p>University of Calgary: With the massive economic growth that the west, and Alberta in particular, have experienced in western years, UCalgary, I believe, is excellently positioned to provide its students with increasing opportunities over the years to come to be at the forefront and the crossroads of Canadian and North American development. In addition, the massive wealth that the Tar Sands have brought to Alberta, combined with the fact that the Province has been able to pay off all its public debt, means that the University will in the future be able to have the fiscal flexibility to undertake all sorts of cool (yes, I know that’s a weird word to use) new research projects and studies that universities in the rest of the country could only dream of being able to afford to do.</p>
<p>University of Ottawa: The University of Ottawa is increasingly becoming more and more prominent. Just by virtue of its location, its probably one of the best schools in the country to pursue studies in Political Science. However, they’re also becoming more visible in other fields, like the neurosciences, in which they already have the number one-ranked programme in the country; as well as business. In addition, UOttawa is bilingual, and probably has one of the strongest and most active French-speaking student populations of any Canadian school outside Quebec. For American students, this allows them to immerse themselves in another culture, without going too far from home or having to take the cultural leap-of-faith to live in a completely Francophone society like Quebec. </p>
<p>Universite de Montreal: Many Canadians (excluding Quebecers and Francophones, of course) seem to have a tendency, I think, to undervalue our country’s French-language institutions, much to (IMO) their detriment. Not only is UdeM the second-largest Francophone university outside of France, it is also the second largest research institution in all of Canada. They have excellent (and probably world-renowned) programmes in the Health and Sciences areas, as well as in Engineering and Business. The language barrier isn’t even really that much of an issue - just by being in such an environment should help one learn the language quickly, and the administration is making more than ever an attempt to be accommodating of Anglophone students (ex: one is able to get a Business degree today from UdeM not only in French, but in English and Spanish as well).</p>