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<p>Unfortunately, this is a true statement…Go to the Harvard board and see the caliber of the rejected students. </p>
<p>Essays are a very important piece of the application–much more important than a brag sheet (which is of little importance).</p>
<p>If your S won’t be able to live in peace for the rest of his life until he has done his best to get into an Ivy league school, then by all means let him reapply. But keep the Canadian school options open…</p>
<p>I think he should also apply to some high caliber Liberal Arts Colleges such as:
Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Oberlin, Wesleyan (in Connecticut), Haverford… and/or some mid-size universities such as Brandeis, Syracuse U, Rochester U, Tufts, Colgate as well as the Ivies he didn’t yet apply to. At least look up these websites, study their admissions statistics and interest levels in international students, to widen his thinking. It’s not all about the Ivies. My off-the-cuff list above is in the Northeast since I gather from his Canadian schools you might live somewhere in Eastern Canada.</p>
<p>A real problem is that I believe there are 51 checkboxes (at least it’s that way on the SAT listings…) for the 50 U.S. states and “international.” </p>
<p>That puts Canadian students up against every high-powered kid from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East where they train for high marks in Math and Science. Perhaps his essay should explore his unique viewpoint as a person from his own ethnicity who lives in North America but not the U.S. Canada is its own special place. The emphasis on consensus building, peaceful resolutions, and many other national values (bilingualism) may have shaped his view of the world in positive ways that can add to his peers at college. In other words, ask him to learn about why his “international” application differs from all other “international” applications, which could be a topic of a short-answer question on the application. If he has a great family immigration story to tell, but through the lens of Canada not the U.S., that’s another possible human interest. He’s much more than the sum total of his statistics, especially when applying to the top tier Liberal Arts Colleges where he’d find
others with his great stats.</p>
<p>Good luck. Widen the lens, there’s a lot to see and learn!</p>
<p>Plus, the Queens College and McGill acceptances are equal to many American universities; nothing to sneeze at, as we say. Hang onto them if at all possible.</p>
<p>– from a dual citizen of U.S. and Canada!</p>