<p>hmm interesting opinions everyone. Personally, I believe the Ivy League (and other top selective schools in the US) are harder to get in than the top Canadian Universities. I say this as I am a Canadian student, aiming for the Ivy League down South. In school, I don’t find many courses challenging at all, (other than studying for AP exams myself -again for US universities), I felt the desire to apply to US universities because I felt that there is no challenge in getting in Canadian Universities. I feel that a 90% average here (with all sciences and maths) is not very difficult to achieve. I do admit however, a 95%+ takes some work and effort. And thus for me, I know as a Canadian citizen, I can get in virtually any program in Canada without trying much at all. I would, of course, like to get over 95%, but that is only for scholarship and not admission reasons. I feel that top US universities are much harder to get in since they all require strong SATI, SATIIs, focused EC’s, and great teachers’ recs (did I mention you don’t need anything for Canadian univs? just transcript and resume would be sufficient, some essays for some programs but nothing extremely rigorous). In addition, I felt that I learned a lot more from studying the SATI and SATIIs, than I did at school with English and Math courses (man all the grammar the reasoning hammered into me, and i still suck at it). To me, I feel that a typical student from a top US university is more well rounded because of the rigorous admission process (here, all I see is that people working their butts off for a 95% and do nothing else, why would they? EC’s only take up time, 40hours of community service goes by in a flash, but a 95% avg would guarantee you to anywhere in Canada, …k almost i guess, don’t wana generalize too much)
Overall, I don’t mean to bash Canadian Universities at all. I probably will end up going to one myself when I get rejected :D. I also do believe that Canadian Universities have high education levels, some are just as good as US universities. However, when you compare the top ones, I believe that the US has the advantage as they are, most of the times, best unis in the world.</p>