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Letter Home from Harvard

Why I (and many other Canadians) chose an American university education.

Sarah Mortazavi 29 Sep 2005TheTyee.ca

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Freshman Mortazavi in Harvard yard

Two essays, short answer questions, an invasive personal profile, teacher references, a grueling interview, at least four different standardized tests, and a list of activities that strips the past four years of your life into a few sentences: and that's just to get in. There's a bigger pool of entrants (and those American students are much more familiar with a school's unwritten expectations than we are), wildly expensive fees, a plethora of immigration papers, and a national culture that is quickly diverging and growing more hostile to Canadian culture and values. So why would any Canadian ever think about applying to an American university?

Ironically, those obstacles are some of the reasons. Twenty thousand Canadians study in the US ever year, over half that number made up of undergraduate students. And I am one of them. This month, I started my freshman year in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Harvard University along with two dozen Canadian students.

Bookshops and bars

The quiet New England setting is the stereotype of university life: it has old colonial-style buildings steeped in tradition and history alongside commercial cornerstones like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, and the number of bookstores here is rivaled only by the number of bars. The vast majority of the students are American, with the odd Canadian and even rarer international student sprinkled into the mix.

So far (in my two weeks here), it seems that most of them, contrary to popular belief, are not the geeks who mastered 3-D chess and took Advanced Placement Physics in the ninth grade for fun, but laid-back, sociable artists, public speakers, mathematicians, and athletes with a thirst for knowledge that only a liberal arts college can fulfill. But all these students have one thing in common: out of over 20,000 applicants, these students were selected to attend Harvard University.

The road of paperwork

For all of us, the application process for American schools is long and tedious, consisting of many different portions, and most universities do not synchronize their applications (with the exception of the Common Application used by a handful of universities). When I was applying for acceptance to American universities last year, I had to drag myself out of bed at 6:00 am for four Saturdays and drive for an hour and a half to write my SATs along with almost a hundred other hopefuls and their parents. Most of my free time was spent filling out five different applications and supplementary questions ranging from my favorite magazine to the person who has inspired me the most. The time I spent at school was consumed with printing applications and hounding teachers to fill out their letters of reference on time. No one in my family could help, and while I had the support of my school, most people were as unfamiliar with the application process as I was.

Aside from the cumbersome application process, American schools are expensive. The average American university costs about $22,000 CDN per year for tuition alone, almost $50,000 CDN for big-name universities like Tufts, Princeton, and Harvard. And while the latter covers living expenses, it does not cover the cost of textbooks or supplies. Tuition is almost three times as high as the cost of attending the most prestigious schools in Canada, and almost one-half the income of the average Canadian family. And it does not look like it is getting any better: tuition and fees at U.S. universities are rising by 6-7% percent a year, a matter that is only aggravated by the absence of federal programs and funding.

So, why would I, or anyone in my position, subject themselves to a rigorous application process for the slight chance of paying an exorbitant sum of money to study in an unfamiliar nation?

'Grass is greener?'

Well, there are several reasons. First of all, there is the perception that American universities have a higher quality of education. This can be partially attributed to a pervasive grass-is-greener complex and good marketing; however, although the quality of education is subjective, the structure of many schools in the U.S.A. is quite different from Canadian ones. More liberal arts colleges are available in the States, and some students want the individual attention and academic flexibility that these schools offer. Harvard University, for example, offers seminar courses limited to 12 students, although the class will continue to meet even if these seminars are only half-filled.

Sure, an air of pretension hangs around most Ivy League schools that is further propagated by mass media; movies such as Stealing Harvard portray the college as "a place so unquestionably perfect that no one dares suggest that Lee's niece (who has gained acceptance) transfer to a cheaper state school" according to the Harvard Independent Weekly, despite the fact that her family can't afford it; instead her uncle, who has promised to fund her education, must do so through unscrupulous means. Stereotypes like these only serve to reinforce the perception that Ivy League schools are the pinnacle of accomplishment, and that entrance into these schools are worth any sacrifice as they permanently reflect on the merit of the individual students.

Having been at Harvard for several days now it's easy to see how students can get sucked into the brand name about as much as anyone else, but at the same time there is a definite air of indifference and normalcy here. Most students aren't fazed by the pressures of such an institution and are thus immune to the perceived pretension of this place. Most people who perceive students as arrogant or elitist are usually arrogant and elitist themselves; Ivy League schools try to promote their brand name as much as any other corporation would, and it is to their advantage that people perceive it as an exclusive institution for the privileged few. To some students, this is an attraction, not a deterrent.

Near and far

Secondly, most students want to "get away." With the sheer number of students that are accepted into Canadian schools, many students are wary of running into fellow high school classmates, old cousins twice-removed, and that quirky kid you knew in kindergarten that ate glue for fun.

With the transition from the subjugation of high school to the less-apparent subjugation of college most freshmen embrace the opportunity to reinvent themselves. There's the idea that the greater the distance the greater the difference: a university that is further away (or, at least, separated by five border patrol officers) will allow for greater personal autonomy and experimentation. It's not only an educational experience but a cultural adventure. That's the same reason American students, for example, apply to Canadian universities.

Third, most opportunistic over-achieving mini-Trump wannabes have set their sights on the States because working there will probably provide more opportunities and be more lucrative in the long run even if tuition and living costs are a little steep in the short run. The connections, opportunities, resources (both human and technological); gaining insight into American culture and way of life; and the added appeal of boasting an American university degree for a future resident and employee of American employers are all reason enough for someone to go south.

Alexander Rafael, a West Vancouver resident in his third year at Harvard University, started writing for The Crimson newspaper in his first year. He went on to be one of the founding editors of The Current, a nation-wide university magazine. Last summer, Newsweek approached him and offered him a paid internship in New York. Friends of his completed similarly high-profile internships. The chances that Newsweek would have sought him out had he been a student at UBC are about as likely as winning the lottery while simultaneously being struck by lightning, attacked by a shark, and voting for the Green party.

Difficult appeal

The fourth reason is my own reason for applying to the States. And it's probably the only area in which Canadian schools could change and therefore keep more Canadian students at home - if they're interested in doing that. Ironically, for me, the grueling admissions process was the big draw.

American universities check grades as far back as ninth grade; they assess students' community service, extracurricular activities, teacher references, class standing, and so on. The University of Toronto, on the other hand, does not look at any of those things; admission is determined by Grade 12 Provincial exams. Someone could work for four years establishing personal relationships with their teachers, working for the betterment of their community, devoting their time to a worthy cause, or discovering a new renewable energy source that will replace oil and revolutionize the world as we know it and if they come down with the flu when they are taking their provincial exams and do poorly, they could be rejected from the University of Toronto.

Or, if their achievements are recognized and they are accepted, they might rub shoulders with students who spent most of their high school careers mastering Halo and Doom and happened to make the cut-off because they got lucky on a few multiple choice questions. Of course, Canadian universities' application processes are partly due to the lack of funds and human resources. But whatever the cause, it still stands that the weak application process will yield weaker students (admittedly, interspersed with some exemplary ones) because their application process is too narrow to allow for students who have something better to offer the world than just an 85% class average.

That's why I think the application process is what Canadian schools should focus on if they're interested in keeping more students at home and if they're interested in improving the well-rounded, educational quality at high schools. Most students are looking to have their achievements recognized, and to be assessed holistically as a person and not just as a series of numbers and test results. I've made my choice. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sarah Mortazavi is the 2004 World Debate and Public Speaking Champion. She is from West Vancouver.

On Monday, a British Columbian student reports on her experiences at a Czech university.  [Tyee]

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