Admissions Blog

Undergraduate Admissions Uncensored

  • Admissions.Blog

American vs. Canadian College Admissions

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Craig

More than ever students applying to college in the US are also looking to Canada for more college and university options. The same can be said of their Canadian counterparts. With this in mind, it’s important to review the major differences between the admissions process in the United States and Canada. While the following information is very valuable in general, please remember that specific colleges and universities may of course deviate from the general rule outlined below. Always remember to check with the college or universities on your final list to ensure that you are meeting their admissions criteria and meeting their priority deadlines. Good luck!

  Canada United States
Application Deadlines Apply as soon as the applications are available online (in many cases December or January); deadlines vary by institution but are generally later than the US and typically on a rolling basis. Be careful to not apply to late, as Canadian schools don’t have the same May 1 reply by date as US schools and they typically take long to process applications Deadlines vary by institution, but are generally earlier than Canada and most have specific deadlines including those for Early Action (non-binding) and Early Decision (binding).
Admissions Criteria – Academic Performance Academic performance is the most important decision factor; requirements vary by institution and by competitive programs. Senior/junior year performance is crucial to many Canadian universities – most all will require first semester senior year grades (or predicted IB scores), so late bloomers can really benefit. Academic performance is the most important decision factor for both private colleges and universities, with more weight given to rigorous, college-prep curricula. Most US universities will look at grades 9, 10, 11, and 12with more weight on senior/junior year performance. First semester senior year grades are required for admission, unless the student is applying Early Decision, Early Action, or early in the Rolling cycle.
Admissions Criteria – Other Less emphasis on reference letters, essays, and extracurricular activities (most universities will not require this information for evaluation). More emphasis on reference letters, essays, extracurricular activities, and demonstrated interest (especially at mid- and small-sized private colleges/universities).
Admissions Criteria – Testing Some require SAT/ACT, and rarely SAT Subject Tests, but not all. Inquire with each college you are considering. Most weigh SAT or ACT scores, and sometimes SAT Subject Tests. An increasing number of colleges are test optional (see fairtest.org).
Decisions Decisions roll out from February to April, or even later. Decisions can be rolling or with deadline schools no later than April 1. The uniform reply/deposit deadline is May 1.

More information:

Universities Canada

Education in Canada

EducationUSA

College Navigator

About Craig

Craig is a college admissions coach and founder of CollegeMeister. He previously held university admissions and high school college and career counseling positions in Baltimore, West Palm Beach, and Rio de Janeiro.

Filed Under: Admissions Policies, Advice & Analysis, Canada, Standardized Tests

Related posts:

Oh, Canada! The Definitive List of Canadian University Application Deadlines Rolling Admission vs. Regular Decision UMass changes EA decision options All About Rolling Admission

Subscribe to our mailing list

Rice University Launches Business Major for Undergrads

12 Reasons Scattergrams Lull Students Into a False Sense of Security

How to Get Accepted to Your Dream College of Choice

Trending Posts

What the death of SAT Subject Tests means for strong high school students

University of Exeter makes international student scholarship and admissions news

Many high school counselors mean well but…

What to make of Tufts’ Early Decision Deadline Extension

Dear 9th Grader: Don’t get rejected from the Ivy League so soon!

Colgate’s 2021 Admissions Stats

Avoid Tuition Anxiety: Put Strong Merit Aid Colleges on Your List

Dear 11th Grader: Don’t Screw Up Your Ivy League Chances Now

Building Your Best College List

Dear 12th Grader: Don’t Blow Your Ivy Chances Now

Georgetown’s 2020 School-Specific Acceptance Rates

Dear 10th Grader: Don’t Become An Ivy League Reject!

Best College Acceptance Gifts for the Class of 2021

The Ultimate Virtual College Admissions Library – 2020 Edition

Amherst Shares Latest Admissions Stats

The 3 Dos and Dont’s to get Accepted into America’s Most Selective Colleges

1404 Error: University of Georgia Early Action Stats Full of Spin

Another Reason Why Your Common Application Essay is So Bad

12 of the nation’s most prestigious science competitions for high school students

Featured Blog Topics

  • 3 Year Degree (2)
  • Accommodations (2)
  • Admissions Policies (70)
  • Admissions Statistics (42)
  • Advice & Analysis (259)
  • Alabama (1)
  • Amherst (1)
  • AP (2)
  • Applications (59)
  • Arizona (3)
  • Boston University (2)
  • Brown (2)
  • Bryn Mawr (1)
  • Caltech (1)
  • Canada (2)
  • Career and Technical Education (4)
  • Case Western (3)
  • China (1)
  • CMC (1)
  • Coalition (13)
  • College Counselor (14)
  • College Fairs (4)
  • College Life (21)
  • College List (30)
  • College List Deathmatch (4)
  • College Visit (16)
  • Columbia (5)
  • Common Application (28)
  • Community Colleges (4)
  • Cornell (2)
  • COVID-19 (6)
  • Dartmouth (2)
  • Demonstrated Interest (15)
  • DePaul (1)
  • Dickinson (1)
  • Duke (1)
  • Early Action (27)
  • Early Decision (31)
  • Enrichment (12)
  • Essays (18)
  • Europe (4)
  • Exeter (1)
  • Extracurricular Activities (25)
  • Feature (1)
  • Financial Aid (20)
  • First Person (10)
  • France (1)
  • Gap Programs (2)
  • GED (1)
  • Georgetown (3)
  • Germany (2)
  • GPA (3)
  • Hamilton (1)
  • Harvard (4)
  • High School (18)
  • HiSET (1)
  • IB (2)
  • IEC (1)
  • Indiana (2)
  • International (3)
  • Internships (5)
  • Interviews (10)
  • Iowa (1)
  • Ivy League (18)
  • JHU (2)
  • LD (1)
  • Majors (9)
  • MIT (3)
  • Naviance (2)
  • NCAA (3)
  • News (37)
  • Northwestern (2)
  • Notification News (1)
  • Notre Dame (1)
  • NYU (1)
  • Of Note (3)
  • Parents (6)
  • Penn (5)
  • Popular Posts (9)
  • Princeton (4)
  • Priority (2)
  • Professor of the Month (1)
  • PSU (3)
  • Public Universities (8)
  • Purdue (1)
  • Rankings (4)
  • Recommendations (5)
  • Regular (13)
  • Research (4)
  • Resume (17)
  • Rice (1)
  • ROI (2)
  • Rolling (5)
  • South America (2)
  • Standardized Tests (27)
  • Stanford (1)
  • Summer (18)
  • Swarthmore (1)
  • TASC (1)
  • Teacher Recommendations (7)
  • Texas (2)
  • Ticker (17)
  • Trending Posts (19)
  • Tufts (3)
  • Tuition (2)
  • Tulane (2)
  • UC Berkeley (5)
  • UCAS (3)
  • UCLA (6)
  • UF (1)
  • UGA (2)
  • UMass (1)
  • UMD (4)
  • UNC (1)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • United Kingdom (4)
  • Universal College Application (1)
  • University of Chicago (1)
  • University of Rochester (1)
  • USC (1)
  • UVA (6)
  • Vanderbilt (1)
  • Video Game Design (1)
  • Villanova (2)
  • Wash U (4)
  • Williams (1)
  • Wisconsin (1)
  • Yale (9)
  • ZeeMee (1)
Get Expert College Admissions Coaching Now

 

Write for Us | Sponsored Posts
All content © 2021 | Admissions.Blog
Terms of Service | +1 410-526-2558
Support Admissions.Blog; donate any amount of Bitcoin to the address or by using the QR Code below.
3CsE43YgJN4R8B9o6E3JJxqVoBWp4wUDoE

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in