I don’t understand why top Canadian universities have such high acceptance rates compared to the U.S.

[Anonymous]

OP give it up. Assuming you are in MD or VA, there IS a high acceptance rate public university available. You don’t like it because you believe your kid deserves the prestige of the flagship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In the UK it is 28 pounds to apply to 5 universities, the maximum allowed. And that system works pretty well.

Fully agree. I understand that some mothers give up their jobs here to help their kids through the college application process. My daughter applied to the UK and it took an hour or so and I never even looked at the application. I think Canada is more like the UK in that regard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Canadian universities have application requirements to begin with that are based on test scores and grades, so that limits the number of applicants.

Once you do apply, the process is mostly based just on scores and grades as well.

So...same as US

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been comparing the admissions statistics of top Canadian universities with those of similarly prestigious U.S. public institutions, and the differences are striking. When we look at applicant volume, acceptance rates, admitted numbers, first-year enrollments, and total student populations, it becomes even more apparent.

Top Canadian Universities

University of Toronto (U of T)
Applicants: ~60,000–70,000+
Acceptance Rate: ~40–43%
Admitted: ~25,000–30,000
Enrolled Freshmen: ~14,000
Total Student Population: ~90,000+ (across all campuses)

University of British Columbia (UBC)
Applicants: ~40,000–45,000+
Acceptance Rate: ~50%
Admitted: ~20,000–22,000
Enrolled Freshmen: ~8,000–9,000
Total Student Population: ~65,000+

McGill University
Applicants: ~35,000–40,000
Acceptance Rate: ~40–46%
Admitted: ~14,000–18,000
Enrolled Freshmen: ~6,000
Total Student Population: ~40,000

Top U.S. Public Universities

UCLA
Applicants: ~149,700
Acceptance Rate: ~9–10%
Admitted: ~10,000
Enrolled Freshmen: ~6,400
Total Student Population: ~46,000 (undergrad + grad)

UC Berkeley
Applicants: ~128,000+
Acceptance Rate: ~14–15%
Admitted: ~15,000
Enrolled Freshmen: ~6,700
Total Student Population: ~45,000

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
Applicants: ~83,000+
Acceptance Rate: ~18–20%
Admitted: ~15,000
Enrolled Freshmen: ~7,200
Total Student Population: ~51,000

University of Virginia (UVA)

Applicants: ~56,000+
Acceptance Rate: ~19–21%
Admitted: ~9,950
Enrolled Freshmen: ~3,900
Total Student Population: ~25,000
UNC Chapel Hill
Applicants: ~57,000+
Acceptance Rate: ~19%
Admitted: ~10,300+
Enrolled Freshmen: ~4,200
Total Student Population: ~30,000

Looking at these figures side by side, Canadian universities are admitting a significantly larger proportion of their applicants, often 2–4 times the acceptance rate of the U.S. schools listed. Despite these higher acceptance rates, Canadian institutions like U of T, UBC, and McGill still maintain strong academic reputations, appear prominently in global rankings, and consistently produce high-quality research.

It raises the question: Is something off in the way the U.S. system is structured? Are ultra-low acceptance rates in the U.S. more about prestige and scarcity than educational quality or capacity? Meanwhile, Canada seems to strike a balance—large, top-ranked schools admitting a greater share of qualified applicants and still delivering excellence.

What are your thoughts? Is the U.S. higher education model broken or overly exclusive? Could U.S. public universities adopt strategies from Canada—such as more robust infrastructure and funding—to support larger incoming classes without compromising on standards? It’s a puzzling contrast, and I’m curious to hear what others think about it.

ding, ding, ding. US parents are hung up on “the exclusive experience”, even though these so-called “elite” universities have ample resources to enlarge their student population considerably. Every time a college tries to expend, there’s wailing and gnashing of teeth and pearl-cutching about “destroying the brand”.

Well no, that’s not it. If say UCLA tripled its class size and by necessity reduced student support and extras even more, then parents of “advanced kids” would be crying about class size and how ugly the dorms are.

Also all of the states OP listed have additional less exclusive state colleges.

The only way for UCLA to triple the size is to make it clear they are out of the "dorm business". Athletes would always get on campus dorms and maybe kids in some "honors" tier, but 85% would have to live off-campus, perhaps all 4 years.

This would make UCLA far more of a commuter school...which is what you see with these Canadian universities.

Arizona State is as large as some of these Canadian universities. I assume they don't provide housing for most of the students and probably has a very high percentage of local population attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
In the UK it is 28 pounds to apply to 5 universities, the maximum allowed. And that system works pretty well.

Fully agree. I understand that some mothers give up their jobs here to help their kids through the college application process. My daughter applied to the UK and it took an hour or so and I never even looked at the application. I think Canada is more like the UK in that regard.[/quote]

University of Toronto was very similar to applying to UC Schools. They gave like 6 essay topics and you had to pick three for I think 350 word essays. You listed all your ECs...I think you had to submit LORs.

The application may be different for the major for which you are applying. I don't know.

[Anonymous]

When I was at U of T, one of my friends from Emory came up to do a semester at McGill. He was pre med and took some physio classes and some bio. He got slammed and had to defer med school to take extra classes to fix that GPA. Some of his friends told him to deny ever going to McGill. He did the right thing and told the truth. He told me that he studied harder than he ever did and got two Cs and two Bs. Meanwhile, I kicked out of engineering due to grades and ended up in comp sci. Back then that was a new major. And only for that reason, I squeaked through, but with Cs and a few Bs. Also consider Queens University if you want to hang out with rich Canadians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was at U of T, one of my friends from Emory came up to do a semester at McGill. He was pre med and took some physio classes and some bio. He got slammed and had to defer med school to take extra classes to fix that GPA. Some of his friends told him to deny ever going to McGill. He did the right thing and told the truth. He told me that he studied harder than he ever did and got two Cs and two Bs. Meanwhile, I kicked out of engineering due to grades and ended up in comp sci. Back then that was a new major. And only for that reason, I squeaked through, but with Cs and a few Bs. Also consider Queens University if you want to hang out with rich Canadians.

I have two dc, one at McGill and one at Cornell. I can attest that this is accurate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Canadian universities have application requirements to begin with that are based on test scores and grades, so that limits the number of applicants.

Once you do apply, the process is mostly based just on scores and grades as well.

So...same as US

No, not at all. Anyone can apply to any school in the US.

[Anonymous]

In Canada, education is a money making business. They take in a ton of full pay third-world students with weak credentials. (UToronto foreign student enrollment is 36% for undergrad, compared to UCLA 7%). These students pay, because for them it is not the education that matters, it is immigration they are interested in. With the exception of a few faculties (comp engineering at Waterloo), Canadian education is third rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Canadian universities have application requirements to begin with that are based on test scores and grades, so that limits the number of applicants.

Once you do apply, the process is mostly based just on scores and grades as well.

So...same as US

No. Many US university admissions include athletics and ECs as important decision factors for admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Canadian universities have application requirements to begin with that are based on test scores and grades, so that limits the number of applicants.

Once you do apply, the process is mostly based just on scores and grades as well.

So...same as US

No. Many US university admissions include athletics and ECs as important decision factors for admissions.

So, they don’t recruit for sports, but UT asked for a list of ECs when my kid applied. There were also 3 essays and teacher LORs.

Maybe they don’t care about it…but it was still required.

Felt awfully similar to applying to UC schools as the closest US approximation.

I feel like the other difference is these schools are all on a rolling admissions basis that actually goes through Spring…but once they fill up for the year by program, they just cut off the ability to apply to that program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Canada, education is a money making business. They take in a ton of full pay third-world students with weak credentials. (UToronto foreign student enrollment is 36% for undergrad, compared to UCLA 7%). These students pay, because for them it is not the education that matters, it is immigration they are interested in. With the exception of a few faculties (comp engineering at Waterloo), Canadian education is third rate.

You know nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was at U of T, one of my friends from Emory came up to do a semester at McGill. He was pre med and took some physio classes and some bio. He got slammed and had to defer med school to take extra classes to fix that GPA. Some of his friends told him to deny ever going to McGill. He did the right thing and told the truth. He told me that he studied harder than he ever did and got two Cs and two Bs. Meanwhile, I kicked out of engineering due to grades and ended up in comp sci. Back then that was a new major. And only for that reason, I squeaked through, but with Cs and a few Bs. Also consider Queens University if you want to hang out with rich Canadians.

I have two dc, one at McGill and one at Cornell. I can attest that this is accurate

+1 DC is in CS at McGill

[Anonymous]

Your Michigan acceptance rate is outdated, it's 15.6% now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Canadian universities have application requirements to begin with that are based on test scores and grades, so that limits the number of applicants.

Once you do apply, the process is mostly based just on scores and grades as well.

You have to have very stellar grades and stats otherwise to get into these schools and that is widely know, as are cutoffs from previoous years. So the people applying are already highly self-selected.