How I Went to The States to Avoid CEGEP

Getting Out of Quebec and Into Universities

While many better students might have dreamed of going to an Ivy League university, my aspirations were much more practical: two years of CEGEP and three years of University added up to one more year than four years in a university outside Quebec. In addition to the addition of a year was the prospect of going to school at a CEGEP, which seemed more like extended high school than higher education. It was the early 70s and still the early years of CEGEP, and an effect of CEGEP seemed to be the removal of some of the best teachers from high school to teach in CEGEP, leaving high schools with less capable teachers. So I really wanted no part of CEGEP. I really wanted no part of high school, for that matter.

I did not know much about applying to US schools, but my father knew a headmaster at a prep school in the States. We were referred to an educational consultant in Boston, and I drove there for a meeting in the winter of 11th grade. Given some criteria:

  1. a 300 mile distance from Montreal
  2. strong in math and science
  3. a willingness to accept applications after most deadlines had passed
  4. a willingness to accept students from 11th grade in Quebec
I was given a list of schools: My application was based on my 10th grade matrics and 11th grade midterm marks. I worked especially hard on my math and science courses so I would have good marks to report.

The SAT

I took the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test, with Math and Verbal components) in December 1972, along with three Achievement tests (English, Math, and Math II). I don't think I did much preparation for the tests, but Grade 10 matrics were almost all multiple choice, so the format was very familiar. I recall the Verbal and Math parts very well. The test was at McGill and the room was filled with boys from private schools, wearing their uniforms. Being 16, I think I would have noticed if there were any girls, but I do not recall any. Motly I recall a boy in front of me finishing the 3-hour Verbal test and relaxing for over an hour. I could not understand how anyone could have gotten through all the questions so quickly, or how this boy could be so confident as to not recheck his work. In the afternoon, we did the Math test and I finished the 3-hour test in about an hour. The same boy in front of me worked on his exam for the full three hours and did not seem to finish. I could not understand how anyone could spend more than an hour on such easy questions, or how anyone could stand to check their answers more than once or twice. As one might expect, my percentiles among college bound students were: Verbal 67% and Math 94. The boy in front of me probably had the opposite percentiles.

The Achievement Tests

I remember little about the achievement tests, but the English test was required for all schools so they would know who to put into English for dummies (me, apparently). The other tests were optional and I thought I would do well in Math, and I chose to do Math II on a whim. The English test went just like the SAT Verbal, with the same resulting percentile of 67%. The Math went well, with a 760 or 98%. Taking Math II was a mistake because: My Math II result was a 670 (the average for these tests is usually around 500) but that was only good for 49th percentile.

I should have taken the French achievement test, even though it was not a good subject for me.

Every student in Quebec should take the French achievement test. I think percentiles in the 90s look impressive.

Our guideance counselor saw my SATs and commented, "You can get into schools with these." Apparently, Canadian students did not do well on SATs, even though they seemed to me to be very similar to matrics.

The Aplications

I do not recall much of the applications, except that the University of Rochester has a green fold-out deal on index stock. I filled them out sitting outside the music class while friends made comments. My activities included: I sent off the applications with a letter from my guidance counselor, and, to my surprise, received only letters of acceptance. Now, I wonder if the educational consultant had sent anything to these schools.

The Decision

I really had no way of deciding between the schools. Waterloo had me come for an interview which placed me in a room with about ten people deciding who to let into their independent studies program. Perhaps most influential was that the University of Rochester had a freshman orientation for both student and parents and we all had a good time. Coincidentally, my mother and my freshman girlfiend's father were interviewed in the same NYT article.

Finishing, but Not Finishing

I did not spend much time in high school. Perhaps I was present 50% of the time. Perhaps less. My final year, shortly after I had all my midterm grades, I was ready to move on. I did not do a physics assignment in January and my techer told me not to come back until I finished it, and I never again attended one of his classes. Later, I was explaining high school match to our inept math teacher, and the Vice Principal came by to discuss an argument I had with a teacher over some chess club activity and he proposed that if I did not come back to school, he would not complain. It was the days when 100% of our grades were determined by final exams, often all multiple choice, so all I had to do was sign up to the the tests and prepare. Many of the exams were so poorly designed that there were only two plausible answers of five, so I signed up for exams for courses I had never taken. I passed tham all except for the mistake. I had prepared a Shakespearean Comedy but had been required to prepare a Tragedy. Having found this out the morning of the exam, I panicked and spent most of my time sweating. I think back that, had I kept my head, I could have written how the Merchant of Venice was a tragedy, for Shylock at least, and perhaps Jews, or how the situation of mistakenly preparing a comedy was a tragedy for me, but to someone being paid by the exam for grading, it might have fallen on deaf ears.

I failed English. When getting on the bus to my freshman year in Rochester, I read two letters. One was from the University of Rochester indicating that they hoped that my grades represented a temporary lapse. The other was from St. Lawrence University indicating that I was not accepted. After a year of college work, I retook the English exam, scored 98, and got my Secondary V certificate. College Life take an overload and drop a course at midterm