The Real Guide to Canadian Universities

Alexander D. Gregor is associate dean of the Faculty of Education at the
University of Manitoba and co-editor of Postsecondary Education in
Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

This book is a very useful addition to the growing number of
publications offering advice to prospective students on selecting an
appropriate university. Its principal contribution is in conveying a
comprehensive assessment of the individual character of the 45
universities it profiles, and in giving a sense of what it would be like
to live and study at them. Because institutions differ quite
dramatically in character, and because student success (personal and
academic) is significantly influenced by compatibility to institutional
character, the information here is probably at least as important to the
prospective student as is the academic reputation or ranking of the
institution. To get at this information, the editor obtained “advice,
wisdom and university folklore of surrogate older siblings” from a
broad collection of former and current students of the 45 institutions.

Each institution’s profile includes enrolment statistics, male-female
ratios, cut-off grades for admission, application-acceptance ratios,
proportions of international and out-of-province students, tuition fees,
residences, facilities for the disabled, and student services. Also
included are some rather more subjective assessments within such random
categories as “the best and worst things about the institutions,”
sexual habits and attitudes, fraternities, sports facilities, drinking
age, weather report, and parking. Alongside these broad-brushstroke
sketches, such matters as academic facilities, strongest and weakest
programs, and the like receive passing, but not systematic or
comprehensive, attention.

In the search for the right university, this important tool would be
most useful when a student has made an informed decision on the type of
program he or she will take, and is ready to pursue it.