As a Canadian, is a US university easy to get into for Grad school?

Question

I was thinking of applying to American as well as Canadian graduate schools in order to do a Master's degree in English literature. Not sure if US grad schools accept Canadian applicants equally or favor US citizens. Can anyone offer some info on this? I dont want to waste money and time on applying for nothing to the USA. : )

Thanks to coreyander for the great answer. Here is some more specific details about my case: BA (Honours) with a GPA of 3.4 at McGill University in Quebec. Problem: I have been out of school for 10 years.

Answer 1

You need to be way more specific! Are you looking at private schools, public schools or both? What is your academic record like? Have you taken the GRE? Most schools do not favor or disfavor American citizens, so your chances should be based on your record. I am in a graduate program now and about a quarter of the people in my cohort are non-U.S. citizens from around the world. More than being concerned with getting in, though, you need to be concerned about getting funding. While you will qualify for some fellowships, others are restricted to U.S. citizens. Also, you will probably never qualify for in-state tuition at a public university, so public universities will cost about as much as private. So apply for fellowships! If you give more details on your record and the kind of schools you are looking at, I can give you more specific advice. I hope you are applying to Canadian schools too, though, there are a lot of great universities up there too!

Also.... Zero's comment below about minorities is ignorant. Affirmative action only exists in certain schools (and is outright banned at others) and does not favor minorities, it encourages a selection process that does not discriminate big difference. I know this from personal experience with Affirmative Action guidelines.

The comment below it is also really ignorant. There is no evidence linking the disproportionate number of international grad students at U.S. schools with systematic bias. As a matter of fact, schools (like mine, UCLA) that have banned affirmative action practices that might increase the number of international students have just as disproportionate numbers. My hunch, as an American in grad school, is that American students are not as well prepared as students from other countries. It isn't that Americans are stupider or anything like that, but I do think that the public school system is failing us and we should spend a little more money on schools and a litle less on bombs and... whoops! on my soapbox again...

Answer 2

I don't know about Canada but the US school system absolutely does not favor US citizens. Can't figure it out but we have a hundred programs for exchange or foreign students but almost non for the regular white guy type.

Answer 3

needless to say, u might desire to tell ur kinfolk. after all, they r maximum possibly procuring it. i might advise making use of to a community college and taking the uncomplicated classes u want. Then reapply to the college. via then, i'm hoping u r mature and clever adequate to bypass each and every of the classes.

Answer 4

Yes it's easy to get into grad school here, so long as you have a 3.0 gpa or better.

Answer 5

A lot depends on what school you are applying to.

Answer 6

they favor minority's, but im not sure if canadian's a minority or not, so i dont know