[jyl]

Part of the thought process by me is that I'd like her to go to school outside of the US, to get a different perspective on things.

I know all the jokes about Canada being the "51st State" but I spent 3 years growing up in B.C. and it did feel meaningfully different from growing up in the USA - admittedly I moved from Vancouver directly to that Armpit Of America aka Northern New Jersey (hey, it was then, yes it is nicer now), so might not have been the fairest comparison, and also admittedly some Americans might think the two places she's grown up, Berkeley CA and Portland OR, are already not part of the USA.

Also, she is French fluent, will get her DELF this year, and I would like her to study/live in France at some point in her youth. I am told that in Quebec they speak but a distant variation of the mother tongue, as confirmed by watching many episodes of "Caroline", yet still it is kind of French, eh?

Randy, on cost - I notice that tuition for international at the two Canadian schools actually looks semi-reasonable compared to, say, $53K/yr for out-of-state at UC Berkeley (damn I wish I was still a CA resident - do all those decades of paying tax in California not count for anything?).

Now, I maybe should start a different thread for this, but here goes - what schools would you guys suggest along the lines of "small liberal arts college"?

We have Reed in Portland, but that is out, being too close to home.

And, along the lines of "I should perhaps start another thread about this but let's instead get everything all jumbled up like we always do in PPOT" - what are the merits of and reasons for taking a year off aka gap year. I know people who have done this, while I can't see any particular correlation to later life success etc, I should probably learn more. Why would a kid do that or not do that? If do you it, what is the best way? Does it hurt your college admissions chances, is it better to get accepted at your desired college and then defer admission for a year?

Context, again: this is a kid who is very level-headed and mature, in particular having a high degree of emotional intelligence, and has good study discipline. If she took a gap year, I think she'd spend some of it working, some of it interning (a neighbor has a graphic design/textiles business, she interned there a year ago and they loved her), and some of it traveling (I'd send her off to France where we know some people). Alas I can't send her off to be a ski bum or backpack the John Muir Trail or otherwise live my youthful fantasies, she's not into the same stuff I was into. BTW she has not expressed any desire to take a gap year, probably doesn't even know it is an option, so this is just me trying to get educated.