Despite the overwhelming number of universities and colleges in the United States, Many Paly and Gunn students have decided to journey to colleges outside the United States. 

Paly alumni Allie Lee said she decided to go to the University of Toronto based on the cheaper tuition that comes with her being a Canadian citizen.  

“Well, my family’s Canadian, and I’m Canadian, so tuition plays a big part in that,” Lee said. “I just really wanted to get a new experience, so I actually didn’t look at any schools in California. Also, the academics at U of T, it’s a top 20 global university.” 

Maddie Lee, who graduated from Paly in 2018 said she wanted to attend St. Andrews in Scotland since she was a little girl, so she had no hesitation in deciding to apply\. 

“I feel like mine is a special case. I had just really wanted to go to St. Andrews since I was 13,” Maddie said. “I had always really liked the Scottish system, and felt that it was very flexible. You can just focus on the classes you want to take. I really liked the system, and I really liked the town.” 

And Allie said her  transition to attending college in a foreign country has been relatively easy.“Obviously, my first year was a COVID year,” Allie said. “The biggest thing I noticed is that in April, Toronto went into a very strict lockdown. Canada’s not super different from the US and overall it’s been good.” 

People going to foreign colleges gave their thoughts on the benefits of people going to school outside the United States. 

“It’s a great way to go abroad and meet people in the community,” Lee said. “I love getting the experience of being in a new country that’s not in California”