PART TWO: DEALING WITH STEREOTYPES
As Sarah Vowell noted in her excellent essay “Cowboys v Mounties,” the US got John Wayne—we got Dudley Do-Right. Unfortunately, we also inherited a lot of stereotypes from poor Dudley. Canadians are widely perceived by the rest of the world to be reserved, polite, reticent and even dull on the whole... less assertive than our American counterparts (except when it comes to hockey players!)... politically ambivalent (not true—but too complex to discuss right now.)... and with an understated sense of humor (tell that to Mike Myers and Jim Carrey.).

Perhaps the best-known representative of the Canadian identity, though, is of course JOE. Not Joe the Plumber, but Joe Canadian, of the legendary Molson’s beer commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnpVH7kIb_8). Joe’s famous 60-second rant poked holes in a lot of popular stereotypes (no, we don’t live in igloos!); it also demonstrated a number of ways in which Canadians are very different from Americans. Which brings me to my final—and perhaps most controversial—point. I’m going to take a deep breath and choose my words carefully, because this is a sensitive issue for many people.

I think that many Canadians—and I’m speaking for myself as well—grow up with a continent-sized chip on our shoulders when it comes to the US. We seem to spend an awful lot of time defining ourselves not by what we are (many things, and most of them hard to pin down), but by what we’re not (Americans, with all the stereotypes that entails). It’s tough not to get a bit defensive when there’s a superpower living next door! Now, though, it’s important to put the brakes on that slightly adversarial relationship—as someone who has lived on both sides of the border, I can tell you that most of the stereotypes about Americans are just as inaccurate and ridiculous as most of the stereotypes about Canadians! If you’re applying to US B-schools, you probably understand this already, of course.

Just remember, you don’t have to defend your “Canadian-ness”! You can eliminate stereotypes without attacking them head on. Anyway, the adcom members who read your application will be considering you as an individual, not a representative of your home country. You just need to build a complete and compelling set of essays about who you are and what you want to achieve—not about where you come from, although that may be relevant in a secondary sense. You also need to make sure that your reasons for pursuing an MBA education outside of Canada are crystal clear in your essays—the best way to do this is to provide a well-considered set of goals and a tentative timeline for achieving them, as well as doing a lot of research into the various programs you’re applying to, in the interest of establishing “fit.” If your long-term goal is going to bring you back to Canada, you’ll definitely need to explain why you want to attend school in the US. Demonstrate the strength of your individual candidacy, and the stereotypes can’t hurt you.

Best of luck—bonne chance!

By Sonia Michaels, a proud Canadian currently residing in the US, who has edited application essays for applicants from around the world since 2001.