Complaint letter

Bijan Soleymani,
280 Grosvenor,
Beaconsfield, QC
H9W 1S5, Canada

Subject: International Student Fees Charged to Quebec Residents

As a new student to McGill I was charged international fees, although I am a Quebec resident and have studied in a Quebec CEGEP and a Quebec secondary school. This has happened to many of my friends as well.

This caused me some trouble as I had to get a copy of my Secondary school and CEGEP transcripts. This took me an entire day and cost me $15. This is unfortunate because McGill retreived my grades from the Quebec government and could easily have verified that I was a Quebec resident.

As I am sure you are aware, the government provides each student in Quebec with a number called a code permanent. This number can be used by an institution such as McGill to check a student's status. This process can even be automated.

By automating this process you not only benefit these students, but also the entire University as this reduces costs: letters do not have to be sent to students, the registrar's office is less crowded and requires less staff, etc.

I am also concerned that this might hurt McGill's image, as it may diminish the school in students' minds. It also hurts a new students' morale when they have to deal with such problems just as they enter a new school.

While I saw this as a mild nuisance, some students may be more severely affected by this problem. Had I not known the price of tuition I might have assumed that the higher international figure was correct. This could have had terrible consequences.

I hope that you will solve this simple problem and thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Bijan Soleymani