My freshman-year roommate was from Ontario. Her OAC year wasn't a complete waste of time, as she managed to place out of many of her freshman classes (much to my, our other roommate's, and her pledge sisters' envy
). But she spent most of her time whining about how she wasn't allowed to place out of ALL her freshman classes and how she wasn't given sophomore standing... (I think she wanted a single
)
From a dumb American's perspective
the OAC year sounds very much like tacking on an extra year of HS during which you just take a bunch of AP courses. Hmm, sounds like how I spent 12th grade
So eliminating it sounds like a good thing.