Smithdale university

I know, I now. I'm going to catch a lot of heat for this but it's true, Emma was the worst character ever written into the show.
Emma was nothing but controlling, manipulating, selfish, vain, cold, callous and very egotistic. she was vain and selfish when it came to Spike having an unplanned pregnancy and telling Archie THE NIGHT BEFORE THEIR WEDDING that spike was pregnant.
She was cold and callous when Manny came to Emma for help after she discovered that Craig got her pregnant, although she did change her outlook and stood up for her, but I digress.
She was also very manipulating, vain, cold and controlling when it came to other subjects as well such as the GMO-free cafeteria food, bullying Rick when he returned to Degrassi (although I'm kind of on the fence since EVERYONE in Degrassi was bullying and taunting him and wanting him gone), Manipulating Jay into giving him fellatio, manipulating her parents into think she was still depressed and using it as an excuse to be out at all hours of the night (and then having to come clean and telling her parents that she came down with gonorrhea), spreading rumors about Liberty hooking-up with a teacher when in truth, she was actually getting tutoring for her Dyscalculia, getting jealous over Liberty flirting with Chris, hooking up with Peter after he leaked Manny's nudes to the entire school, she was controlling when she had Manny and Liberty move into her dorm at Smithdale University.
All-in-all, Emma is a very toxic person who will do whatever it takes to make sure everything goes her way or there will be hell to pay.
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Edit: I take back what I said about the Liberty and Mr. Armstrong rumor. Emma had good intentions about feeling uneasy towards Armstrong to her own past mistakes and she was acting like a real friend for once.

Not only because we got to continue seeing our old favs after graduation, but also because it was cool to see their different experiences after high school.
For example, I was always intrigued with how they portrayed Paige's time at Banting University. I was interested to see the way she found herself dealing with the anxieties of her classes and keeping up with her coursework. Even though she was initially happy to have gotten into such a prestigious school, the actual experience of attending there ended up being way different that what she expected. In the end, she decided that college wasn't for her and decided to peruse her fashion career, which she knew she was passionate about.
Also with Emma (as annoying as her character can be), I felt that her college experience was very relatable. She was shown to struggle a lot with making new friends at Smithdale and felt left behind when Manny and Liberty seemed to become more well adjusted than her. She would then reveal that she was failing all of her classes and later on decided to apply to a more local university that she felt would suit her a lot more.
Again, I just love how realistic these situations were. It was cool to show that everyone experiences college differently, and sometimes it isn't for everyone. And also sends a good message that it's ok to keep changing your mind regarding plans for your future, as we're all constantly growing and evolving as people :)

Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but does it miff anyone else that the universities that Degrassi students are portrayed as interested in are typically American universities? (ie: Eli going to NYU, Holly J's obsession with Yale, Alli getting into MIT, Clare's interview with Columbia and now Maya considering an art school that appears to be in California as well as Berkley).
I certainly have to credit our OG cast as most of them did pursue Canadian education at fictional universities - Smithdale and the ever popular and elite Banting. I'm also pretty sure that Ellie and Marco went to and Paige attempted a transfer to UofT. I would argue though that the show itself has become quite Americanized over the last several seasons, but what is the issue in representing Canadian universities on Canadian television? Is it actually a thing in which Canadian universities do NOT want to be portrayed on fictional television?
My number one theory is that the universities portrayed are well known and therefore I suppose are more relatable for viewers. I just find it so unrealistic to have that many Canadian students from one school interested in going to school in the USA.
I must also consider that I'm from the east coast and more often then not, students from my area tend to stay in Canada for at least their first year or entire undergrad. Is it more common for students in Ontario to consider American universities as an option for post-secondary?
Please note I've only watched the first two episodes of s03 next class so far, because Canada. So maybe more Canadian universities are talked about in later episodes, but I highly doubt that.
Any thoughts? Am I reading too much into this?