Do mid-tier public flagships offer any advantages over Canadian universities?

[Anonymous]

I can’t comment on the Canadian education, but I wonder how you ensure health care for your student when they are in another country?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at McGill and there are a few potential downsides I want to mention, and OP you should see if this is McGill-specific or if it applies to more CDN universities.

At McGill, you apply to either a BA or BS program (and there is also a BA&BS or something like that). They have different stats for entry and their website has the last class's cut off stats.

There are three issues with that. The first is, they are pretty unforgiving, I think my DD got a B in 9th grade science so she was out of the running for the BS application even though her SAT and other grades were way above the cut offs. And they don't care if it was an AP class or not. So it's a little arbitrary.

The second issue was that after you are in the school, it's hard to switch over from BA to BS or vice-versa. You are really tracked.

At the time, my high school senior was considering pre-med. Since she had that B in 9th grade science (or something like that, can't remember), I checked into an option that's sort of easy in American colleges, which is: Could she get a BA in history or something, and take the science classes so she'd satisfy the pre-med requirements? The answer was that this would be near impossible, because the BS tracked kids were given priority on the science classes and there would likely be no space for her.

Implied in that was also that it sounded like kids get shut out of classes.

In my kid's case, she went to an American university in pre-med, and became one of those infamous statistics of kids who realize it's not the road for them. So she's history now. I think, wow, what if she had not been shut out of McGill's BS program...and went there and got her clock cleaned in STEM...and couldn't transfer to a BA major? Yikes!!

So those are my only thoughts of downsides, OP. Otherwise, seems like a great option. Hope this helps.

Canada is more about programs and tracks than the USA. The expression "liberal arts education" is rarely used. In the USA almost every university claims they provide such an education. The Canadian system is basically designed for smart middle class kids who have a track already in mind.

This. Is. Why. It. Works. So. Well.

Same in Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I can’t comment on the Canadian education, but I wonder how you ensure health care for your student when they are in another country?

The Canadian universities have international student health plans that you have to buy into.

Similar to this one: https://iesc.uwo.ca/new_students/health_care_and_wellness/university_health_insurance.html

[Anonymous]

I follow Insta accounts for 4 schools in Canada right now. 2 of them are more like our community colleges in Toronto. That said, they have dorms for students to live in and they do seem to be working to have activities/community events. We are looking at a very specific program that doesn’t really exist in their format in the US.

I just started following TorontoMet (formerly Ryerson) the other day. Their requirements for international students are more stringent than for Canadian students. And yes, the costs are pretty much in line with what I am looking at in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I can’t comment on the Canadian education, but I wonder how you ensure health care for your student when they are in another country?

The Canadian universities have international student health plans that you have to buy into.

Similar to this one: https://iesc.uwo.ca/new_students/health_care_and_wellness/university_health_insurance.html

Yep. It wasn't too expensive. We also kept paying for US coverage so they could do checkups and dental during breaks home.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure why you are comparing the top Canadian Universities to the mid-level flagships. If your kid can get into UBC or Toronto they aren't typically going to Oregon or Colorado. They are looking at Michigan, UCLA, UT, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure why you are comparing the top Canadian Universities to the mid-level flagships. If your kid can get into UBC or Toronto they aren't typically going to Oregon or Colorado. They are looking at Michigan, UCLA, UT, etc.

Agree. This is the comparison you should be making OR asking how a mid-tier Canadian university stacks up against a mid-tier U.S. state school.

[Anonymous]

I went to a SLAC in the northeast undergrad, and McGill for graduate school.

McGill is big. Undergrad classes are big, and taught with heavy TA involvement. Students are expected to be adults, and they aren't "managed" to the same degree. There are very few Canadian universities that do that -- the only one I can think of is Mt. Allison in New Brunswick. McGill to me looks and feels a lot like somewhere like UVA, albeit with a much larger international reputation, Nobel prize winners, etc.

If you're looking for a bigger school experience and an urban campus, it's a great option. Montreal is a spectacular city. But McGill ins't big into spirit, or school boosting. It just gets on doing its thing. In that sense, it's a very different vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure why you are comparing the top Canadian Universities to the mid-level flagships. If your kid can get into UBC or Toronto they aren't typically going to Oregon or Colorado. They are looking at Michigan, UCLA, UT, etc.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure why you are comparing the top Canadian Universities to the mid-level flagships. If your kid can get into UBC or Toronto they aren't typically going to Oregon or Colorado. They are looking at Michigan, UCLA, UT, etc.

+1

Plus, if exposure to highbrow Canadian culture is what you want, there are Tim Hortons in Ann Arbor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a SLAC in the northeast undergrad, and McGill for graduate school.

McGill is big. Undergrad classes are big, and taught with heavy TA involvement. Students are expected to be adults, and they aren't "managed" to the same degree. There are very few Canadian universities that do that -- the only one I can think of is Mt. Allison in New Brunswick. McGill to me looks and feels a lot like somewhere like UVA, albeit with a much larger international reputation, Nobel prize winners, etc.

If you're looking for a bigger school experience and an urban campus, it's a great option. Montreal is a spectacular city. But McGill ins't big into spirit, or school boosting. It just gets on doing its thing. In that sense, it's a very different vibe.

This is interesting. I was just in Montreal for a few days, staying at a hotel on the same block with at least one McGill residence hall. The whole time I was there, I saw only one student wearing an article of clothing with the word McGill on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a SLAC in the northeast undergrad, and McGill for graduate school.

McGill is big. Undergrad classes are big, and taught with heavy TA involvement. Students are expected to be adults, and they aren't "managed" to the same degree. There are very few Canadian universities that do that -- the only one I can think of is Mt. Allison in New Brunswick. McGill to me looks and feels a lot like somewhere like UVA, albeit with a much larger international reputation, Nobel prize winners, etc.

If you're looking for a bigger school experience and an urban campus, it's a great option. Montreal is a spectacular city. But McGill ins't big into spirit, or school boosting. It just gets on doing its thing. In that sense, it's a very different vibe.

McGill is nothing like UVA (Queen's is a much better UVA comp). UMN minus the sports, maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at McGill and there are a few potential downsides I want to mention, and OP you should see if this is McGill-specific or if it applies to more CDN universities.

At McGill, you apply to either a BA or BS program (and there is also a BA&BS or something like that). They have different stats for entry and their website has the last class's cut off stats.

There are three issues with that. The first is, they are pretty unforgiving, I think my DD got a B in 9th grade science so she was out of the running for the BS application even though her SAT and other grades were way above the cut offs. And they don't care if it was an AP class or not. So it's a little arbitrary.

The second issue was that after you are in the school, it's hard to switch over from BA to BS or vice-versa. You are really tracked.

At the time, my high school senior was considering pre-med. Since she had that B in 9th grade science (or something like that, can't remember), I checked into an option that's sort of easy in American colleges, which is: Could she get a BA in history or something, and take the science classes so she'd satisfy the pre-med requirements? The answer was that this would be near impossible, because the BS tracked kids were given priority on the science classes and there would likely be no space for her.

Implied in that was also that it sounded like kids get shut out of classes.

In my kid's case, she went to an American university in pre-med, and became one of those infamous statistics of kids who realize it's not the road for them. So she's history now. I think, wow, what if she had not been shut out of McGill's BS program...and went there and got her clock cleaned in STEM...and couldn't transfer to a BA major? Yikes!!

So those are my only thoughts of downsides, OP. Otherwise, seems like a great option. Hope this helps.

Canada is more about programs and tracks than the USA. The expression "liberal arts education" is rarely used. In the USA almost every university claims they provide such an education. The Canadian system is basically designed for smart middle class kids who have a track already in mind.

This. Is. Why. It. Works. So. Well.

Same in Europe.

And yet US schools are more highly regarded. And have better career outcomes and graduation rates.