Colleges in Canada - McGill, Toronto, Montreal

[Anonymous]

Did any of you attend these colleges?

Would love any insights on the experience of attending any of them.

[Anonymous]

Toronto and Montreal are cities - both have numerous universities. Toronto does have a university called university of Toronto and Montreal has a university called Universite de Montreal (French).

McGill is one of two English language universities in Montreal. The other is Concordia.

Toronto has two other large universities in addition to U of T. These are Ryerson and York. Toronto also has smaller specialized universities (UOIT, OCAD).

Both cities have many colleges. Colleges in Canada are similar to community college in the US. Colleges in Canada have trades, diploma programs, certifications etc.

In terms of attending. What program are you interested in? Do you want to live in a French speaking city or English? What kind of experience are you looking for?

[Anonymous]

Be aware of the French language requirements at McGill and Concordia.

There are some excellent universities in Toronto. They are big and fairly similar to our state schools. Google and learn. A friend of mine teaches at one now in BC. He has the same complaints as my friends who teach here.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, I know about the French language requirement and I'm specifically looking for info from people with EXPERIENCE of the following three colleges

McGill University
University of Toronto
University of Montreal

thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify, I know about the French language requirement and I'm specifically looking for info from people with EXPERIENCE of the following three colleges

McGill University
University of Toronto
University of Montreal

thanks

I'm not the OP, but I'd be interested in learning about these schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify, I know about the French language requirement and I'm specifically looking for info from people with EXPERIENCE of the following three colleges

McGill University
University of Toronto
University of Montreal

thanks

They aren't colleges. What do you want to know about them? I have experience with two of the three but your question is so vague and broad it is impossible to answer.

And one of these things is not like the other. There is no University of Montreal. The UdeM is a francophone institution. Are you wanting to study in English or in French?

[Anonymous]

I believe McGill's classes are entirely conducted in English. McGill's web site (and maybe Toronto's) specify minimum grades in different high school classes that an applicant must have earned in order to be considered for admission. They are very high requirements - for example, one program said every English class must have been at least an A-minus.

Toronto has theee campuses; the main one is St. George but different programs are offered at different campuses. It has residential colleges within the university which is a huge advantage IMO. They have different flavors, offer housing and dining options, and provide a home base amidst the 60,000 students. However, housing is not guaranteed.

I haven't attended any of these schools but DC just went through the admissions process and we researched McGill and Toronto pretty thoroughly. Canadian friends tell us those are the top two universities in Canada. McGill has a bit of a reputation as being more sink-or-swim but may have a slight prestige edge and is half the size of Toronto.

Admissions is much more transparent than at US universities and there are no essays (definitely not at Toronto and I think not at McGill either).

[Anonymous]

So to offer some clarity, in American we often interchange the words "college" and "university" but in Canada they mean two different things. College is a trade school and University is more academic. (Canadians tell me if I got this wrong)

I'm interested in this topic as well, and thank you PP for pointing out the French requirement. Interesting, what about UBC? How does that compare? I thought it was pretty high up there in rankings.

[Anonymous]

There is no French requirement at McGill for Americans.

[Anonymous]

Canadian here - 'college' and 'university' are not interchangeable in Canada. All of those are universities, colleges are not as academically rigorous as universities and do not grant 4 year degrees, only 2 year diplomas or programs where you transfer to a 4 year university.

McGill, U of T, and UBC for the PP who asked, are all excellent schools. U de M is a francophone school and I forbid OP from allowing her kid to apply there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe McGill's classes are entirely conducted in English. McGill's web site (and maybe Toronto's) specify minimum grades in different high school classes that an applicant must have earned in order to be considered for admission. They are very high requirements - for example, one program said every English class must have been at least an A-minus.

Toronto has theee campuses; the main one is St. George but different programs are offered at different campuses. It has residential colleges within the university which is a huge advantage IMO. They have different flavors, offer housing and dining options, and provide a home base amidst the 60,000 students. However, housing is not guaranteed.

I haven't attended any of these schools but DC just went through the admissions process and we researched McGill and Toronto pretty thoroughly. Canadian friends tell us those are the top two universities in Canada. McGill has a bit of a reputation as being more sink-or-swim but may have a slight prestige edge and is half the size of Toronto.

Admissions is much more transparent than at US universities and there are no essays (definitely not at Toronto and I think not at McGill either).

OP here, thanks for this. What did your DC make of them?

[Anonymous]

I'd always heard that McGill was the most prestigious university in Canada so I was surprised to learn that it has an admissions rate of 46%.

[Anonymous]

Rankings of universities and prestige are not nearly as important in Canada as they are in the States.

People look more at the quality and reputation of a specific program and whether or not it is what they want.

Macleans provides rankings every year of the schools based on various features.

You can find most information on their websites. The enrollment reports and admission reports are all publicly available.

McGill, U of T, UBC, Queen's etc are usually on top but there are many smaller schools and other schools with fantastic programs.

Rather than starting with the schools, look at what program is of interest then research what schools have a top reputation for that program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rankings of universities and prestige are not nearly as important in Canada as they are in the States.

People look more at the quality and reputation of a specific program and whether or not it is what they want.

Macleans provides rankings every year of the schools based on various features.

You can find most information on their websites. The enrollment reports and admission reports are all publicly available.

McGill, U of T, UBC, Queen's etc are usually on top but there are many smaller schools and other schools with fantastic programs.

Rather than starting with the schools, look at what program is of interest then research what schools have a top reputation for that program.

That has already been done, thank you. Do you have any first hand experience on any of the three universities?

[Anonymous]

Hey OP! I went to U of T and then on to the London School of Economics for grad school. U of T is great - good international reputation, soild campus life and academics. The only downside is that it's a mega school with an enormous student population and a real sink or swim vibe. This is what I wanted, I was terrified of going to a tiny school in a village somewhere in Maine. I'd recommend the St. George campus, and University College in particular. Victoria College is also good but it's on the eastern edge of campus so it can be a lot of walking.

It's a very academically rigorous school and the overall experience was really good. There are a ton of Americans who attend as well, mostly due to the favourable exchange rate and relative ease of getting accepted. I'd say my dorms were 30-40% American students, but mostly from nearby states - NY, CT, MA, NJ etc.