A note about Canadian Universities (VS American)

<p>I also wanted to mention, (cause i'm soooooo bored and trying to finish my lab report) that before I went to visit some american universities like U of Kentucky and Duke, I totaly thought they were going to be such crap, but I was amazed to see that they were very good universities, i was impresed.</p>

<p>I'm a product of American schools. Maybe you lived where they actually had decent schools, but where I live they are pretty terrible. I had to attend a private, Catholic school to get a semi-decent education. This is where I slept through class and studied the night before and still got an A. It was slightly better than the curriculum in public schools, but it still sucked. When I entered second grade they were still learning how to read, which was strange to me because in Montessori I was reading when I was 4. As for middle school I read during class, never paid attention, and I was on A honor roll. During highschool I slept through and missed a lot of class, and I was a straight A student; until, my junior year when I left to go to a crazy, boarding school that had all college level classes. The trick to skipping school in America is getting a doctor's excuse. There was some work to make up, but it was mostly BS busywork. I still finished with like a 3.8. The public school was good, but it was seriously underfunded. The teachers were excellent, but the living conditions sucked. The dorm was infested with mice, there was mold everywhere. So I've seen public and private, but all in all the best school I went to was a Montessori school. So, don't make American schools sound like they're so great because they're not unless you live in California or in the northeast or where ever they are good.
When I was in Catholic school most of my textbooks were at least 10 years out of date. When, I went to the residential school I had better textbooks. In private school our computers were ok. They worked, but they weren't that advanced, and they were pretty useless because there were so many restrictions on what you could use them for. It's hard for me to believe that Canadian education is that much below America's education system, if it is even below it. Our education system is seriously screwed up, unless you have money to go to a private school, which can be good or almost as crappy as the public schools.</p>

<p>I slacked off until my junior year, and that's when I switched schools! That was the only year I really worked hard because my senior year I slacked off as wel, but since I did well on my SAT, got good grades, I'm going to Tulane. So, it's not that much different in America.</p>

<p>I was wearing a Columbia alumni t-shirt yesterday in Toronto when a young man asked if I had attended. When I said yes, he said he was heading there too ( he chose it over Yale where he was also accepted). Anyway, we got to talking and his classmate who got accepted to both U of T and MIT chose U of T. Thought it was an interesting note.</p>

<p>i know how old this topic is, but ontario students start applying at this time, so why not bring it up</p>

<p>i find it funny that admissions were used to determine a school's quality. for the most part, i would think a university's educational quality would be judged by the education it provides, not how hard it is to get in. getting in may be easy, staying in might be another story.</p>

<p>the only SIGNIFICANT difference between US and CAN U's in my opinion is the experience. You really can't say, there are brighter students in the US, there will be brilliant students no matter where you go. Even in lesser "ranked" universities. Nor can you say the science program is stronger at Harvard than at UofT. Just look at Waterloo's Math or Comp Sci, it is easily on the same level as many top US university math. Students at both universities are essentially learning the exact same thing. The experience of the school: funding, school spirit, research etc is what the big difference is. </p>

<p>in truth, undergraduate doesn't really play a big factor when speaking academically, the quality is similar in both countries. grad school is where the differences are notable.</p>

<p>Heya,</p>

<p>I'm a middle-income parent (US) with my family in the queue for Canadian immigration, but unlikely to make it in by fall 2007 when DS1 is scheduled to start college. We've settled on applying only to LACs, both in the US and in Canada (long story, DS1 will do much better in a small school setting) and looking for a LAC we can afford. Our budget is $20K a year. </p>

<p>DS1 is a good candidate for merit aid at Tier 3 and 4 US LACs but we are also looking seriously at SfX, Mount Allison, and Bishop's, all of which have comprehensive fees of around $20K USD. He is interested in linguistics, creative writing, and languages, with an emphasis on Asian studies. (He has done all the Spanish our tiny high school offers and is currently independently studying Japanese and hopes to learn Arabic some day, probably after college.) </p>

<p>For a student in need of excellent social networking and academic challenge (but NOT competitiveness) does any of these (Canadian or US) schools stand out from the others? In the US we are looking at Willamette, Univ. of Puget Sound, Whitman, Lewis & Clark, Earlham, Hendrix, Rhodes, Macalester, Dickinson, Grinnell, Southwestern and Drew. Of course, at the Canadian schools, we can simply "write the check" and don't have to depend on him getting merit aid, which, given his particulars (good SATs, good grades, no EC whatsoever -- tiny school, tiny town, and my son has Asperger's Syndrome, so he doesn't get out much) isn't assured by any means.</p>

<p>Thanks for ideas.</p>

<p>"Are there any people in this forum that are actually in University? If you were man of you would have a wider range of thinking when comparing Canadian Universities to American ones. I've read a lot of posts of people mantioning that Canadian Universities are not up to par with the American ones. Being a fourth year university student I can tell you that those thoughts are wrong! I have many friends from the States attending my university who prefered Canadian universities, when comparing the price, level of education. Some even gave up ivy legue schools. As well many people keep mentioning ivy legue schools as if they are the best universities. The fact is goind to harvard to take an arts program is a waste of time and money. Harvard is known for it's great medical and law school, not it's science or arts program, trust me! Each university is specializes in a particular area of study. There are many good Canadian universities that have a better science program than Harvard. Also just to add I'm planing on going to graduate school and I'm aplying to the states, because many American universities increase Canadian averages, some even by 10%! So if i don't get into U of T for Biochemistry, and pharmacology, then I may have to go to the States"</p>

<p>Harvard isnot the only top school in the US</p>

<p>so i just found this site on google, and basically im writing a paper for my journalism calss on Candian VS. American Universities. Any idea on where i coudl find decent reliable information, such as campus life, dorms, available classes, tuitition diffrences, etc?</p>

<p>it's hard to compare 2 different systems from 2 countries.</p>

<p>You can't really say that one is better than the other. You will find smart people and dumb people everywhere. One example of my friend going to Harvard and he's dummer than me doesn't mean overall the system is not as good or the other way around.</p>

<p>American schools is all about providing opportunity. There are more schools in America, there are always schools that fit a person. Overall, I think America has wider range than schools from other places. There are schools for people who aren't as bright, and there are schools for the top and the brightest students. It doesn't mean American schools are better or worse, it just means they have wider range for people coming from different places to fit in.</p>

<p>Judging by your spelling, maybe he is smarter than you afterall...</p>

<p>that was a random example to show that it doesn't mean you can pick one person to say about the entire school system. It doesn't mean I have a friend from harvard who's dumb</p>

<p>
[quote]
Judging by your spelling, maybe he is smarter than you afterall...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>maybe you shouldn't judge since you didn't understand the example
since when is everyone born with perfect english? is posting on a forum a phD thesis that requires proofread? reading 1 comment and judge people is a little shallow</p>

<p>My daughter is a junior in an American High School in the suburbs of Chicago. Recently she received information from the University of Guelph. She liked what they had to offer. They offer agricultural/animal science and she liked it. How competitive is their admissions? She has close to a 3.0 and she hasn't taken the ACT test and she is a LD student. She is of Mexican descent. Will she have a hard time fitting in because she is Mexican. I was under the impression that people in Canada respect diversity. On the other hand, she won't have to hear comments at American Universities about affirmative action and that she only got in because she is Latino.
How is the job markets for people with Canadian degrees?</p>

<p>darn it looks like I'm stuck to these Canadian BS schools since american universities avoid international students like the plague...3% international acceptance? WHAT!</p>

<p>EDIT well actually they only suck for econ majors like me since queens and uot are the only schools with "good" econ programs and i dont like either</p>

<p>There's no affirmative action in Canada, Jenrik. Your daughter won't have face in racism in univesrity because of her color or background, perhaps only people asking for Spanish lessons, who will assume she speaks fluent Spanish. Her GPA is a bit low and that concerns me. Even though Guelph is not in the category of Toronto, Queen's or Mcgill she probably needs closer to a 3.5 to stand in good contention. But log on to the Guelph website to be sure.</p>

<p>I am from Canada but i will try my best to give a fair assessment of things. First of all, Canadian U. are PUBLIC and there is no way they can outspend the top 10 US colleges. Second of all, U of T, UBC and McGill consistantly rank in the top 50 in the world. U of T always ranks as high as top 25. McGill has been named the best public university in North America before so i would not underestimate Canadian Univ. That being said, it is true they are not at par with the Ivies and the terms, 'Ivy of the North' or whatever are a bit exaggerated. </p>

<p>Secondly, it is fairly easy to get into Canadian universities but it is rather difficult staying in. Admission rates for U of T is 60 %. 40% of those admitted drop out after first year. I always refer to Canadian Univ. as IB programs(easy to get in.. hard to stay)</p>

<p>Third of all, i would not say that Canadian high school is harder but it is made in such a way that getting 95+ is almost impossible and 90+ is hard. This is because a 80+ is considered an A here. I see people on CC who are from the states with 98 %avg. That, i can say for sure, would be next to impossible to achieve in Canada. However, i am not saying that we are at a disadvantage for US admission because the colleges take into consideration that fact.</p>

<p>In final, I would probably put U of T, U of British Columbia, McGill are among the best in the world. U of T(top 20) UBC(top 40) McGill(top 50). Mc Gill beats the other in prestige; However, U of T beats the other two in terms of academics. The difference is it is fairly easy to get in and yes , an emphasis is given on grades rather than ECs. However, that is not to say, Canadian univ. are not world class because with the lack of funding and facilities, we are holding our own on the world stage.</p>

<p>In my experience, the top students at Canadian universities are just as smart as those at American universities, but there's no "ivory tower" mentality like in American universities. Even at a school like McGill or U of T, there are a lot of slackers mixed in with the bright kids. Top Canadian universities may have Ivy-League level teaching, but the atmosphere is more comparable to a U.S. public school.</p>

<p>@ Shad Faraz: A 98% is not impossible to achieve in Canada. I go to a very small, selective school, and more than a quarter of the students have above a 95% average, even though the course work is very rigorous.</p>

<p>lol umm... i have never heard of anything like that. i go to one of two or three public IB schools and i can say we have some smartttt people from the whole of Toronto. Our highest average is 94%. Then again, it is IB so who knows</p>

<p>I teach at a school with mostly Americans and they are shocked at the Canadian scale I use. I tried using the American scale, with 90% as an A. But what happened was none of my students got A's. I immediately had to drop back to using a Canadian scale. To me a student who gets more than 90% should be teaching the class. The Canadian scale is essentially 1 to 90. 90 to 100 is no man's land. Some teachers here use 95% as an A. None of my students have ever earned such a mark. I don't know how Americans mark on that scale. At least I cannot.</p>

<p>Mcgill is number 21 in the world according to the QS world rankings
U of T is number 27 in the world on the same rankings
UBC is 50 on the same rankings</p>

<p><a href="http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2006/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2006/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>(these are the only legit. looking world rankings i can find)</p>

<p>i wouldn't pay much attention to those. Newsweek, and the Shanghai one have these three universities at different places in their rankings.</p>