<p>A top 10% student at Duke University, who is a Chinese international student, and a top 10% student at University of Toronto, who is a Canadian, WHICH PERSON IS MORE COMPETITIVE WHEN APPLYING TO TOP AMERICAN GRADUATE SCHOOL?</p>
<p>Do you mean you want to know which university/nationality combination is better, assuming everything else is the same?</p>
<p>What program are you applying for? Law schools let in minorities with ridiculous figures, but I’ve never really heard of a physics Ph.D. program giving priority to someone because they were under represented (I’ve never heard of it, but that doesn’t mean it never happens). </p>
<p>Also, you’ve left out every important aspect of the application. They want to know if you are published, have research experience, good LORs, etc. If your applications are exactly the same, nobody will care if you’re chinese, canadian, martian, whatever.</p>
<p>Based on previous posts, I gather that this is really a question of whether the OP should go to Duke or UT for engineering undergrad, with an eye toward US grad schools down the road (and I assume that by going to UT, he would qualify for Canadian citizenship somehow). </p>
<p>Hence, is a Chinese student from Duke more competitive than a (Chinese) Canadian citizen attending UT?</p>
<p>Go to Duke.</p>
<p>Are you saying that this individual would be able to get Canadian citizenship if he attends Univ of Toronto but not American citizenship if he attends Duke? Why would Canada give him citizenship at all? Is being a student at a university enough grounds to qualify for citizenship?</p>
<p>Both schools would be equally good, but since I am from Canada, I am biased toward U of T.</p>
<p>Actually I am a Chinese who is holding a Canadian greencard. If I go to Canadian school, I can get canadian citizenship after 4 years, or my greencard will expire if i stay in US. I am really troubled these days. Duke is a great school but really expensive while UT is 40K cheaper per year. BTW, my possible majoy is engineering.</p>
<p>I am wholeheartedly impressed with Duke and I can’t imagine a better place to study, but if issues of citizenship were involved (between remaining a Chinese citizen or becoming a Canadian citizen) I would opt for Univ of Toronto. There is no question that UT is a great school and well respected by academics all over the world. The cost issue is a big deal (I am surprised you didn’t allude to it earlier) and if you are serious about graduate school in engineering, you probably don’t want enormous student loans to bog down your already-low quality of life as a graduate student. I doubt that an undergrad degree from Duke vs UT would change how competitive you are for graduate school.</p>
<p>Oh my god. Enough with prestige already. What makes you think you’re going to be top 10%? Universities don’t rank.</p>
<p>Some upper class students told me that graduate school cost little money(you can work for professors) is it true? R y in Duke? I also like Duke better than UT. But the money and citizenship lie there. R y satisfied with Duke’s network(both campany network and student network) I think duke’s network is much better than any canadian school~</p>
<p>o really? thx for yr information. But if so, how does your GPA count when you are applying to graduate school~</p>
<p>Are you typing from a cell phone? I don’t know what you mean by Y r…anyway, graduate school [for a Phd] in the sciences, is generally funded. This means that tuition is paid for by the department and your stipend [salary] is paid for by your lab. Health insurance is paid for by somebody but I don’t have the foggiest idea of whom.</p>