BEST CANADIAN school

<p>Sid88, UoT somehow is weird with their status-checking system. They messed mine up too. So just call them to clarify it with them.</p>

<p>So, I literally just got back from my Canada trip, i.e. McGill and UofT. My major question now concerns the degrees at these schools. At UofT, you get a BA Honors after your 4 years without doing anything "special". But at McGill you only get your BA (no honors) after 4 years, and you only get your BA Honors if you take more demanding classes during your 4 years there. Does anybody know why this is so??</p>

<p>By the way, what's your opinion on UBC? I was offered the ILOT award there. McGill or UBC? I honestly tend more towards McGill. But what's your take on it?</p>

<p>mcgill is better than ubc in my opinion....</p>

<p>also dont worry about the differnce between the honors in u of t and mcgill
employers and grad school will kno the differnce im sure or could be told later...thr would be less students with honors from mcgill etc...making u more sought after...if it actually is different it would not be viewed as the same</p>

<p>Is that your speculation, or do you know that from experience?</p>

<p>that is a fact, period.</p>

<p>maybe in the next 10 years ubc will be better than mcgill in science, but for now.. mcgill > ubc</p>

<p>I applied to both UBC and McGill.</p>

<p>They are both on the same tier in terms of academics. McGill is older though, and is more well-known on the streets. I'm convinced though, that when I apply to grad school, neither will give me an advantage over the other.</p>

<p>The main difference lays in the culture and environment. The west coast has a different feel from Montreal, the culture and way people talk/act is slightly different. UBC is close to mountains and the ocean, and if your an outdoors person, its the place to be. Theres surfing to hiking, to mountaineering, to canoing. B.C. is an amazing place (with better weather too). UBC is also a bit more isolated from Vancouver, then McGill is from Montreal. McGIll is a lot closer to downtown. Which one of these universities you choose should not come down to academics, but to where you think you'd feel more comfortable at.</p>

<p>Thanks. Seems like you slightly prefer UBC, right? When I visited McGill last week, I liked the fact that it is located downtown and is very much integrated into the city. I think UBC would be too isolated for me.</p>

<p>Also....I'd be interested to hear more about the BA Honours vs. BA. It's represents like a minus for McGill to me. Hypothetically, I could get like a 2.5 GPA at UofT and still get the BA Honours, while I need to maintain a 3.0 at McGill, right?! That just doesn't really make any sense to me.</p>

<p>its not speculation ...its common sense....if every single person was applying to grad school with an honors from tonronto and a few from mcgill...wont they wonder and (find out quite easily) the difference...u could also integrate it into ur interviews/essays later...if it is better it will count more..</p>

<p>comfortbaby: mcgill> ubc for anything & everything. that's a fact, it's common sense, it's on the establish mag Macleans. 10years from now, as you said youself mAYBE.</p>

<p>That is a crass generalization. McGill does not top UBC in everything. First off, most people that are here want to get to McGill, or are going to McGill, so they're biased and trying make themselves feel like they're heading off to the top. To begin, UOT, McGill and UBC consistently rank the top three universities. They're not as stratified as universities in America, McGill is no 'Harvard.' (Thankfully) One is not greatly better than the other. McGill spends tons of money advertising itself and takes a lot of international students, making it more well known on the streets. But you can't use that as a measure of how good a university is. Its the undergraduate experience that matters. Depending on what you're going to be studying, UBC has some neat programs like Science One. Like before, grad schools won't not take you since you went to UBC or McGill. Both are kickass schools, each with their own merits. Its how you do, and what you do that matter more.</p>

<p>What you have to decide between UBC and McGill is where you'll reach your potential. Both Universities have more than enough oppertunities for you to do amazing things. But if you're sitting at McGill or UBC being miserable because you dont like the city, environment, people, culture, etc.. you won't take those. Both universities will let you reach your potential, you just got to figure out where you'll be able to run with it.</p>

<p>im a bc citizen and the one thing that most people dont realize about ubc is that its more of a business enterprise rather than an university. every year they take in more 1st years than they are suppose to and therefore making more money in fees, and after the first year, they gradually kick boatloads of students out every year. i have numerous friends who found themselves in community colleges after being kicked out second of even third year. this is a method for them to make tons of money but at the same time keep their reputation for the standard of students it produces. getting in isnt usually the problem, staying in is. around 50% of the math n sci students dont last 1st year where as mcgill keeps most students in after accepting them</p>

<p>i just got into mcgill and sooooo excited!! question about AP credit though..i'm in 4 AP's this year and was only planning on taking one of them (at all of my other schools, i had already fulfilled my requirements and therefore didn't need them or i just didn't want to take them) now i am wondering how mcgill uses AP credits? should i take as many as a i can?</p>

<p>Although I prefer McGill, I find the International Leaders of Tomorrow (ILOT) award from UBC also quite appealing. I feel the ILOT might be impressive on my resume and might give me benefits at UBC (?). Does anybody know more about the ILOT?
I need to decide today, so I'd very much appreciate any helpful comments.</p>

<p>well the top 5 schools that always dominate the top places on the maclean ranks are: McGill, UT, Western (yes, not Waterloo), UBC and Queens.</p>

<p>....soo, what would you advise me to do?</p>

<p>Go where you'll have more fun....</p>

<p>Which school would you actually describe as more liberal: UBC or McGill? I've never been to UBC, that's the problem.</p>

<p>Honestly, they are both very liberal. UBC is on the west coast, a traditional bastion of liberalism. McGill is well, also very liberal. I can't pinpoint the reason for you, but it even says it somewhere on their site I believe. Canada typically has had leftist leanings.</p>

<p>"well the top 5 schools that always dominate the top places on the maclean ranks are: McGill, UT, Western (yes, not Waterloo), UBC and Queens."</p>

<p>the main reason for the omission of Waterloo in that ranking is because Maclean's divides schools into theree categories: Medical Doctoral, Comprehensive, and Primarily Undergraduate, based on the graduate programs offered. you probably saw the Medical Doctoral category, since that's the category with the more prominent Canadian universities. Waterloo is consistently ranked very high in the Comprehensive category.</p>

<p>RE: liberal-leanings...all of Canada is fairly liberal (except for Alberta, lol) when compared to the states. im sure that you'll feel at home politically at either school. Toronto (and Ontario in general), Vancouver and Montreal are all known to be made up of primarily Liberal ridings (electoral districts).</p>