Bishop's University (Canada)?

International Students
1

Hello,

I am a current undergrad student at a tech college in the U.S. and I’m seriously considering going to university at Bishop’s. It is fairly inexpensive, and has all of the programs I’m looking for, besides having a small community set up (perfect, as I hate cities). However, I have a couple questions regarding the process of transferring after college. I’m planning on taking a double major in English & Philosophy.

First off, I have heard that is is hard to get accepted into U.S. graduate schools as an international student. If I have a degree from Bishop’s, an international school, but I’m a U.S. citizen, will I be able to bypass the issues international students have to worry about when applying for a decent graduate school?

Second, would a degree from Bishop’s, assuming I do well academically and participate in undergrad research, etc, be as up to snuff when it comes to applying to graduate schools (whether it be in the U.S. or otherwise)? I’ve heard that undergrad schools don’t matter when applying for them, and I’ve heard the exact opposite. In either case, I’m not a fan of giant universities (of which I could likely get into) with 200 students per class in the first couple years. I’m great at marketing myself, so a smaller school will allow me to take advantage of that, I hope. I am just wondering if there’s a skewed view of applicants from elite schools during the graduate application process. As it turns out, I was offered admission to a fairly prestigious college, unfortunately I cannot afford the tuition. I would hate to be punished for not being able to afford attending an elite school, and instead attending a school I can afford, while also striving to do as well as possible during my time there. I would like to see if I will be competitive after a degree from Bishop’s.

Last but not least, I will be entering Bishop’s as a sophomore. Will I be able to receive any form of scholarships or financial aid from either the U.S. or Canada? It’s something I’ve seen mixed reports on.

Thank you!

2

If you do well at Bishop’s, you should have no particular problem
It’s a known Liberal Arts college and while you’ll need to show some initiative wrt internships or career opportunities, it’s in a nice college town (there’s a huge CEGEP/public college plus a regional public university in Sherbrooke) and indeed it’s not very expensive.
However, if you’re currently in cegep/college looking for a university, make sure you apply to more than one university.
For the US, if you have a DEC, you get to apply as a freshman (= maximum scholarships) and once admitted you’d get advanced standing. If you have good SAT/ACT scores, it’s definitely worth a try.
As an American citizen, you qualify for financial aid in the US, not in Canada, and in the US you can qualify for merit aid depending on your ACT/SAT score.

3

Unlike Montréal where there are a half million anglophones there are few in Sherbrooke outside of Lennoxville. While a knowledge of French is not required at Bishop’s it would be helpful.