I’m an American student with dual citizenship. I’m strongly considering getting my undergraduate at a Canadian university for the price difference and they also seem to have strong Biology programs. UBC is probably my top choice right now but i’m also applying to U of T & U of A (Im open to suggestions as well if there are any you would recommend I look into.)
I just have a few questions if anyone could offer insight,
- Will the difference in grading systems effect my ability to get into a good graduate program in the states?
- Is there a significant difference difficulty wise?
- How competitive would a Canadian university be compared to its american equivalent?
Any other differences/pros/cons/personal opinions are welcome and much appreciated as well.
I graduated from U of T life sciences and my son attends there now. He took the intro Biology classes last year, but that’s not his major. The first year classes tend to have approximately a C plus to B minus average. Perhaps 10% of the class ends up with a 3.7 which is competitive for grad school or med school. All of the students had a 3.7 to 4.0 GPA in high school.
Canadian schools don’t do a lot of holistic evaluation for admissions. They take the students with the top grades (and standardized test scores).
Attending U of T for an undergraduate hoping to attend an American grad school, in particular if it’s med school or law school, makes no sense. The competition is intense and most students get C’s (all were A students in high school). Considering that a med-school-worthy GPA is 3.6+, which about 85% of these A students won’t have, it’s really not a good idea. And most of these already had the equivalent of AP Calc BC, AP Bio, etc. You want the best combination of value and likelihood of high grades - for this reason, if your family makes less than 125K, Brown is a great choice ;).
If you have high grades and test scores, you’re in. Then you have to survive the first year (if the average grade is a C, guess what percentage gets D and F…) and make it to the second. ONce that’s done, you stop worrying about your GPA because you feel so lucky you’re still there. 
But American grad schools make little allowances for this situation, and med schools/law schools don’t at all.
@MYOS1634 I don’t plan on going to med school I much prefer the research aspect I would most likely go into a Microbiology/Genetics or a Bioinformatic graduate program I don’t know if that changes anything. Also I got a 29 on my first ACT and have a 3.56 GPA. Would that be sufficient for brown?
Thank you so much for the advice its much appreciated 
An American 3.56 will be insufficient for Brown, unless you attend a private school known for its grade deflation. It will flat out make you ineligible for UT where, I believe, the cutoff is higher in all disciplines.
If you attend a Canadian high school specify the province.
Why UT?
To get into a PHD program you’ll need research experience. Look into Wooster. To recommend other programs adults on this website will need to know what state you’re in.
Canada is not a bad place (actually very nice) , I personally would do school in the United States…you will learn no more or less say at u of Michigan vs u of Toronto. but I think the experience outside of the classroom maybe better in the U.S…now if you are in your late 20’s and decided to attend undergrad full time maybe a Canadian school would be a better choice. (IMO)
@MYOS1634 I’m currently living in Texas & iv recently been looking at Queens University because they have the Bio medical Computing program i’m interested in.