Hello,
I’m a high school senior (planning to study biology or possibly premed) who has applied to all of the colleges/universities I intended on applying to; however, recently, I’ve begun thinking that perhaps I might want to consider applying to the University of Toronto or McGill University. It would be loads of help if anyone could give insight into
A. The differences between the two schools (I acknowledge that there is another thread regarding this, but any additional information would be greatly appreciated)
B. Any major differences between university life in the U.S. versus Canada
and
C. The processes of application as an international student. (Some of the online pages are a bit confusing)
Thanks in advance!
Neither McGill nor U of Toronto use holistic admissions. For an American, admission is based on unweighted GPA and SAT or ACT scores. Both publish minimum requirements and they are rigid.
Differences: The drinking age in Québec is 18, 19 in Ontario. Both schools provide on campus housing for first year students only.
McGill is large (30,000 full time students), U of Toronto is ENORMOUS with 75,000 full time students on three campuses in the city.
McGill is in Montréal, a bilingual city in a French province. Toronto is like Chicago but with a low crime rate. Montréal provides an incredible student life but you need to be mature enough to balance social life and academics. Toronto is boring, but I am very biased! (Hint, look at my avatar).
Both schools require a mature, independent student to succeed.
there is nothing wrong with colleges in canada…( I even have a t shirt from McGill). that said why would you want to apply to school in canada? just to be different?
Not the OP, but we have a younger high school student investigating the possibility right now. From what she has researched, at least at the one university she has looked into, if she takes some of her coursework in French (9 hrs per semester) it looks like that university waive international rates. She is still trying to understand what McGill requires. Canadian schools are much cheaper than US schools and McGill is one of the top universities globally (21st by one system.)
I am following this thread BC we aren’t sure of the process ourselves. Ours is further complicated bc our daughter is homeschooled. We had an older daughter attend a small school in Ontario, but the admission process was non-competitive. One thing I do know from her experience is that the student visa process is not complicated.
@zobroward: “why would you want to apply to school in canada? just to be different?”
Cost might be a consideration, depending on the OP’s circumstances/preferences: if merit scholarships and/or need-based aid are not forthcoming from an American university, then Canadian universities might look financially attractive.
OP, if you haven’t already, check out the academic calendars for McGill and U of Toronto; they are slightly off compared to U.S. academic calendars, as I recall.
A general tip from one of my canadian friends. The top canadian colleges aren’t necessarily difficult to get in (unlike colleges here) but it can be difficult to do well in them after admitted, so students tend to pick schools that match their interests/skill level anyway. Like another poster mentioned, there is more independence and less hand holding than American schools
@mayfame The application process for both looks to be so much easier than for US colleges, but it is deceptive. You may find that you have to seek help more than once from either the school or the organization for Ontario that manages the first stage of the process for Toronto. Also, although it appears that neither requires letter of rec, essays, etc. for UT in particular, once you identify your faculty, you go a level deeper in the app process and there are other questions. For instance, one faculty has three essay questions, two of which are video responses which you have 30 minutes to record on-the-fly and submit. UT is a collegiate system which means you have to apply to a college within the university, and at least 2 of those have their own essay questions as well. Conceivably, you could be writing up to 5 essays.
Both require a high degree of self-sufficiency on every level, and I think that is compounded if you are from the US and far from home. Also, take a look at the grading; UT has an extremely harsh bell curve policy, and even McGill is known for grade deflation which can impact you for post-grad and professional schools in the US.