College Decisions: USC, McGill, BU, Northeastern, Toronto

Hi all,
I got my decisions back and I narrowed my list of schools down to University of Southern California, Boston University, McGill, University of Toronto, and Northeastern. I would greatly appreciate someone else’s take on these schools.

I would be going into engineering. I’ll be doing mechanical or chemical for the time being. I’m not set on any one type of engineering yet – it’s not like I’m looking for a school that has good chemical or mechanical engineering. I also have an interest in biology (I will keep a pre-med path in mind as I start college).

I am a Canadian citizen and so Toronto and McGill would both be less than 30K with McGill being slightly cheaper than Toronto. I’ve heard that McGill does not support their students as much as a more pricey American university might. Is this that detrimental to an education? The “brain drain” in Montreal has also become apparent. I’ve heard that there aren’t many connections to big companies in Montreal (I heard Toronto is a little more global and communicative) and this seems to be a big hold-back for me since connections seem to be a big part of landing jobs.

I also know that Boston (BU and Northeastern) has great opportunities for engineering and bio careers. How does LA compare in this regard? Do most students go to SF and Silicon Valley for work in the tech and bio fields?

Also, BU, Northeastern, and USC all cost around 70K+ per year. Would it matter a lot if I were to go to a more expensive school? From what I understand, I would be paying for connections and better amenities.

Am I right to think this?

Thanks in advance.

The networking opportunities available in Boston are quite extensive, which is what attracts me to BU and Northeastern as well. However, depending on your financial situation spending 70k a year may be crazy. Though, I feel that connections are vital in prepping for your future. In the end, college is an investment into your future and it’s worth it in my opinion to attend a more expensive university in turn for more opportunities, as long as you are not severly drowning in debt from it.

As a Canadian citizen McGill would actually cost about US$20,000/year for tuition, room and board. Montreal has become a high tech hub, especially in the area of AI. Lack of knowledge of French would hinder you in the Montreal job market but there are connections in the US and the rest of Canada. To succeed at McGill and Toronto you would need to be a self starter, no “hand holding”.

If more than the Federal loan max of about $27,000 is needed for the US schools that could be risky.

EDIT: BU does not offer chemical engineering.

Correction: I got into biomedical engineering at BU. I forgot to mention that I got into the Kilachand Honors College which might help even more with connections as it would allow for a more personal education (I’m guessing).

I do speak French so there wouldn’t be a language barrier.

@ccollegecon I understand that it’s an investment, but is it worth investing 70K a year when I also have McGill and Toronto as options? Thanks for the input!

Can I assume that you received no need or merit based grants at the US schools and that you are full pay? That’s an additional cost of about $200,000 compared to the Canadian schools.

Northeastern’s coop plan would be the best way to make connections. i don’t think that being in Kilachand at BU would be all that much of a boost to an engineering student.

Being a bilingual Canadian would open many doors in Montreal.

Sorry I can’t be more specific about a recommendation.

I was also curious about the research and startup opportunities in Toronto vs. Los Angeles area that I would have access to as a U of T or USC student. Has anyone heard about either area? I would look for biology or technology work.

U of T engineering has PEY (professional experience year). http://engineeringcareers.utoronto.ca/internships-overview/pey/ The average salary for U of T students doing PEYs in Canada is 48K CAD and in the US, 57K USD. U of T is ranked a lot higher than your US options in both engineering and biological sciences.

U of T has tremendous research opportunities. I attended U of T, did research at U of T as well as one of HYPSM and taught for a short time at Northeastern 20 years ago. There’s nothing that Northeastern or even HYPSM has that U of T doesn’t.

@bouders Thanks for the input. I see that it’s ranked higher on the international rankings but how does that translate int getting good jobs in the U.S. (maybe even in Silicon Valley)? I usually don’t like to base my opinion of a school on their ranking. If we are going off the rankings, USC is 15th in the U.S. according to THE next to Johns Hopkins and Northwestern, which are good schools by all means. I don’t doubt you, I’d just like some more of your reasoning.