Engineering PhD: Canadian degree vs. U.S.?

Graduate School
1

For background, I am completing my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at a state university in the United States. I have been looking around at graduate schools for their PhD programs in the U.S., but also found some fairly high ranked ones in Canada that I am particularly interested in.

I’ve been warned by my parents who have struggled through international acceptance of non-American medical degrees that a degree from a school not in the U.S. might give me some trouble professionally back in the U.S., assuming I move back here to get a job afterwards. However, since I am in engineering, rather than medicine, I wonder if the same setbacks apply if I choose to complete my higher degree in Canada. Not that Canada doesn’t have a good education system, but the impression I have been given is that people (at least in the U.S.) will prefer an American degree if given the choice.

Should I even consider any schools in Canada, or even any other country, for my PhD, or should I stick to American schools?

2

My field is EE/CS, not ME, but I think they are similar for the question at hand.

In terms of jobs in the industry, there is not much difference between PhD in Canada vs PhD in the US. I think they are comparable. Academia world may be different. Professional (medical/dental/law) worlds are definitely different.

One of the problems, however, is how PhD programs in Canada consider candidates from the US (or any non-Canadian in general). I don’t know the details, but 2, 3 years ago when my D was applying to PhD in EECS (she as admitted to 5 top universities in the US), a Canadian friend of mine who at the time was a professor at Univ. of Toronto told my D to concentrate on applying to univ. in the US, because admission to a univ. in Canada was “extra difficult for non Canadians.” Based on his advice, my D didn’t bother to apply to any school in Canada.

3

@Pentaprism Your faculty friend gave you, and your daughter, some bad advice.