<p>No one seems to apply to non-US schools.... Does anyone know about schools in not-the-US ? Which ones are good, and where are they, and how are they different from American schools? (more expensive or less so?)</p>
<p>thanks, y'all!</p>
<p>Come to Canada! The schools are much less expensive and in my opinion just as good as most of the top tier schools in the US (obviously not quite like HYPS, but that's because all our top schools are public). </p>
<p>Try...</p>
<p>McGill - in Montreal, Quebec. They speak french in Quebec, but the city is completely bilingual and you could live there for a lifetime without speaking a word of french (it would be easy to pick up there though). Montreal is Canada's most diverse and cosmopolitain city... I love it. McGill is always highly ranked in the Macleans Guide to Canadian Universities (tied for #1 with U of T this year actually), and they have the most competitive entrance average of any school in Canada. </p>
<p>UBC - in Vancouver, BC. This the best school in western canada. The weather is fantastic, and the olympics will be there in 2010 if you're into that. They have fantastic research programs for science, good accreditation and recognition for IB students, and a TON of co-op programs. They also have fairly good scholarships. My second choice after McGill. </p>
<p>U of Toronto - in Toronto, Ontario. Huge urban school. I never loved Toronto for some reason, but a lot of people do. It's the biggest school in Canada and thus has a lot of prestige and good programs to go with it. </p>
<p>You can't go wrong with any of the above. </p>
<p>Others if you're interested:
Queen's (Kingston, ON) - for commerce
Waterloo (somewhere, ON) - for science, especially math or computer science related programmes
U of Calgary (Calgary, AB) - for petroleum engineering
U of Victoria (Victoria, BC) - education and arts on the west coast
Carleton (Ottawa, ON) - for journalism and politics</p>
<p>England all the way! The Times newspaper publishes university rankings that are generally topped by Oxford and Cambridge. However, there are lots of great schools in England, from Durham to London School of Economics to Manchester University. Regardless of where you go, you usually graduate in 3 years and full tuition for foreign students is typically around $17000. The best part of the deal is that you can kiss gen. ed. requirements goodbye! Pick a major, make sure its right for you and then study that in great detail. Like I said, check the rankings for majors you are interersted in because unlike US universities, somewhere that is great at Physics might be awful in linguistics and history but fantastic for economics. One thing to beware of: high school gpa and ecs wont get you far....make sure you do well on standardised tests (SATIIs, better APs and best of all IB) to give yourself a chance. </p>
<p>The final thing to mention is that you only send out one application....which is forwarded by a central agency to your choices...they really ouldnt make it much easier!</p>
<p>lets not forget Canada has pretty good smaller LAC type schools</p>
<p>Trent - Ontario
Acadia - Nova Scotia
St. Francis Xavier - Nova Scotia
Saint Mary's - Nova Soctia</p>
<p>I did a year of grad school philosophy at both Toronto and St. Andrews (Scotland). I had previously attended several American schools (Boston College, Indiana, Iowa, Chaminade U of Honolulu, and Central Michigan). So I'm probably in a decent position to answer your question about what's different about colleges in some of the foreign countries most americans inquire about. Here are some generalities:</p>
<p>In the UK, the undergrads study only their major subject. Like if you major in chemistry, that's about all you study. In Canada, they seem to take roughly half of their undergrad classes in their major subject. In the US it's probably more like 30-40% in the major subject.</p>
<p>Canadian schools have classes, exams, and term papers very much like American colleges. In the UK, it's not as structured, and the studies are focused more on preparing you to pass big exams at the end of the 3 or 4 years that you are there. Different colleges have different approaches to classes, tutorials, lectures.</p>
<p>The foreign colleges have nowhere near the accent on extra-curricular activities like in the States...not as many clubs, & varsity sports are there but are almost invisible unless you go looking for them.</p>
<p>Off-campus activities are very common at the foreign colleges, especially hanging out in cafes and bars, talking to your fellow students and drinking coffee and alcohol. Drinking age in Canada is 18 or 19, depending on the province; in the UK it's 18 I'm pretty sure.</p>
<p>In the UK, there is a much smaller % of high school grads who go on to college than in the US. So pretty much everybody who attends college there really wants to be there, and takes it seriously. Sort of the same in Canada. In neither country is ther much levity in class. Students who aspire to be the "class clown" and teachers who try to be entertaining are in short supply in these countries, from my experience.</p>
<p>Spelling and punctuation are moderately different in Canada/UK than in the US. Colour instead of color; periods and commas go outside quotation marks instead of inside them, etc.</p>
<p>In the U.S., a lot of colleges treat their students like customers, and bend over backwards to please and coddle them. The foreign colleges do little to coddle and pamper the students.</p>
<p>When you come back to the US after attending one of these foreign colleges, most people have never heard of them, and the same people wonder why you would have left the US when there are so many great options at home. But the people in academic and hiring positions appreciate your thinking outside the box.</p>
<p>At the foreign colleges, it seemed like the American students hung out mostly with other American students and students from countries other than the one the college was in. So if you go to a college in Canada, don't be surprised if you seem to fit in better with other Americans and folks from Germany, Argentina, Italy, etc. And if you go to a school in the UK, most of your friends might be other Americans and Canadians. (Primary exception to this is pretty females, who seem to fit in wherever they want.) The good news is that the Americans who go to foreign colleges are generally a very interesting, independent, and creative bunch (otherwise they would have been content to stay home and attend State U), so even if all your buddies are other Americans, they will be a much more diverse lot than the Yanks you probably would have hung with at most American colleges.</p>