@CADREAMIN Interview at U of T? Was that for a specific Faculty? I haven’t run across that.
@rainierdays Thank you for the nudge towards Wreck Beach. It was amazing and worth the stairs!
@CADREAMIN, my D has her undergrad from McGill - feel free to pm me if you have any questions about the school or Toronto!
@shrimpburrito - AD contacted D to get together a little while after she had met regional rep. It was a personal request to meet D and family (which was new to me), not mass email/interview sign up type thing. It was a total surprise, and nothing we signed up for.
@NorthernParent I will definitely do that, thank you! I have never heard anyone unhappy with McGill, they all seem to love it, but UoT and the city of Toronto seem quite amazing too if you like the big public school experience (which D does more than me, I prefer big private but whatever she chooses is ok). She loves French so to experience Quebec would be a dream come true, if I can get over the healthcare challenge. She is my 4th to college so I am not new to this rodeo and have a pro athlete that travels around the world so the distance isn’t concerning to me, but I have an Achilles heel about her and pneumonia. Post traumatic memories from past…appreciate your offer!
A quick google and it appears all international students must be covered by McGill’s health insurance.
https://www.mcgill.ca/internationalstudents/files/internationalstudents/ihi_handbook_english.pdf
Thanks @emilybee, yes, I understand the enrollment in university insurance, the coverage/paying isn’t the first concern as much as actually being able to get in to see a doctor/med person. A friend said her kid with mono would show up at 8am to sign in for appt and several different days still wasn’t seen after waiting hours, they just closed. And if he had emergency in middle of night or day, tough. Seems odd, so trying to see how true that is from experienced folks on cc. I am assuming they have urgent care centers in town like Toronto does, so learning how an international can access them. I believe that is where you have to apply for the province insurance and get approved and the process can take several months (this was per the UBC website). Learning…
You are missing the boat if you wish to explore Canadian education and only look at UBC, U of T, and McGill. There are all sorts of other very good schools, depending on your field of study. Queens is excellent(northeast, old vibe), as is Western Ontario(midwestern feel). McMaster has some good things. Two of my very bright nieces went to a tiny liberal arts college, Mt. Allison, and loved it.
U of T is jammed with students and it’s very hard to get in. Classes are often large, and can lack common a personal touch. Both it and McGill have a very urban feel, which isn’t for everyone. UBC a bit less so…it’s a very attractive campus. Best to visit it on a rainy December or Feb rather than in the summer when the weather is great. Very easy to get seduced by the campus and surroundings then. It’s very beautiful. Kind of sucks when you show up for school in Sept., it starts to rain/get gloomy in Oct., and doesn’t stop till April.
One other thing. McGill is essentially Ivy league, and U of T is very competitive. UBC is no cakewalk either. Go there expecting to start swimming right away, or you’ll sink. You are competing with Canada’s elite students. You can fail anywhere, but McMaster/Guelph and other schools are a bit kinder than the “Big 3”.
@57special , you are absolutely right that there are lots of great universities in Canada. My D and I have looked pretty hard at some of the others, like Queens, Mt Allison, and UVic. The drawback to many of these schools is accessibility. For us, in middle America, The Big Three only require two flights plus a short jaunt on public transportation. Mt Allison requires three flights plus a two hour drive or bus ride. That’s just too much for us, and probably for many others Americans who are thinking about going north.
D and I spoke at length with a very helpful advisor at UBC last week. I asked her how American students do there, in general. She gently said that many of them really struggle. They think it’s going to be a lot easier than it is.
I keep hearing that U of T is huge and impersonal, but that is not at all the impression we got when D and I visited in Aug. The residential college system and first year seminars are very appealing to my D, and in her eyes give U of T an edge over the other Big Two. We will return to U of T in March, so D can visit classes and get a better picture of what student life is really like.
@57special @ShrimpBurrito I may have posted earlier that my older son graduated from McGill. While he flourished there he told me there were many students, including Americans, who did not. Some would get their act together, others did not. The Big Three, and a few others like Queen’s and Western are very demanding academically and professors are not hesitant to fail a student. Combine that with the lures of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver a student needs to be mature and self motivated. He told me a common caveat that was emphasized at orientation is that McGill requires its students to grow up fast. For some it is just what they wanted, for others it can be terrifying.
@shirmpburrito, wow I am impressed at the time you are investing to get to know the schools. We last maybe three hours on a campus before we are done with it. Even at UBC, we flew then drove in from Seattle and including lunch were there maybe four hours. (Then headed to beach and city.) Loved it btw, spectacular setting. But this is my fourth who has seen her share of college campuses and tours…she flew to one school solo to check it out, ubering to campus and back to the airport, which she loved doing. I will do McGill and UT with her at some point and would love to compare notes. Seriously, your thoroughness is something else!
@TomSrOfBoston Please tell your son that his input is missed here. His posts were very helpful when my D first mentioned going to school in Quebec. 
@CADREAMIN Thank you. My D is very analytical and (I think) benefits from the extended time to process and figure out what is important to her. We also started the college search process early knowing that with all of our busy schedules (we are a family of seven), last minute “but I need to see xyz” isn’t going to be possible. Better to have it all figured out going into senior year. And, with aforementioned family of seven, a getaway with any one kid is special. These college visits have been a great bonding experience.
^^^OMG, family of 7 and you are pulling that off, now I worship you. I have four kids so I totally get the one on one time though. We have our best laughs on college trips.
Simon Fraser in Vancouver, Concordia in Montreal (lots ofhabd holding there compared to the rest) , both less sink/swim than the previous two.
Look into Lethbridge, UNBC, Bishop’s, Dalhousie, York?