Mcgill engineering vs UBC engineering

<p>I got accepted to Mcgill Mechanical Engineering with $3000 entrance scholarship and to UBC's Applied Science program ( that's what they call engineering there, we choose the major in second year) with a total of $34000 in scholarships-$28000 in 4 years and $6000 entrance. Which one should I choose? Should I go after the prestige and reputation and join Mcgill? Or should I choose UBC for its nice lifestyle? My main concerns are the job opportunities and grad studies. Btw, Mcgill is ranked 17th in QS and UBC 51st. In THE, UBC 22nd and Mcgill 28th. I checked most of the engineering professors in ratemyprofessor.com and even though Mcgill has a lower professor average than UBC's, there were more higher ranked engineering professors in Mcgill than UBC. Thanks for your help.</p>

<p>About me: I'm an international student. My SAT scores are: 2150 Reasoning, 800 Math 2, Physics 800, 740 Chemistry, 760 Math1, 710 Bio E.</p>

<p>100+ Views and no reply? Your opinion or thoughts won’t harm at all.</p>

<p>It’s a tough pick. Let me put it this way: you can’t go wrong, academics-wise, with either place. The rankings are pretty meaningless, and as long as you do your part, you can get a job or go to grad school from either place (especially in engineering). I have friends, family and acquaintances who did engineering degrees in a wide variety of schools, from the small, local universities to big prestigious places, and not a single one of them had trouble getting a decent job or going to grad school.</p>

<p>So, you have to think beyond academics to make your decision. What kind of environment do your prefer (school-wise, city-wise, climate-wise, etc)? McGill is right in downtown Montreal, UBC is practically in the suburbs of Vancouver. Neither place has any winter to speak of, but Vancouver’s climate is much milder (though if you’re into skiing, Whistler beats Mont Tremblant). Both places are diverse but in different ways.</p>

<p>As I said, you can’t go wrong in terms of academic with either place, but the opportunities and environment will be different, you have to think hard about which would be the one most adapted to your liking.</p>

<p>^ Fully agree with the above poster’s emphasis on cityscape/environment. But Montreal not having any winter? You’ll be hard-pressed to name a non-Atlantic city that gets greater annual snowfall.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot Blobof. You reply is great and well-reasoned. If you had this choice, which one would you have chosen and why? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I didn’t get your message, I just want to know which university would you pick and why?</p>

<p>The first year of university can be quite a shock, as you’re on your own for the first time, and academically it’s usually much more challenging than what one is used to. On top of that, if you’re going to another country, there’s the culture shock as well. So, to be perfectly honest, I would have picked McGill because it’s closer to home, amongst other things (I’m a francophone from Quebec), so I could have a world class education while still living in my cultural “comfort zone” (i.e. access to the same TV channels, news, food, music, etc), still within a 5 hour drive from home, and I had friends and relatives in the city. In fact, back in my undergrad, I spent my summers at my parents’ place (where I still had my room then…) instead of staying in Montreal. Vancouver would have been too far and, almost effectively abroad (at least in terms of distance, partially in culture), and more expensive (though money wasn’t really an issue). For many francophone Quebecers like myself, studying at McGill is almost like studying abroad without leaving the province, so it’s the best of both world (in fact, students from France love McGill for similar reasons, they get to study in an English world-class university while living in a French-speaking city). Since you are an international (and let me congratulate you for having the courage to go abroad for undergrad, it’s not an easy experience), chances are these sort of reasons don’t apply to you, but, depending on where you’re from, you may lessen your own culture shock by picking the city where your own culture is most represented.</p>

<p>And HieronymusBosch: my hometown gets a full metre of snow more per year than Montreal, and has yet to experience a non-white Xmas (even Quebec City had its perfect record broken in 2006). So, by my standards, Montreal has no winter. Really.</p>

<p>And how many people would share your “standards?”</p>

<p>Really.</p>

<p>Thanks agan for your Blobof. I was more inclined towards UBC because I thought that it was better than Mcgill at academics and Mcgill’s is going down ( I read that). Anyway, I think I’m now biased towards Mcgill. lol, thanks for you help.</p>