<p>I've been doing some research on McGill, and I definitely want to apply, especially after my friend told me it was only $15,000. I'm interested in a major under the Faculty of Science. But when I came to the tuition price listings, I was surprised to see that tuition is ~$15,000 for all schools EXCEPT the Faculty of Science. A BSc is DOUBLE a BA (and even a BA/BSc?!)</p>
<p>How does this make sense? Does anyone know why this is? Would $30,000 be worth it, and as an international student, would I be eligible for major scholarships (given my test scores are rather higher than the McGill averages)?</p>
<p>The Quebec government has deregulated international tuition fees in certain disciplines, mostly those disciplines that are the most expensive to offer. Further deregulation is likely. McGill is able to charge whatever it wants in these areas. Major scholarships are pretty much limited to the topmost applicants. For example, if you are American, the criteria are:</p>
<p>In addition to what tomofboston said, the price of a BSC is probably higher because it costs more in terms of material for lab courses (eg. Electron microscopes, high powered telescopes, custom made antibodies, ect.), wheres for a BA you really don’t need a lot of expensive equipment. In addition, I believe the Science majors, particularly Biomedical related science majors are in higher demand than BAs (hence the higher entrance average) and thus the university can charge more for them.</p>
<p>To be blunt going to a Canadian university is not always a cheaper option. University is so cheap for Canadians because they are heavily subsidized by the government and hence through Canadian taxes. However as an international applicant, who thus hasn’t payed Canadian (or provincial) taxes and therefore hasn’t contributed to our higher education system, you are expected to pay to be able to gain access our system.</p>
<p>Concordia, or a French school, if studying in Quebec is still an option, only charge $20k yearly rather than $30k at the BSc rate and you then save $40k ($50k if engineering is your thing) on the degree cost. Sure, any of those schools are safeties for most STEM majors/honors (90-credit majors, if you will); if you fulfill all the curricular requirements, as well as GPA/SAT-ACT requirements, for McGill, you will likely fulfill the requirements at the other schools, up to a French test.</p>
<p>If you really want cheap rates in Canada then there may be some less well known Canadian Universities that offer very low fees in order to attract internationals. The University of Windsor, in Ontario comes to mind, as it offers a “US neighbour fee rate” to American applicants of $5000. Of course Windsor has nowhere near the reputation of a school like McGill, but it is hard to think of any other reputable university that would charge less.</p>
<p>As you mentioned, you can do BA/BSc combined program on much less price than pure BSc. You can take the same classes with the program except you have to have 4-5 BA related classes to complete the arts track. To me that is a big bargain and money you save can be used for grad school and have something left over if you want more Science focus later on.</p>