McGill, UofT, UBC

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>So I'm looking into these three Canadian schools.
I was wondering which ones have good psychology and/or anthropology undergraduate programs (I'm interested in a more cultural/linguistic type of anthropology) ?</p>

<p>Also, how's the UBC campus? I've visited the other two but haven't gotten a chance to get to Vancouver yet. My friend went and said it's ugly, but I've heard elsewhere that it's quite nice. So how is it? How does it compare to the other two schools?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Your friend is crazy! I went to the Vancouver campus last summer and it was what convinced me that I wanted to apply. And if you’re looking into psychology or anthropology, UBC would be a great choice. My tour guide was a psychology major and they have a fantastic program (I’m interested in doing a double major, business and psychology). Also, they have a huge anthropology museum that people raved about, so I’m guessing that would be a good undergrad program as well. I’m looking at the same three schools as you. How’s the McGill campus?</p>

3

<p>Wow, I also thought ubc was dead ugly, or maybe it was just the area I was in</p>

4

<p>I can safely say that the McGill campus is quite beautiful as well. It’s age (relative to other Canadian universities) gives it that more collegiate air, more similar to those photos you see from Northeastern American/European campuses. It’s also extremely convenient because it’s smack dab in the middle of downtown. Some people looking for more insular experiences might be put off by that, but those people just need to get down to St. Laurent street and live a little =P</p>

<p>McGill is extremely strong in fields involving bio-sciences. Take a look at this link:</p>

<p>[QS</a> World University Rankings - Topuniversities](<a href=“http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/life-sciences/psychology]QS”>http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/life-sciences/psychology)</p>

<p>(We have the 10th best Psychology department in the world, though to UBC’s credit it’s not far behind at 16th.)</p>

<p>My limited experiences with Anthropology here suggests that it is a decent program as well. I believe McGill’s Anth department is older than UBC’s.</p>

5

<p>At the University of Toronto psychology is a science, not an art. You cannot receive a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. Mathematics is required. If you’re not at-par with your calculus and statistics I would highly recommend you are at least capable of scraping by a 70%+ in the subjects.</p>

<p>If you intend to major in both (which is allowed)…I can’t speak on behalf of the other schools, but the University of Toronto is…big. Just from travelling between classes I have to schedule at minimum 45 minutes of walking around the campus. And, as someone specializing in languages and majoring in sciences, you have separate libraries (the university system has over thirty libraries). This is a royal pain considering the life sciences library is several city blocks away from the humanities library. </p>

<p>If you have any questions about Toronto just ask me! Best of luck!</p>

6

<p>[Department</a> of Psychology Ranks Within Top 20 Worldwide | ArtsWIRE](<a href=“http://wire.arts.ubc.ca/research/department-of-psychology-ranks-within-top-20-worldwide/]Department”>http://wire.arts.ubc.ca/research/department-of-psychology-ranks-within-top-20-worldwide/)</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>dmndrake, could you explain this, please? I’m not understanding the 45 minute walk, and I know U of T well, so perhaps an explanation for others who aren’t familiar with Toronto would be helpful. Thanks!</p>

<p>To the OP: all three are excellent schools with beautiful campuses. I can’t imagine anyone thinking that UBC is ugly.</p>

8

<p>@blah010185 </p>

<p>UBC-> Beautiful campus, the only time it could seem really ugly is when it rains (which unfortunately is quite a lot in the winter time) but You still have a nice view of mountains and forest and helloooo the BEACH is just a few minutes away. If you live in totem park or vanier residences for first year you can get to the beach in just a few minutes (and ALOT of stairs lol)- Wreck beach is a nudist beach with lots of hippies… just a heads up.
But there are a couple things about UBC that you should know

  • It’s really big, meaning it can be easy to get lost in the crowd and feel a bit disoriented. There are lots of different types of ppl, but know that unfortunately smoking bud will help you socially. Most people are friendly but like I said it’s a big school so it might be hard at first to make really good friends.
    Class sizes vary, so I cant specify much on that, but if you’re in a large faculty, most classes will be huge so you will have to make an extra effort to get close to your teacher and peers.
    Academically its a great school, with lots of resources. There are lots of clubs and sports too.
    caf food… GROSS… to be honest its probably like that everywhere
    beware that the LEGAL drinking age is 19 not 18 so it can be annoying if u wana go clubbing → fake ID. but may not even be worth it first year cus u can jsut party it up in the dorms.
    Although this school is really nice, some drawbacks and personal issues have made me decide that this school is not for me so I will be transferring out.</p>

<p>I have friends in Uof T and McGill</p>

<p>McGill is in MONTREAL, thats all I can say… meaning its awesome lol. university of british columbia has gotten higher ranking these past two years but ppl continue to dig mcgill cus of the city. its ****ing cold in winter and can be depressing but the partying is awesome and people are really friendly. I have friends from multiple schools in that city and not a single one regrets… that must say something. ive been there too and thot it was great!</p>

<p>Uof Toronto, I havent’ visited it, but from what two of my friends tell me they love it. Big campus and lots of different people, vibrant city. I have only one friend who transferred out cus she thought the science vibe was too competitive so she found it hard to make friends who had similar interests.</p>

<p>Wow long message, sorry cldnt give you more in depth info abt the mcgill and toronto but hope that helps! :)</p>

9

<p>@blah010185 </p>

<p>UBC-> Beautiful campus, the only time it could seem really ugly is when it rains (which unfortunately is quite a lot in the winter time) but You still have a nice view of mountains and forest and helloooo the BEACH is just a few minutes away. If you live in totem park or vanier residences for first year you can get to the beach in just a few minutes (and ALOT of stairs lol)- Wreck beach is a nudist beach with lots of hippies… just a heads up.
But there are a couple things about UBC that you should know

  • It’s really big, meaning it can be easy to get lost in the crowd and feel a bit disoriented. There are lots of different types of ppl, but know that unfortunately smoking bud will help you socially. Most people are friendly but like I said it’s a big school so it might be hard at first to make really good friends.
    Class sizes vary, so I cant specify much on that, but if you’re in a large faculty, most classes will be huge so you will have to make an extra effort to get close to your teacher and peers.
    Academically its a great school, with lots of resources. There are lots of clubs and sports too.
    caf food… GROSS… to be honest its probably like that everywhere
    beware that the LEGAL drinking age is 19 not 18 so it can be annoying if u wana go clubbing → fake ID. but may not even be worth it first year cus u can jsut party it up in the dorms.
    Although this school is really nice, some drawbacks and personal issues have made me decide that this school is not for me so I will be transferring out.</p>

<p>I have friends in Uof T and McGill</p>

<p>McGill is in MONTREAL, thats all I can say… meaning its awesome lol. university of british columbia has gotten higher ranking these past two years but ppl continue to dig mcgill cus of the city. its ****ing cold in winter and can be depressing but the partying is awesome and people are really friendly. I have friends from multiple schools in that city and not a single one regrets… that must say something. ive been there too and thot it was great!</p>

<p>Uof Toronto, I havent’ visited it, but from what two of my friends tell me they love it. Big campus and lots of different people, vibrant city. I have only one friend who transferred out cus she thought the science vibe was too competitive so she found it hard to make friends who had similar interests.</p>

<p>Wow long message, sorry cldnt give you more in depth info abt the mcgill and toronto but hope that helps! :)</p>

10

<p>@alwaysamom</p>

<p>I worked in Student Accounts on the south end of Huron Street and would have class on Joseph Street (where a chunk of the Russian classes are). Northwest to southeast isn’t bad for travelling because I could just hop on at Spadina/St. George and go to Queen’s Park…but the southwest to northeast really sucked for travel time.</p>

11

<p>Why wouldn’t you just walk? It baffles me that you’d need to take the TTC just going from one end of the campus to another!</p>

12

<p>thank you for the information!
i think im leaning a bit more toward mcgill, and then ubc, if only because ubc is so far away.</p>

13

<p>McGill would be my choice. So many international students, beautiful campus (it has mount royal at the back with a lake, shopping to the front and the biggest clubbing street to the left, what more can you ask for?) It’s smack centre downtown but has a unified and gated campus (15 min walk from one side to the other) and the big stone castle-like buildings go up into the mountains.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.uofmosaic.ca/images/website-images/mcgill-university1.jpg?sfvrsn=0[/url]”>http://www.uofmosaic.ca/images/website-images/mcgill-university1.jpg?sfvrsn=0&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/livertransplant/images/RoyalVic.jpg[/url]”>http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/livertransplant/images/RoyalVic.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>U of T is great academically but I don’t like how the school blends into the city and it’s way too large for my liking.</p>

14

<p>Which of these Canadian colleges would provide the classic college experience?</p>

15

<p>Most McGill dorms that houses undergraduates will mostly house undergrads in U0 (not sure if there are graduate-only dorms like at York) so you’re off-campus after freshman year.</p>

16

<p>The closest you come in Canada to the “classic college experience” (an American concept) is Queen’s. Medium sized research university in a small city that is remote from any big city. There are virtually no commuter students.</p>

17

<p>Choose UBC if you prefer slow pace studying in Vancouver. Everything is really slow</p>

18

<p>UBC is a beautiful location, but the majority of the buildings are ugly. Most of them are cement blocks. I’ve never been to UofT, but McGill’s overall campus is more “traditional” pretty buildings. But nothing can match the natural beauty of UBC. There’s a huge forest on one end and the beach on the other, looking out at REAL mountains. Sorry east coast, you don’t have mountains.</p>