My daughter has been accepted to both places. I feel that she would get a comparable education at both places, but that Kilachand would offer her a lot more individual attention, not to mention enrichment opportunities, research opportunities, and connections. We are also from the Boston area. We were wowed by our admitted student day at BU and the reception we attended at Kilachand We visited McGill last week and I was concerned about the large class sizes there, not to mention what appears to be a rather formidable bureaucracy. Plus the school didn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat, we were actually amazed at how perfunctory and rushed the admitted student activities were considering most of the people attending had traveled from the US and even Europe to attend them. Not one professor was available to meet with prospective students, after we had met plenty of them at BU and Northeastern and Brandeis. We didn’t meet anyone at McGill except student tour guides and reps from the admissions department.
The cost differential between the schools isn’t much of an issue, she got a huge merit scholarship at BU and we can afford either place just fine. Daughter is convinced that the prestige and opportunities at McGill outweigh anything she will be able to get from BU, plus she loves Montreal. Does anyone have insights about either school?
Don’t expect personal attention from a Canadian university. That’s not how they roll. Canadian universities aren’t in the business of wooing students. They don’t need to. They’re not competing with the other university from down the street or 10 miles away.
It’s been my experience that the prestige of a Canadian university doesn’t carry across the border to the U.S. very well.
Private American universities are in competition for the best students. Admitted student days are major productions and marketing events. Schools build impressive facilities to woo students. McGill and other Canadian schools are not about that. They do little to sell themselves. Many complain about the US academic “arms race” that is jacking up US tuitions.
My older son is a McGill alumnus. While there he advanced his high school French to fluency and McGill prepared him for a career in international business. He also met his wife and we have three bilingual grandkids! Montreal is a fantastic city, as is Boston. McGill is perfect for a mature student who is prepared to fend for him or herself and to seek out opportunities. At Kilanchand at BU, the opportunities will he handed to the student. My younger son went to BU. There was no honors college then. He liked the school but does not actively support the school like my other son supports McGill.
I disagree with @bouders in that McGill alone among Canadian schools is widely recognized in the US.
Think of the top Canadian unis like Toronto and McGill as akin to the top American state schools like UMich/UVa & UNC/UW-Madison/UT-Austin (I’d put Cal on a slightly higher level) without the sports and with more commuters (Waterloo = UIUC). Certainly, a good number of folks would think UMich/UVa (maybe UNC, etc. as well) are more prestigious than BU, but if you’re not in honors, you may have big classes there and they are more sink-or-swim. Likewise for Toronto and McGill. In terms of prestige, while some Americans would put them on the same level as UMich/UVa, others would put them on the same level as UW-Madison/UT-Austin (or they may not have heard of them).
Thanks to all who replied thus far. It’s really hard for Americans like me to evaluate the Canadian schools because their acceptance rates are higher than American schools, because Canadian don’t apply to “reach” schools the way Americans do (because only grades and scores count, not anything else).
I have heard that the administration at McGill isn’t very responsive to student needs and concerns, and now I believe it. Daughter emailed two people in the admissions office on April 24th, after both of them ASKED her to do that, with a very specific question that she wanted answered before she decided to accept the school’s offer. Neither one has gotten back to her as of April 28th.
As a student at McGill, a lack of French will not be a problem. There are half a million anglophones in Montreal and most anyone she comes in contact with will be bilingual.
Maybe things have changed, but I’m a Canadian now living in the States and it’s very difficult to get jobs (talking about part-time while a student) if you are not bilingual - this was in Ottawa no less. Yes, many people can speak English but they don’t always want to. It won’t affect her studies but it’s something to consider.