I’m looking into possibly going to a Canadian university instead of an American one. I plan on being a marketing major. I was curious, of the two, what you think is the harder university. How do they compare in terms of the university community? Also, as a general question about Canadian universities, how hard is it to be able to meet people versus at American schools?
Thanks!
Tagging @DadTwoGirls and @gwnorth.
Unfortunately I’m not really qualified to answer your questions as I’m not overly familiar with Business programs or the academics at McGill beyond stating that there is not generally a significant difference in academic rigour across all Canadian universities. They tend to be fairly standardized outside of a handful of programs. The biggest difference you will find is with the ability of your peers and that’s determined by admission selectivity. I doubt you would find a significant difference in difficulty level between the two programs.
As to ability to meet people, that’s so variable, and I have no frame of reference to be able to compare it to American schools (though they aren’t a monolith so I don’t think you can typecast them as a whole). I will say that UofT at least has a significant commuter population and most residential students move off campus after first year which can impact campus culture. It’s also a very large school. Not having attended there myself personally though I can’t really comment beyond that. I would caution you that both cities are in the midst of a housing crunch so finding affordable off campus accommodation may be challenging (though it’s worse in Toronto vs Montreal).
UToronto has a system of colleges, which helps create bonds between students. It’s also known for major grade deflation.
McGill is urban, students living all over town, except for the McDonald campus (Environmental sciences, Resource&bioengineering, Agronomy…) - its students are a cohort and are close knit.
Don’t forget Concordia, Waterloo, McMaster, Dalhousie, or, if you want a better sense of community, Mount Allison.
The learning environment is like grad school but for undergrads.
There’s no difference in ability to meet people at McGill/U of T/American universities. I agree that there would be no difference in rigor between McGill and U of T. U of T is much more multicultural than McGill although McGill is likely more multicultural than the vast majority of American universities. Housing is much more expensive and difficult to find in Toronto. Most students at U of T who move off campus, stay within a few blocks of campus.
U of T is specifically known for its lack of community because it is predominantly a commuter school, with most people heading home in the evenings. (There are some “colleges” that create some community for people getting into them.) It has strong grade deflation which can hit people hard, and combined with the lack of community has led to a lot of people experiencing it as joyless (common nickname U of Tears).
McGill has less grade deflation, has more people living on campus and next to it, and is less than half the size of U of T. These factors make it more social than U of T, but it is still a school for students who are mentally tough, don’t need hand-holding, and want to experience urban adulthood, not the movie-college-life of US schools (football games that people care about, frat scene etc.) If you want that in Canada try a smaller school in a smaller place like Queen’s or Dalhousie.
I have a kid in the US now and comparing her experience to students here, the difference between the social lives has only increased since COVID. Many departments here are now recording classes so students don’t have to attend if they’re sick, which makes it easier to skip class, which many do, so there is less of a social vibe than there was. Also in downtown Montreal many office buildings are only half-occupied since companies did not fully move back in post-COVID, so the bar and restaurant scene has slowed down (many restaurants are no longer open at lunch). Maybe things will return to normal eventually, but if you looking for a lively party scene, help from administrators, small classes etc. I’d go US. If you are looking for adulthood, responsibility, independence, and lower costs, then Canada may be the place.
The only thing that I will add is that if you do expand your list of schools beyond UofT and McGill, Business is one of the few undergraduate majors that is prestige driven. There is a tiered ranking of undergraduate Business programs though it mostly applies to those targeting Finance (especially those wanting to work in the US on Wall Street) more so than for Marketing. At the top you will find Western Ivey, Queen’s Smith, UofT Rotman, McGill DeSautels, and UBC Sauder. Other well regarded programs also include York Schulich and McMaster DeGroote.
That is true of all large North American downtowns.
Toronto included.
I would add that Western and Queens also rank very high on lists of top feeders to MBB consulting jobs.
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