McGill vs UofT (Undergraduate, faculty of arts)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Toronto
1

Hi, I am a high school senior in Nova Scotia and I just got accepted to McGill and U of T for the arts programme (I sent in my transcripts and IB marks around new years and received the offers just a few days ago, so if anyone is wondering about the application process, don’t hesitate to ask^^). I am having some trouble choosing between the two options and it is more stressful that I thought it would be. Please help!!

I am planning on majoring in history or sociology, maybe criminology? I will be staying in rez but I have close relatives living in both areas who I can rely on. My main concerns are the vibe and the community of the two campuses (btw I was accepted into the downtown campus of UofT)
My questions are:
-how are the students? the size and friendliness? is the student body very close to each other?
-how are toronto and montreal as cities, especially around the campus area? I visited toronto a few times and everything and everyone seemed rather cold…I don’t know how to explain…
-if anyone knows, how are the reputations of the two schools regarded in the States?
-how is rez life?
-how competitive are the schools within the student body?
Any other information would be much loved and appreciated!!!
And again, if there are any questions about the application process, please do ask!!!

2

Both schools are well regarded in the US both by employers and grad schools. McGill is more well know though in the US.
UToronto is enormous while McGill is merely large LOL.
Both schools are in the middle of downtown, safe lively areas. Montréal has a low crime rate even by Canadian standards.
Have you visited Montreal? A bilingual, bicultural city. As a McGill student you will have the opportunity to improve your French but it is not required.

You only posted this in the UToronto forum so I imagine you are leaning towards that school. You may want to copy and paste this in the McGill forum here on CC.

3

As a history or sociology major, there won’t be a lot of competition at U of T. Computer science and life science are competitive, but people don’t try to pull each other down. I wouldn’t call the student body “close”, but it is relatively easy to make friends, especially within your residence.

I’d recommend visiting both campuses, preferably in the next couple of months while classes are still going and seeing which you prefer.