Most Prestigious Canadian University?

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>I'm a junior and I'll most likely be attending a Canadian university after graduation since tuition is roughly 6x higher for me to attend any American school. However, I have had full intentions to attend a top-tier American school for as long as I can remember. Not only the Ivy League, but schools such as UofMich, UC Berkeley, NYU, and Stanford have been on my list for years now. </p>

<p>In terms of prestige, which Canadian university would increase my chances of attending an American Ivy League or a school of equal calibre for grad school? I've mostly narrowed down my choices to UofT and McGill University. However, there is a severe grade deflation at UofT, making it very difficult to have a 4.0 GPA. Essentially, I'm asking which Canadian university has a better international reputation and is known as an "Ivy Feeder"? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Frankly if you are going for a higher degree after undergrad then the name attached to your undergrad is only a very small factor the Ivies look at. But if reputation is such a big deal another great comprehensive university aside from UofT and McGill is the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
However it all depends on what you want to major in. Uoft and McGill are solid for just about anything but there are also smaller schools which have narrower focuses and can be tops in the country for some fields (e. Queens for business and commerce or Waterloo for engineering). Therefore could you please post what subjects you intend to study?</p>

<p>PS. McGill and Uoft are comparable in prestige to schools like NYU, UMich and lower Ivies such as Brown.</p>

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<p>U of T and McGill both have the most international recognition. Neither of them are really “Ivy-feeders”. Schools don’t really care where you got your undergrad, as long as you have all the prerequisites and a high enough GPA. And if you go to U of T…your GPA likely won’t be as high as it would be elsewhere.</p>

<p>Don’t just go for the prestige. A lot of schools around here are better in certain fields as NamelesStatistic mentioned. What field are you looking to go into?</p>

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<p>Everyone complains about UofT’s grading being insane but it is really not so bad most of the courses have a C+/B- class average which isn’t so bad. Anyway I managed to get into McGill grad school with a full stipend and an entrance award with my honours BSc from UofT and one of my friends from uoft has got an NSERC award and is going to grad school at UBC. So while I agree with OrchidBloom that you should not just pick uoft because of its reputation and there are definitely other schools you should consider as well, by the same token you really shouldn’t just dismiss uoft it because you are afraid it is to hard.</p>

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<p>As others have stated, depends on the field… Mcgill is a great choice if you are worried about grades, though whether it is actually any easier than UofT is up for debate. At the least, 85+ is an A and there are no A+… So that could help you at Mcgill.</p>

<p>Most important besides grades for grad admissions is research experience… Which you can get at pretty much any large university in Canada. Though certain universities might have more going on in specific fields.</p>

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<p>Sorry for the late reply! For the longest time, I’ve been torn between medicine and law. Although they are two different career paths, law is my major field of interest but dozens of guidance counsellors and teachers alike have suggested over the years that I apply to science or pre-med programs, since I also have a strong aptitude for science. As far as I know, both UofT and McGill are great for both fields.</p>

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<p>IMO, none of the Canadian universities are actually prestigious because they are all easy to get into (I am a Canadian). I would agree with the above posters that McGill and the U of T are the best ranked in Canada, though. If you are set on going to grad school in Canada, you should definitely apply to those two!</p>

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<p>@tarheeltransfer: Ya… all the discoveries international prizes and inventions at strong Canadian Universities such as Toronto and McGill and their corresponding high regard in various World University Rankings mean nothing… Of course they still have no prestige.</p>

<p>I am glad you are enjoying UNC but be careful where you step, because you seem to have your Tarheel in your mouth.</p>

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<p>Nameless, I didn’t say that they are not good universities. I said that they are not prestigious. It is prestigious for one to say that he goes to Harvard because only six in one hundred applicants get in. On the other hand, anyone who simply works hard in high school can go to the University of Toronto; it’s not hard. If someone gets accepted there, would anyone make a big deal about it? Doubtful.</p>

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<p>I don’t see anything about selectivity in that definition. Selectivity != prestigious.</p>

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<p>That’s not really what prestigious means in college acceptances. How can something have high status if it’s not hard to get?</p>

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<p>That’s how you’ve decided that something has high status. To others, high status comes with name recognition (in their own experience, not others’ – I hadn’t heard of Columbia University until I ended up here), with quality of teaching or research opportunities, or with world rankings. </p>

<p>I’d like to note that your definition of prestige is very tenuous. For example, if all of a sudden everyone started applying to St. Francis Xavier University, it would be more prestigious than Harvard (5,000 vs. 20,000 students with the same number of applicants → lower acceptance rate). Everyone’s heard of Harvard, so that’s why everyone applies there, making it harder to get into. Now, though, many other schools are gaining “prestige”, as students become aware of and apply to more and more schools, driving acceptance rates down. Also, have you heard of College of the Ozarks? By your metric, it’s more prestigious than Dartmouth (8.9% vs. 10.1% acceptance rate). Who knew? :p</p>

<p>Don’t knock a school just because it’s easier to get into; the caliber of one metric doesn’t determine the caliber of the rest. I think you’re just bitter because McGill, UofT, and UBC are all higher-ranked than your school ( :wink: ) – which is an incredible school in its own right, and which you should be very proud to attend. :)</p>

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<p>Ok off the bat, of course Harvard is more prestigious than any Canadian university, because it is the most prestigious university in the world, so it is a fairly ridiculous comparison since if your benchmark for a prestigious university is Harvard your list is exactly one entry long. FYI Harvard actually isn’t the most selective school in America: [Top</a> 100 - Lowest Acceptance Rates | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate]Top”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate)</p>

<p>Also prestige not necessarily correlated with selectivity: For example large state universities (akin to the large Canadian universities which are also government funded) are often less selective than less prestigious private universities. For example Berkley (a school I think we can all agree is prestigious) had a 2011 acceptance rate of 25.6% and UMich Ann Arbor had an acceptance rate of 40.6%. A degree from a large public can be very reputable even though they are not as selective as many private universities. </p>

<p>The higher acceptance rate of public universities in Canada and the US vs private US universities, of equivalent world rankings is likely due to the main goal of a state/province university being to educate the people of their home area, therefore they tend to have large student populations and lower selectivity. As stated above they can still be some of the most prestigious universities in the world, especially for graduate degrees.</p>

<p>Also FYI UNC had an acceptance rate of 31.4%. Far from your Harvard level selectivity of 6%. So if Canadian universities aren’t prestigious because of their selectivity then neither is your university. Sorry to burst your bubble.</p>

<p>Again: Be careful not to step on your own tongue.</p>

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<p>They’re not better. Times’ rankings has serious methodology problems. They ranked the University of Minnesota higher than Brown. This discredits the entire list. I could have easily transferred to McGill, UBC, or UToronto, but having attended a Canadian institution that is ranked 1 or 2 places lower than those, I figure that Canadian universities are not that great. In addition, McGill, UBC, and UToronto feed students into top grad schools at a MUCH lower rate than UNC, which supports what I wrote. UToronto sends as many people to Yale Law School as Arizona State does.</p>

<p>UNC’s 2013 acceptance rate is 25%, with an OOS acceptance rate of 16%.</p>

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<p>@tarheeltransfer: Times, QS, US news. Sure all these rankings rate universities such as McGill and Toronto highly, but what the hall they must all have flawed methodologies because they don’t have the same ranking that YOU believe is right, and because YOU personally did not like your experience at a Canadian University (How does a bad experience at a single Canadian University demonstrate the lack of prestige of all 66 universities in the country?), that automatically means the world does not think an UofT, McGill or UBC degree isn’t prestigious.
Have you ever considered that your personal views on these institutions might not actually be reflected in how the world views these institutions?</p>

<p>Also of course McGill and Toronto have lower rates of feeding students to Ivies. They are Canadian schools, most of their students who pursue a graduate degree are Canadian and thus will continue to go to school in Canada because it is cheaper, more convenient and in the country where they intend to work in as adults! What a boneheaded statement you made.</p>

<p>Oxford and Cambridge also probably have lower amounts of students going to Ivies than a school like UNC doesn’t mean they they are less reputable…just in a different country.</p>

<p>Also UNC’s acceptance rate is 31.4%… as I said.
[Top</a> 100 - Lowest Acceptance Rates | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate/spp%2B50/page+2]Top”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate/spp%2B50/page+2)</p>

<p>Perhaps you were confusing it with University of North Carolina School of the Arts, which has an acceptance rate of 25.8? UNC as a whole is listed at 31.4%.</p>

<p>Foot. Mouth.</p>

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<p>UNC accepts 25.7 percent of applicants this year
[The</a> Daily Tar Heel :: UNC accepts 25.7 percent of applicants this year](<a href=“http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2012/04/unc_acceptance_rate_drops]The”>http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2012/04/unc_acceptance_rate_drops)</p>

<p>“UNC admitted just 14 percent of out-of-state students”</p>

<p>Google c.o.l.l.e.g.e p.r.o.w.l.e.r (wow, collegeconfidential really doesn’t like its competitors… stars out the names when I post it) and compare the ratings of UNC vs McGill, UToronto, and UBC. They rated UNC much higher in most areas–especially in academics.</p>

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<p>Don’t worry about ‘ivy league’ grad school. Good lord. So not relevant. Are you interested in ‘professional’ grad school (eg MBA) or ‘academic’ grad school (eg. PhD research degree?). You will want to go to the best grad school in the field you select. You won’t know that field until you have majored it, and if an academic grad program, more importantly have research experience in it. So later on you will have an idea about whether grad school is for you, what kind of grad school, what area if you plan to do research and THEN you will have an idea about which specific schools would be the best fit for you. The likelihood they are ‘Ivy League’ is small and actually entirely irrelevant. But going to the BEST school for your particular career goals is what matters.</p>

<p>Having said that there is no ‘feeder’ school. What will matter- in terms of academic graduate programs- is having good grades from a research oriented university, where you have had a chance to do research with faculty. And especially valuable if those faculty are well known/high published in their respective fields. Fields have their own ranking of schools and it isn’t about USNWR ‘prestige’ that your friends and family know about. Moreover, academics know academia: they know that some schools are more challenging or produce better qualified students than others; they know some grade differently than others, some majors are much easier than others in terms of GPA, as are some courses (e.g. if you take Bowling 101 and get an A, it’s ignored vs. if you take Thermodynamics as an elective and get a B, that is valued). They are typically looking at small numbers of students and they aren’t reading a rankings list of schools, they couldn’t care less about ‘prestige’ in a very general popular sense, nor do they simply look at your GPA. </p>

<p>Go to the school that fits you best on lots of dimensions (size, location, vibe etc), where it offers a solid major in your area of interest, and where you have a chance to do research with faculty that can write great letters of rec. about you and ‘sell you’ to their field for graduate work. A good way to find this out is by emailing and asking current leaders of the club that represents your future major (e.g. the president and treasurer of the History Major Club). </p>

<p>So the answer is a lot of Canadian schools will will perfectly for your purpose. In fact, I teach at one and many of my undergrad students have gone to US universities for grad school, and many of my PhD students have gone to be faculty at top US schools.</p>

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<p>@tarheeltransfer
Oh no!!! c.o.l.l.e.g.e p.r.o.w.l.e.r posters don’t like UofT or McGill, what will I do, forget about the actual college rankings at sites like Times QS or US news and the industry reputation, if a bunch of anonymous posters at one website don’t like a specific university it must have a low rep.</p>

<p>Sorry but I call BS when your only source for your views is a random website with little more than just an aggregate of online views, no research methodology and no quality controls. Sorry but it is not a reliable source, and certainly does not hold up against actual sources like the TIMES or QS which have actual research methodologies rather than a bunch of random comments by webtrollers.</p>

<p>By the way this is an aggregate of (supposedly) student views about the quality of the education at. This is not a judgement of the prestige of the university, which is based mainly on how industry and academia views the institutions.</p>

<p>As to the dependency in our sources to the acceptance rate of UNC I don’t quite understand it however if I had to choose one I would be inclined to believe the US News source since they use the official data submitted by the university to the government, whereas a school paper does not necessarily use official data. (Ie. if the data that the US News was wrong, then that means that the data the University sent to the government was false and this would be a crime- US Naval academy got in trouble for this a while back I believe). A school paper is free to publish whatever they want and do not necessarily have to use official data.</p>

<p>However what UNC’s exact acceptance rate is isn’t really relevant to this debate. </p>

<p>Ultimately your sources for McGill and UofT’s low reputation are: 1 aggregate anonymous web review site and Ivy league acceptance rates (which I think we can both agree is a bad proxy because it would mean just about every school outside of the US would be at a major disadvantage because most of their students will study in their own country)</p>

<p>My sources are official rankings from TIMES, QS and US News, which have actual research methodologies, judge the reputation of universities by things such as the views of universities in the academic world, reputation of the university degree by employers in related industry, number and quality of research produced.</p>

<p>Sorry tarheeltransfer, you are free to express your view on Canadian Universities, but “prestige” is not based on your personal views. It is based on how the wider world views these schools, and your evidence that your view is the norm is quite frankly laughable.</p>

<p>I would think a good university like UNC would teach you to use better sources when trying to prove your point in an argument.</p>

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<p>As you know, there are many rankings. For example, what do you think of Washington Monthly’s rankings?</p>

<p>As for Times’ rankings, they put the University of Minnesota ahead of Brown University. That attests to the lack of reliability of that ranking.</p>

<p>Times ranks based on a survey. I don’t think that this is reliable.
<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013/reputation-ranking/methodology[/url]”>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013/reputation-ranking/methodology&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I am not one hundred percent sure because I don’t have time to look it up, but Times had UNC around 28th in the rankings a few years ago. They went down in the rankings because fraud was discovered in the Afro Studies department, so since it is a survey ranking, the opinion of the institution went down and thus its ranking went down. That’s a garbage system.</p>