<p>Hi, I am new to this forum. We imigrated to Canada from U.S few months ago. My children went to schools in U.S from very biginning. My oldest son did not like schools in Canada and want to go to college in U.S. My first question is if this is his right decision?. If so, how can he sit for SAT in Canad</p>
<p>Hi, cheerup, there are excellent colleges in both countries. We are Canadian and my son is currently attending college in the USA and my daughter will be joining him next year. We are on the west coast so the universities that I know best are University of British Columbia and University of Victoria. Both very good, UBC is much bigger than UVic with more programs available. It’s up to you and your son. Typically the tuition fees here are less expensive, but with financial aid and merit awards it can even out. Really you and your son should do lots of research!
Your oldest son can check the CB site online and see where the SAT is being offered near his location. Typically he can sign up for a seat at a local university or private school. The test dates are the same as in the USA. Here, testing was offered at the local university where several lecture halls would be allocated to the reasoning and subject tests.</p>
<p>Many Canadians go to college in the US, but of course most don’t, because Canada offers options that are on a par with the best US public universities. I know people (some of them close relatives, and some – not the same ones – from the US) who have had great experiences at the University of Toronto and McGill University, both of which are world-class in many areas. In all likelihood, you are going to have to pay (or borrow) a great deal of money for the privilege of having your children attend a college that is not clearly better than either of those. Or UBC, either, or Waterloo.</p>
<p>There are some very knowledgeable parents on this site who can give you information about the colleges and universities in eastern Canada, but McGill and Waterloo are excellent, as well as University of Toronto. Perhaps if you told us your son’s interests we could make some suggestions.</p>
<p>cross posted with JHS!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your replies. My son is a techy from his childhood. He was part of his high school Robotic Club, learning Java and loved to do anything related to Technology… He is very good at Maths and sciences. Part of our research of Tech colleges in Canada, he picked up Waterloo and UoT. He selected his subjects in his high school there according to Waterloo’s minimum entry criteria, which was great. I am reading that a lot of knowledgeable parents are saying good about Canadian Colleges when compared with U.S. If he is able to get into Waterloo or UoT, it is very easy for me to fund his college there for him being a Canadian Citizen. Whereas if I think about sending him to a U.S college he cannot get most of the grants and cannot get any student laon being not a U.S Citizen or Permanent Residents. But If U.S takes Canadain degrees as equivalent or almost equivalent to U.S colleges, I can have my boys stick to Canadian colleges and try their luck finding a job there which is ideal for all of us, but if they still want to move back to U.S, after completing their college, they can still do it. What do you think?. Are we missing anything?. </p>
<p>Regards</p>
<p>If he is interested in engineering, the [Canadian</a> Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) of Engineers Canada](<a href=“http://www.engineerscanada.ca/e/pr_accreditation.cfm]Canadian”>http://www.engineerscanada.ca/e/pr_accreditation.cfm) does accreditation of engineering degree programs in Canada. It has a [mutual</a> recognition agreement with ABET](<a href=“http://www.abet.org/engineering-mra-engineers-canada/]mutual”>http://www.abet.org/engineering-mra-engineers-canada/), which can be helpful in the US for licensing, job seeking, or graduate study.</p>
<p>That is very helpful. Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with tech areas at all, but I definitely have the impression that Waterloo is a well-respected brand in the computer and software industries, world-wide, not just in the U.S. and Canada. While RIM isn’t looking so hot right now, it was Waterloo’s equivalent of Hewlett-Packard or Google (for Stanford). And Toronto, heck, if it was good enough for Marshall McLuhan and Malcolm Gladwell . . . .</p>
<p>The thing about Toronto is that it takes a wide range of students and gives them a chance to succeed (and doesn’t hesitate to kick them out if they don’t). That’s not the fancy-US-college model, but for motivated, prepared students it can work just fine. I’m not so sure what Waterloo does</p>
<p>What is/was your children’s legal status while in the US? </p>
<p>Are you in a situation where you (and they) would eventually be eligible for Legal Permanent Residence (green card) status here?</p>
<p>If your children do not have green cards by the time they begin college, they would be international applicants in the US and financing their educations could be extremely difficult. The expert on aid for international applicants is b@r!um who often posts in the International Students Forum. She has good advice on finding colleges that might give aid to students like your children.</p>
<p>If your family has immigrant status in Canada, the best option for your children would almost certainly be for them to complete their educations in Canada. If they wish to look for work in the US later in their lives, their Canadian degrees will be well-respected here.</p>
<p>Thanks JHS. I have heard a lot about Waterloo’s Biomedical and Robotic Engineering. Do you know if U.S highshcool grades would go on final grades when my son completes his high school. Are U.S GPA’s also accepted as is towards Canadian college admissions?. His school asked for transcripts from U.S which we provided in order for them to recognize the courses already taken and to plan the rest of the 11th & 12th Grades but i am concerned if the colleges there are going to accept U.S grades/GPA as is because that is the major part of their acheivements so far.</p>
<p>We came to U.S thirteen years ago on work visa, none of my children were born in U.S but we always stayed on legal status. I could not get U.S PR or citizenship for one reason or another (there is a lot into it) but i had to plan ahead for my children’s college for obvious reasons. We decided to move to Canada which we recently did. I will also be packing the bags in two years once i finish my contract in NYC. The only reason we planned Canada is for the kids college education as i could not afford that in U.S. The boys are feeling terrible about this move and want to move back but I have to work on many fronts for few years to get this project done. If it did not work there, i was exploring any options to get loans in U.S as a backup plan. </p>
<p>Regards</p>
<p>cheerup6 -</p>
<p>Your children will need to contact each of the Canadian universities that they consider applying to, and ask what each institution requires that they do with their US school records. Each place will have its own policy about this.</p>