NEED YOUR HELP! University of Toronto vs University of Michigan

<p>Hey! guys im an Indian student,currently studying in the middle east and an totally confused about where I want to go to for college.
I plan to do ENGINEERING, but am pretty much undecided about my particual major right now.</p>

<p>Here are the colleges that I have applied to:</p>

<p>1.Cornell [ED]: Rejected
2.GaTech : Deferred
3.UIUC : Deferred
4.UCLA : Accepted
5.Purdue : Accepted
6.Umichian ann arbor[EA] : Accepted
7.University of Toronto : Accepted(early)</p>

<p>STATS:</p>

<p>GPA(average over 4 years):3.79
SAT1: 1920
ICSE: 93%[Is grade 10 examination in India]
Expecting around 90% in my finals.</p>

<p>ECs: </p>

<p>Grade 4 Piano and Guitar.
Little volunteer work..mostly teaching.
Intramural Tennis,football.
Class representative for debate team.</p>

<p>After talking to ex-students and my councellor i have narrowed my choices down to either university of michigan and university of toronto. </p>

<p>I currently feel that both places are freaking amazing and it would be great to study at either places. Am currently slight more inclined towards Toronto cus it seems more International student-friendly and is a great city. I currently do not have the oppertunity to travel to either US or Canada this month so that complicates things for me.</p>

<p>My parents have the finances covered but i would like to do a work-study for 1 year and/or do at least one semester abroad.I also plan on going to grad school after 4 years of college.</p>

<p>Important factors:</p>

<p>1.University prestige
2.Chances of getting into Grad school
3.Co-op opertunities
4.Location(prefer to stay in a city)...heard that ann arbor is unsafe and that concerns my parents</p>

<p>Bump…anyone?</p>

<p>1.University prestige: UMichigan</p>

<p>2.Chances of getting into Grad school: UMichigan</p>

<p>3.Co-op opportunities: Maybe equal. Toronto has a good co-op program, but Michigan has better job placement.</p>

<p>4.Location (prefer to stay in a city)…heard that ann arbor is unsafe and that concerns my parents: Ann Arbor is safe enough. Seriously. But if you really desire an urban environment, Toronto might be for you. Just keep in mind that UToronto is largely a commuter school, while Michigan is a traditional college environment with tons of school spirit, sports games, and traditional social events.</p>

<ol>
<li>Chance of getting a long-term work visa: Canada</li>
</ol>

<p>university of michigan!</p>

<p>Thx …but can you tell me why is it easier to get into grad school from Michigan?</p>

<p>Thx for the replies everyone, just got my I-20 from Michigan XD</p>

<p>Bump Bump Bump!</p>

<p>Whoever said Ann Arbor is not safe is seriously misinformed. And Ann Arbor has a large international population (not including students) and a sizeable population of Indian origin.</p>

<p>On the other hand, graduating from UMich is not necessarily going to increase chances for grad school. There are several factors that play into grad school admissions and where you did your undergrad is only one (insignificant) of those factors.</p>

<p>More opportunities for research at Michigan, and more faculty support too. Either way, where you did your undergrad is pretty insignificant, but it is a factor nonetheless.</p>

<p>Where you do your undergraduate is not insignificant at all!!! Heck, in math at least, it’s the single best predictor of which graduate schools a student will get accepted to. The top programs like to exchange students among each other. That all being said, I know nothing whatsoever about engineering and can’t tell you anything about your graduate school prospects from each university.</p>

<p>May I ask why you prefer Michigan over Purdue and UCLA? That reasoning might shed light on Michigan vs Toronto as well.</p>

<p>For Job Opportunities:
UMIch=UToronto tbh if you compare them on a country basis (Mich you want to work in the US, Toronto if you want to work in Canada). Internationally, well would depend on the firm. Would say they are about the same.</p>

<p>Prestige:
None of them really do have prestige attached to them. Engineering is not a prestige obssessed profession. For engineering they are both solidly in the top 20 in the world though.</p>

<p>Grad School:
Ok this is difficult. In general as an international student you are better off at Michigan than Toronto if you want to go to grad school in the US. If you want to go to grad school outside North America they are the same. If you want to go from toronto to grad school in the US then you need to be close to the top of the class for tippy top programs. But you could get away with a GPA of 3.5 from Michigan. If you want to apply to grad school in Canada, Toronto for sure. This is a general rule. Just what I observed watching people from foreign countries apply to grad school. </p>

<p>I might be wrong</p>

<p>Congrats though- either choices are great and are probably the best in the field. You are kind of set if you work hard.</p>

<p>Oh and what type of engineering???</p>

<p>@karki:Thx!</p>

<p>@b@r!um: I basically decided to choose between a big city university or a college town…i would prefer Toronto over LA…anyday…simply because Toronto appeals more to me and I would be living downtown in Toronto.</p>

<p>I preferd Michigan over Purdue cus of the fact that after everything i have read, And after talking to ex-students from my school who went to both Michigan and purdue,and discussing it with my councillor, I decided on Michigan.</p>

<p>Also since, I am an international,the total cost i would end up paying for :
Michigan : 45,000$
Purdue : 41,000$
[plus or minus 2000$]</p>

<p>…i personally felt that the extra 5 grand was worth paying for the Michigan brand name.
Apart from that Michigan destroys purdue in school spirit and athletics.</p>

<p>@sefago: currently undecided. Will probarbly do either computer engineering or mech.</p>

<p>Bump BUmp!</p>

<p>Bump!!!</p>

<p>uh…im tired of these…BUMP</p>

<p>Which do you prefer?</p>

<p>Where might you wanna work if you dont decide to go back to your country?</p>

<p>Where do you wanna go to grad school?</p>

<p>Commuter campus or Decently large but still intimate campus?</p>

<p>Canadians or Americans (basically the same people lol)?</p>

<p>Hockey or American Football?</p>

<p>Both have world class professors if that matter. Both are good engineering schools. Michigan would have more research opportunities and you would have better access to the top companies but work visa issues might arise (for engineers this is less of a problem than liberal art graduates). Toronto seem to have a lot of industrial links to canada with capstone projects and such.</p>

<p>UT is better then UM @ AA. Plus Toronto is a great city and Canada a great country.</p>

<p>bump bump!</p>