<p>I'm in my 11th year at an American high school in Oregon, and I just recently found out that I am in fact a Canadian citizen as well. I've been looking at Canadian universities (UBC in particular) and I am very attracted to the low cost of tuition. 40,000 a year for a great American school vs. 5,000 for a great Canadian school...I would be an idiot to not embrace my inner Canuck. Anyway, I have a few glaring questions in my mind. Two of them are:</p>
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<li><p>What the heck kind of financial aid do you guys have up north? My dad who is Canadian mentioned some sort of program similar to the American FAFSA. He makes a pretty good salary as a teacher and with a small business on the side, which makes me wonder if I would apply for any aid at all (Not to mention that I'm a white male who is not the first generation to go to college). Unfortunately circumstances have it that neither of my parents can give me a lot of help with finances. Also, what kind of scholarship opportunities are there? In the States there are literally countless scholarships that you can get from all kinds of businesses and organizations. </p></li>
<li><p>What is UBC's reputation globally. I know that it ranks relatively highly in the various university rankings, but I'm not entirely sure how accurate those are. There must be many more factors involved in what makes a school great than they take into consideration. I'm much more interested in undergrad. at the moment, because I'm considering moving back down to the States for graduate.</p></li>
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<p>I'm not too concerned with getting into any school. I wouldn't qualify for the very best American U's but that's not what I would want anyways. Ive got about a 3.7 GPA and a 4.1 weighted, sports and volunteer for EC's, and nearly all of my junior and senior classes are/will be AP courses (11 in all four years), and I'm expecting to do very well on the ACT and SAT. Will any of the college credits I received from my AP classes transfer over to a Canadian U? </p>
<p>I wasn't exactly sure where to put this thread so I suppose I'll try it out here first and see what kind of response I get.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading my excessively long plea for help. I would be extremely grateful for any helpful responses. And a smiley for good measure : )</p>
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<li>Financial aid in Ontario universities is handled by OSAP . I’m not sure for out of province. You borrow money, interest free, and whenever you finish off school, interests start piling up. If you matriculate to grad school, they won’t charge you interest even if you go to an American grad school. (My sis went from a Canadian school to Columbia and doesn’t need to pay off OSAP yet). </li>
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<p>There are plenty of scholarships you ca apply for. You just need to look around (google StudentAwards, I think they have a list of Canadian scholarships). Furthermore, a lot of schools are entrance scholarships (automatically granted) that range from $1000 - $5000 annually and based off your entering average. Now, since your schooling is American, I don’t know if you qualify so you have to check out the individual university. </p>
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<li>UBC…can’t help you much there as I didn’t apply/look into it. I know it has a good rep, but I can’t help you on anything else. </li>
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<p>Individual schools have their own AP policies, so you’ll have to just search it up on their site. </p>
<p>If you’re thinking of going to grad school back in the States, it might be beneficial to just stay in the States for your undergrad (even if it’ll cost more). It’s generally easier to matriculate to an American grad school from an American undergrad.</p>
<p>Okay I think the OSAP is what my dad mentioned. That would probably be helpful for U ot T if that’s what I decided. </p>
<p>Hmm that’s interesting. I just found scholarshipscanada.com on the UBC website, which so far has been hugely helpful. </p>
<p>And I realize that going to a prestigious American school would definitely make it easier to get into a good grad programs, but I know of many students who are now$40,000 in debt, and I don’t really predict myself being able to scrap up the money necessary to NOT befall the same fate. I suppose I won’t know how I really feel about where I want to do my graduate education until I’m done with undergrad, so I suppose I’ll just worry about that right now, and just go with the flow</p>
<p>OSAP= lol. I am nearing the poverty line and the OASP gives me less than one thousand and some loans. </p>
<p>UBC is a globally recognized school. It has good exchange programs and I do know that they have direct transfers to very good schools for grad school etc such as UC Berkeley. Personally I don’t like the campus, but many love it. And Vancouver is a good place to live in.</p>
<p>Oh that’s actually fantastic. I was thinking about Political Science as a field of study, and UC Berkeley has a great program for that. Thanks Radddd.</p>
<p>UBC does have a solid reputation. The schools with the best international reputations are UofToronto, UBC, and McGill. McGill ranks the highest out of all Canadian universities, with Toronto close behind, but UBC isn’t far back. All 3 are very good universities.</p>
<p>There are plenty of scholarships, but not nearly as much as the US both in quantity and amount.</p>