<p>I am an international student who got accepted at McGill (admitted pending final results) and at NYU General Studies Program. I am uncertain as to which university I should choose. I plan on majoring in economics at both schools. NYU seems very attractive since the financial institutions are located there, but I would attend the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) rather than Stern. Also there is this uncertainty of actually getting into the CAS after the GSP.
McGill seems very appealing as well but I have the feeling that the reptutation of NYU is slightly better?! I wish to attend a Grad School in the US after my undergrad. Do they see that I "only" got in through the GSP? Also, I am a bit scared that if I attend McGill I might get stuck in Canada, which isn't a bad thing, but I'd rather keep my options open to work in the US or somewhere else. Speaking of which, as I am an international student, would it be difficult to work in the US? Would it be easier to work in Canada?</p>
<p>By the way, I also received an offer from St. Andrew's University in Scottland. I don't know whether it's very well-known in N. America?!</p>
<p>I would appreciate your advice since I seem to change my mind every hour about where I wish to go. Thanks!
elitester is online now</p>
<p>Can't help you on the NYU/McGill questions, but I'm an American who went to grad school at St. Andrews for a year.</p>
<p>St. Andrews has surprisingly good name recognition in the US, probably because Prince William went there, so everybody who reads PEOPLE magazine knows about it. Also, nearly everybody is aware of the famous golf course there. So I'd say that it's probably the most well-known UK university except for obviously Oxford and Cambridge. (U of London is too nebulous--though LSE is known, and nobody here can pronounce Edinburgh correctly.)</p>
<p>But you couldn't find many colleges in the world that are more different than St.Andrews and NYU/McGill. The former is in one of the most isolated tiny towns imaginagle, while the latter two are in the middle of two of the most excititng and cosmopolitan big cities on the planet. I'm not a big-city guy at all, and I nearly went nuts from the isolation of St. Andrews. Also, the dorm food at St. Andrews was TERRIBLE.</p>
<p>So TourGuide446, would you advise me to go to St. Andrew's? That's probably going to be the hardest to get into for me since I only received a conditional offer, where the condition was quite high. I will visit St. Andrew's on Tuesday, so I'll see what it's like. But generally I am a big-city guy (I live in Berlin).
And AcceptedAlready, what exactly do you mean when you say that the GSP records stays with me? I was informed that the final degree just notes that I attended the CAS. I mean NYU just seems to be pretty "famous" and I heard their econ dept. at the CAS is one of the best in the US (I might be wrong though). So essentially the question for me is how much of a bad impact the GSP thing will have. Perhaps you could elaborate a bit more on your point. Thanks :-)</p>
<p>I say go to McGill. Nice international reputation, great city, and Montreal has probably the most beautiful women of any city in the world. No kidding, it's like a supermodel convention there...ask anybody who's been there.</p>
<p>Everything in NYC is super expensive, and NYU has literally NO campus--it's just a bunch of buildings in a neighborhood. Also, the way the British universities work with sporadic lectures and occasional exams that mean everything is a lot less attractive (to me) than the more structured US/Canadian approach.</p>
<p>elitester, you say you live in Berlin...are you an ethnic German? I don't know if you know the religious/ethnic makeup of the faculty and students at NYU, but if you're an ethnic German, don't expect them to roll out the red carpet for you.</p>
<p>Interesting. Well to be exact, I'm German-Iranian, which probably isn't the most liked ethnic combination in the US. But then again, I always had the impression that NYU is quite liberal in that regard?! And plus, every single American I've met thought I was an American. After all, I went to a German-American high school and have ties to America. But it's interesting to hear what you're saying. But what exactly makes you think they're not going to "accept" me?</p>
<p>Let's just say if you're German, things in the classroom could get a little tense about half-way through your 20th Century European History class. Then again, in some circles, your German-ness might be an asset...like if one of the on-campus theater groups was putting on the musical "The Producers," and needed someone to play the playwright.</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that the drinking age (even for beer) in New York is 21. In Canada it's 19. In Scotland it's 12 or 13 (I forget which), but the pubs close incredibly early, like 10 or 11 p.m.</p>
<p>The drinking age in Canada is a provincial jurisdiction (and there's no federal government blackmailing on the matter). It's 19 in every province except for Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, where in those cases it's 18 (though for Quebec, it's really more of a suggestion...).</p>
<p>Thanks for the correction Blobof. My mistake. Also, I hope everybody knows I was kidding about the drinking age being 12 or 13 in Scotland. (It's actually 9 or 10.)</p>
<p>Blobof, what time (if ever) do the bars close in Quebec?</p>
<p>Also, is there anybody from the New York City area who has an opinion about how a German-Iranian person would fit in at NYU? No, that's not a joke.</p>
<p>I agree with going to McGill for all the reasons already said (especially the part about beautiful women in Montreal - it's absolutely true). However, as a person who has lived in NYU my whole life, I have to disagree with the notion of you not being "accepted". NYC, and NYU in particular, is one of the most accepting and tolerable places in the world. You will not have any problems with your ethnic backround at NYU. Of course, I would say the same thing for McGill.</p>
<p>Also, even though McGill is in Canada, it's not as if you graduate from a Canadian school you can't seek employment oppurtunities in America. Even in America McGill has a great reputation.</p>
<p>So, especially considering that you would have to start of in General Studies if you went to NYU, I say go to McGill.</p>
<p>If u go to NYU, u will be accepted; that's not a problem.</p>
<p>But I wud still say "go to McGill," coz u r planning to go to grad school, and every good McGill graduate is admitted by the Ivies easily. And actually they dopn't need to be admitted even, coz their grad programs are quite good. Just look at US universities' faculty pages; u will see that every univ has a lot of faculty from McGill. So u can graduate from McGill and still work in the US.</p>
<p>asLSO, if, as u said, u r caring about working in the US/Canada, it is easier to get a start in Canada. In the US, it is extremely difficult if u r not American.</p>
<p>Thanks vex for your comment. It addresses every aspect I want to know about.</p>
<p>Ultimately I would want to work in NYC at a bank or some other financial institution. I've heard of McGill students who've done that. So it's quite interesting to me that you said it's easier to get a start in Canada than in the US. I have share that impression, yet I was wondering what exactly you meant. Is it easier to get started in Canada because I'm German and, thus, not an American citizen, or do you just mean generally it's easier to get into a business in Canada because it might not be as competitive as the US?!</p>