<p>My son has convinced himself that if McCain gets elected, he needs to move to Canada. He's also a senior. So we are actually looking at Canadian schools. </p>
<p>I have a couple of things I have learned from the various websites: tuition seems to be pretty reasonable. The schools are HUGE and almost all public. Admission is very straightforward unless you are international.</p>
<p>Son seems most interested in UBC, which seems to be one of the finest Canadian schools. Anybody have experience? We only know one person who went there and he loves it, but he was NMS and competitive for Ivies. Son is one notch below--4.0 GPA but SAT's in the high 600s and no sports or leadership--he's the classic introvert.</p>
<p>More people should probably look at Canadian schools. For years, they were a real bargain, given the exchange rates, even with their soak-the-Americans tuition structure. That's no longer really true. There is limited to no financial aid for those from the U.S., so the net price (taking into account living and travel expenses, too) is likely to be high relative to public universities in the U.S.</p>
<p>I don't know much about UBC, other than it's nice looking. I know a decent amount about Toronto and McGill. Like many U.S. flagship publics, either one can be terrific for a motivated self-starter, and problematic for a student who needs more hand-holding and direction.</p>
<p>I am not an expert on this topic by any means, but from what I gather, the university "experience" is VERY different in Canada. It's not what many American students think of when they think of college -- dorm life, maybe big sports, a lot happening on campus. Is he aware of this?</p>
<p>dbwes, as it happens, each of my children's best high-school friend goes to college in Canada, one at McGill and one at Toronto (which they chose over, inter alia, Penn, Barnard, and Berkeley), and my 24-year-old niece (who spent last week with us on vacation) just graduated from Toronto and works at the university. In general, apart from the big-sports thing, their university experience has been very, very comparable to that of their U.S. counterparts.</p>
<p>A physician colleaue's son goes to McGill and loves it. COA is way cheaper than US schools and it is in a cosmopolitan area. I wish I knew about it before we began our college search last year. It is also a well regarded school in the US.</p>
<p>I can only speak to UBC's campus itself (as opposed to admissions, programs, etc.). High atop a hill, bordered by lovely neighborhoods, a bike- or bus- ride from downtown Vancouver, a couple of blocks from a long stretch of waterfront parks and beaches -- the location is spectacular.</p>
<p>All Canadian universities are publicly funded. I have a niece who just graduated from Univ. of Toronto, and two Ds currently enrolled there. Several nieces and nephews, and countless sons and daughters of friends at several other Canadian schools - Queens, UBC, McGill, University of Western Ontario, Univ. of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier U, Dalhousie, Acadia and others. I also live in Toronto, and, other than a few stints in the U.S., have lived in Canada for most of my adult life. </p>
<p>There are many wonderful things about Canadian schools, but it's true that you won't find the hand-holding attitude that is evident at many U.S. colleges. I've also had two Ds graduate from U.S. colleges. The college 'experience' has not differed greatly. Happy to answer any specific questions you may have.</p>
<p>My d applied to U of Waterloo last year. We visited and she really loved it. For a long time it was her first choice. She like the residential colleges, she would have been able to continue in her sport (the standards were about like a good div3 school), and she encountered lots of very nice, laid back people. Two difficulties emerged during the application process -- 1) she had to apply to a specific faculty ie science or math or computer science or engineering, and she wasn't totally sure of what she wanted to major in. 2) she didn't recieve her acceptance until late May when US decision making was mostly done. By then she had been to the accepted student weekend of her first choice in the US and was committeed.</p>
<p>She was awarded a presidential scholarship of $2000 for the first year at Waterloo. Because she qualified for need based aid in the US the cost would have been comparable to what we are paying at MIT.</p>
<p>DS did a engineering masters (HCI-School of CS) at Toronto. Loved it. Lots to do. Lots of festivals and artsy stuff. Easy air connections. Lots to eat compared to Pittsburgh. Very international. He looked around for room/apt and found one between the international district and UT, inexpensive when you think of the location.</p>