Hi,
I am an international applicant weighing offers from RHIT and U of T St. George Faculty of Arts and Science for UG CS.
At RHIT, I have received a 94k merit scholarship (RHIT Merit Scholar). I also have a 100K merit scholarship from U of T (U of T International Scholar)
While U of T will end up being the cheaper option (since we would be paying in CAD), RHIT too is in our range.
How would you factor the two for
- Undergraduate CS education, academic rigor and opportunities
- Professor Interactions and Class Size
- Student life and the culture at each college
- Internships/Placements (U of T offers a Co-op option)
- Prestige and reputation among employers and grad schools
- Toronto vs Terre Haute
A little about me - I have grown up in a urban city, so would obviously fit better in Toronto, but I have never faced such harsh weather. Also, I am slightly inclined towards the smaller closed knit classes at RHIT.
Hence the dilemma!!
Any advice would be beneficial!!
PS: I am also waitlisted at CMU and Northwestern, UMich (LSA)
I think you need to hear from someone who has gone intl. obviously the schools are vastly different. Size. Location. Breadth. RHITis tiny abd not even in town. It’s just…isolated.
That said I think going intl would be tougher to find employment.
I may be wrong but every time someone sees your resume they will think foreign student and we don’t sponsor foreign students.
It’s what I would think anyway except your resume would not even make it to my desk.
Others who have more experience may see it differently.
First off, congratulations on such strong offers.
Both Rose and U of Toronto offer excellent Comp programs. However, Rose’s undergraduate program is far stronger than U of Toronto’s. Class size tend to be smaller at Rose, which can be a strength or weakness depending on your preference. If you thrive on diversity and people, head to Toronto.
On the employment part, I strongly disagree with tsbna44’s reply.
Graduating from such high-calibre colleges with a well rounded academic experience will get you good employment. Most employers don’t view nationality as a barrier, atleast in the States. Infact Rose has one of the highest and most amazing placements. U of Toronto doesn’t provide it’s placement rate, but its general salary statistics show that it’s Arts and Science department’s grads are one of the most sought after employees in Canada.
I can’t speak much of Toronto as a city, but Rose is isolated, even depressing. The RL does compensate for it, and there are events and parties happening on campus.
As for ‘Prestige’, rankings can be very misleading. If you focus on undergrad rigor, Rose is up there with the top CS programs while U of Toronto’s CS program is one of the best. Academically, you can’t go wrong with either.
Sorry. I should say that going to U of T would be harder to find employment here in the US.
That’s my opinion for reasons I listed…but was related strictly to US employment.
Not sure if you’d still disagree or not but wanted to clarify.
I see now the student is international so they should assume going home anyway and in that sense it wouldn’t matter.
Thx
Yeah, I understand where you are coming from. I am not aware of any statistics for international students working in the States post studying in a Canadian Institution, but it is entirely possible in his/her career to make a switch after gaining experience.
Also, most international students prefer gaining decent work experience before heading back home, even those studying in the States.
Got it. Thx. My pov was anecdotal as noted. Thx for your view.
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Where do you want to work after graduation? If in the same country as the school, consider how Canada and the US compare in terms of getting work visa / residency / immigration, and whether attending school in the country matters for that.
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Rose is an excellent place. BUT it is very very small at under 2000 undergrads.
University of Toronto…yikes this from a Google search:
“ University of Toronto is a public institution that was founded in 1827. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 71,166 (fall 2020) , and the setting is Urban.”
So you will have very different experiences at Rose than at Toronto. In addition, the urban setting in Toronto has (in my opinion) more to do than the setting in Terra Haute.
Sample of one…we know a strong engineering student who enrolled in Rose as a freshman. He stayed two years. He transferred to U of Maine where there were just more people. Plus, he was someone who loved outdoor things like hiking and skiing. Terra Haute just didn’t offer him the social experiences he wanted. Also…Rose has way more male than female students. Something some folks don’t like that imbalance.
WRT working in the United States as NOT a U.S. citizen…well…this will be a challenge regardless of where you go to college. Not every employer will be open to hiring a non-citizen.
And weather…you know it gets cold in Indiana too! You will need winter garb in both locations.
If you like the things an urban campus offers, then I would say Toronto beats Rose.
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This is exactly what I was wondering. The University of Toronto would be better if the student wants to stay in Canada. Either would probably be fine for finding a job in the US. Having studied in the US might be a bit better to help find a job in the US, but the visa situation would be a potential big issue. I don’t think that an international student should plan on being able to stay in the US after graduation. In @Flutter_Fly’s home country it might depend upon how well the schools are known in that country.
There are US companies who have engineering groups in Canada. Getting a job at one of these after graduating from Toronto seems like a reasonable possibility.
Either one is going to provide an excellent education. Either one is going to be academically demanding. I doubt the winters are all that different between the two, but I have never been in Terre Haute at all (neither winter nor any other time).
I would expect Toronto to have larger class sizes, which to me is a negative. On the other hand, I would prefer to be in Toronto rather than somewhere near Terre Haute.
To me this last point would be the one that would send me to the U of Toronto. The $100k merit scholarship would also be nice.