I come from a Canadian family that is not familiar with the american college system. We don’t know to many colleges in the United states, and I was wondering if i could get some suggestions based on my credentials. I am a Canadian citizen so i can get native tuition. I am also an Ohio resident so instate tuition applies. I would be looking to apply to mechanical engineering schools/ computer science programs.
I have a 4.4 weighted gpa which is probably close to a 3.7 unweighted. I have a 32 on my act, and have started the mechanical engineering club at my school. I have also won some computer science awards, have about 400 hours of community service, work part time as a machinist, and I’m currently working on starting my own charity. I am a self taught programmer in python and java. I have done many projects and my current focus is in machine learning.I think my application is a little heavy on the extracurricular which can make this a very unscientific process, but any suggestions would help.
So far the colleges I’m thinking about are Ohio state, University of Cincinnati, and Waterloo University. I am open to any suggestions just to make myself familiar. I would like them to stay away from the west coast as that is pretty far. It’s important that the cost stays below 25,000 a year based on merit or instate as i will not be able to receive need based aid.
Anything helps thanks!
Based on our experience (my daughters and I are dual citizens and live in the US) anything in Canada will come in below $25,000 in US dollars, so you have a lot of very good options there. My guess is that your in-state options in Ohio probably will also but since we are not from Ohio I haven’t checked (our in-state options are just under $25,000 per year).
Waterloo is a great choice. Ohio State is also.
Based on your location, anything in Ontario would be reasonably close. I think that you should consider Western (aka the University of Western Ontario) and McMaster. Queens (in Kingston Ontario) is also a great choice but is a bit further for you and also a bit harder to get into. Ditto for McGill.
It would be hard to go wrong at any of the better known universities in Ontario or at McGill. In our experience, finding out-of-state options in the US that are under $25,000 per year is more of a challenge. If you are interested in smaller universities in Canada, let me know since we just went through the process of finding one for my younger daughter (and actually found many very good ones in Canada), although I am am not sure if you are going to find good mechanical engineering programs at smaller schools.
By the way, I am assuming that you are either a dual citizen, or also have permanent residence in the US. If not, then you probably need to check on whether you can get in-state tuition in Ohio.
Yes permanent resident in ohio and dual citizen. My parents actually went to western! I’ll add that to the list, I’ve heard a lot about McGill but it seems like a bit of a reach do you know anything about that?
US colleges are going to be a lot more expensive, and you’ve got some great options in Canada. Waterloo and U of Toronto would be two good options.
In terms of Canadian universities, my choices for computer science would be, University of Waterloo> University of Toronto>UBC>McGill>>>>everything else. University of Toronto does not have direct admission to computer science, while the University of Waterloo does. I’m not sure about UBC. You should check on that.
Again for Canadian U’s, my choices for engineering would be University of Toronto>University of Waterloo>UBC>McGill>>>>everything else.
If you are applying to Waterloo, you should write the Euclid. It’s Waterloo’s own standardized math test. It’s given in April. Your school would have to sign up for it. It’s not an individual sign up. One problem for people applying both to Waterloo and to American schools is that Waterloo waits for the results of the Euclid and for late midterm grades before they make final decisions. The vast majority of their decisions come out in May.
I recommend reading the blog of the Waterloo engineering admissions director, here https://profbillanderson.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2016/10/11/chances-for-2017/?wref=tp Many of his observations are applicable to other programs and universities.
Also consider Waterloo’s Software Engineering, which I believe is easier to get admitted to than CS, though I would double check that. It’s basically a CS degree and employers won’t care. The only reason not to would be if you have an inclination towards research, where CS over SE will be relevant.