the right schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So i am currently a senior and i need to know what are the right schools for me in canada and whether i even have a shot at any one of them like UBC or U of T for example.</p>

<p>here are my stats to help:</p>

<p>High school GPA(unweighted and out of 4):</p>

<p>9th: 3.71
10th: 3.8
11th: 3.73
cumulative GPA: 3.7467</p>

<p>Class Rank:</p>

<p>1st(exact ranking for grades 9, 10, 11 and hopefully 12 as well)
class size is between 10 and 15 students for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Senior academic prefect of school and head of academic event organization
Participation in school play in grades 10 and 12
some community service</p>

<p>SAT:
Total: 1810(may 2013) and 2030(october 2013)
CR:560(may 2013) and 670(october 2013)
Math:700(may 2013) and 740(october 2013)
W:550(may 2013) and 620(october 2013)
also taking the sat again in december 2013</p>

<p>SAT 2:</p>

<p>Math level 2c and physics and biology M(jan 2014 for all)</p>

<p>AP:</p>

<p>Calculus AB: 5 (may 2013)
Physics C mechanics: 5 (may 2013)
Physics C electricity and magnetism: 5 (may 2013)
Calculus BC: pending
Chemistry: pending
Biology: pending</p>

<p>Academic rigor is very high, presently take all AP level courses and AS and A level courses as well for all my subjects and my current year courses are:</p>

<p>Art History AP
English
Physics AP and A-level
Biology AP and A-level
Chemistry AP and AS and A-level
Math: Calculus BC and advanced analytical math</p>

<p>I live in Lebanon. I am a U.S. citizen, Canadian citizen, and Lebanese citizen and I attend one of the best private schools in Lebanon. I can speak English and Arabic fluently.</p>

<p>hope i can get in...</p>

2

<p>Check out Macalester College. They have a lot of pride in their international students and have a very diverse and global community.</p>

<p><a href=“http://macalester.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://macalester.edu</a></p>

3

<p>thanks @Megmill21</p>

<p>and anyone else know a university thats the right place for me, I like a homey but lively atmosphere thats close to a city but at the same time secluded and also full of a lot of chill people( and Quebec is definitely out of the option for certain familial reasons i wish not to state)</p>

<p>and obviously ive checked( UBC so far is my favorite) but i just want to know and assure my self</p>

<p>thanks:)</p>

4

<p>I would also prefer if i can know what my chances are at the suggested university as well as for the ones i mentioned if you can please:)</p>

5

<p>One of the key determining factor of how difficult it is to gt into a Canadian university is what department you apply too. Arts, humanities, communications and social sciences tend to be much easier to get into then natural science, mathematics, life sciences, business or engineering. For example, it is easier to get into arts at an internationally known school like UofT then it is to get into life sciences at a less well known school like McMaster University.</p>

<p>Anyway your grades are quite good and your second round of SATs are much better (if you had to send in your first scores that would probably nix your chances at both UofT or UBC as a 550 and a 560 would have been well below the minimums)</p>

<p>UBC is sort of hard to gauge because they are one of the few well known Canadian universities that look at extracurriculars. UofT is completely numbers driven for admission, ECs mean nothing.</p>

<p>Looking at your AP credits I assume you are looking at going into something in the sciences or math or engineering? Could you please post the field you are interested in?</p>

<p>Having a bunch of AP courses is good because it will allow you to skip some introductory courses at universities like UofT (if you get a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam, the university will often count it as a half credit for some introductory courses- ie. AP chem allows you to bypass CHM138- Organic Chemistry). That means that if you take all AP courses you can very likely graduate a semester early out of Toronto.</p>

<p>Also be aware the environment at UBC and UofT is very different then most conventional US university experiences. Both of these universities are enormous and while UBC is pretty self contained UofT is a true city university and is very integrated with downtown Toronto (plus side of this is that there is a big array of private and public research facilities (eg. The MARS array, CAMH) that are in and around the university and this allows for a lot of research opportunities for the student willing to go out and get them. On the other hand there really isn’t that much of a community feel there, and the environment is not really all that supportive. If you have problems or need help you are expected to seek help from professors or guidance councilors, and if you start failing courses and do not take steps to improve, the university will simply put you on probation and then kick you out. The same goes with research opportunities, they are there but you are expected to find them yourself, nothing is simply handed to you.</p>

<p>The moral of the story is that these large universities, particularly UofT essentially treat their students as adults. They do not coddle students and they expect them to organize their time, hand their work in when it is due and just generally function independently. This is great for some people, who like the independence this system provides, but for those who are not as capable of functioning without a lot of support this environment can be hellish.</p>

<p>FYI both UofT and UBC are research intense universities, the emphasis is on producing high impact research rather than undergraduate education, so to truly get the most out of them it would be best to start looking for lab work as an undergraduate in your third and fourth year.</p>

<p>Essentially you have to be the right kind of person to truly prosper in this environment. If you need a lot of external support to function and really aren’t all that interested in research, there may be other schools in Canada that are a better fit for you at the undergraduate level.</p>

<p>Anyway to be able to help you pick a university it would really help to know what environment you want to be in as well as what major you intend to take.</p>

6

<p>Thanks a lot@NamelesStatistic for the very thorough answer</p>

<p>now regarding what you were discussing related to independence in most Canadian universities I’m fine with that and i really do like independence but does that also mean the people are unfriendly because I’m not sure if you mean the environment in total or just the university’s environment? If yes that would really deter me from choosing a Canadian university which would kinda suck because so far my dream school is UBC :frowning:
and that also gets me thinking because Vancouver is a very social and gregarious city so I’m expecting to meet friendly people in general if i were to go to UBC</p>

<p>regarding the SAT, I did send my 550 and 560 under the impression that they would see the improvement I’ve made :S</p>

<p>and to kind of inform you more about my major, I want to major in biomedical engineering with a premed track or biology with a premed track. Also, what do you mean by “producing high impact research rather than an undergraduate education” ?
Do you mean I am obligated to research at least for one year OR that the university itself is distracted by its research therefore focusing less on undergraduate students?</p>

<p>really would appreciate a reply ASAP as i feel uneasy now about Canada :S</p>

7

<p>Bump, can use a quick reply @NamelesStatistic</p>

8

<p>Research universities focus on research first, grad students second, and undergraduates last. They’re not “distracted” by it, that’s what they exist for. They don’t really “focus” on undergraduates.</p>

<p>Check out UWaterloo for engineering.</p>

9

<p>thanks @MYOS1634 and with respect to your reply does that mean their less focus on undergraduates mean I will not receive the undergrad education I would get if I were to go to the US?</p>

10

<p>Sorry for the delay, I have had a really busy week and haven’t really had the time to look at CC much. </p>

<p>In answer to your questions:</p>

<p>1: My experience at UofT is that both the students and the professors are very friendly, and help is always available IF YOU ASK. My point was that these research universities are not like American LACs, if you need help you are expected to go out and ask for it, you wont have pre-scheduled meetings with guidance councilors or mentors or anything like that checking up on you to make sure everything is ok. Also be aware that some of your first and second year courses will be huge (mainly the mandatory ones- eg. BIO100) where lectures can be 500 people or more (ie. any class that is held in Convocation hall) in upper years where everyone specializes, the classes are much smaller (eg. most of my 4th year courses were 20-50 people). Every professor has office hours and gives out their e-mails to the class (as well as the TAs’) therefore even in the big lectures it really isn’t hard to get time to talk to the professor. Rest assured the people at UofT and UBC are no “less nice” than any other group.</p>

<p>2: Regarding the SAT’s I believe it would only have been required for you to send one set of scores, so in retrospect that might have been the better idea. There is still a strong chance however that as UofT is purely numbers driven for admission they wont even look at your first round of scores. UBC’s admission process is much harder to nail down so I cant really comment on that.</p>

<p>3: These are research universities, their main goal is to produce research and have professors publish. This means that almost all of of your professors teaching your courses will be themselves working in research labs (which mean if a prof likes you you might be able to get a spot working summers or part time during the school year in their lab). Unlike other universities there are few professors employed that are there solely to teach, the emphasis is on research. Again this could be great if you want to end getting some hands on lab work (I have a friend finishing up an undergraduate materials engineering degree at McGill university and he just spent the summer working in one of his professors nano-materials laboratories and now the prof wants to take him on as a graduate student after he graduates). There are plenty of undergraduate science and engineering students who don’t end up doing lab work or taking a lot of lab based courses and do just fine, but you are really not taking full advantage of going to a top research institution if you don’t try to get some research experience. Again, this isn’t to say undergraduates are ignored by Toronto or UBC, at least two thirds of the student population is undergraduates, but that there are plenty of schools in Canada and the US that do not focus on research, and have professors brought in who are there purely to lecture and who generally have much smaller university populations and smaller class sizes. </p>

<p>4: I would second MYOS1634, in saying that Waterloo is a great university for engineering and you should probably check it out, although its best known for its computer engineering department then for bio-engineering, however it is a really technology/mathematics focused school, (ie. no one really wants to go there for arts) so that could be a good draw as the environment of the whole university is geared towards technology. Waterloo is also really well known for its hands on work for its undergrads and for having some major companies (eg. Microsoft and Blackberry) recruit heavily out of their campus. </p>

<p>5: Not all Canadian universities are research universities, it is just that the most internationally known ones are. Queens University is one that is said to have a more traditional US college feel. There are also some very good smaller universities which have virtually no research productions, but are almost entirely focused on undergraduate studies such as: Mount Allison, or St. Francis Xavier, which have an environment very similar to an American LAC. So if this kind of thing appeals to you I suggest you check out some of these smaller schools.</p>

<p>Sorry again for the late reply, if you have any more questions I will try to answer them quickly.</p>

11

<p>No, it’s the same principle at all research universities, Canadian and American. There may be less hand-holding in Canada but that might not even be true everywhere. You have to make more of an effort, especially your first two years when you’re in huge lecture halls. Some students like the lecture format, others like discussions better, for instance. But research universities don’t have the means to offer classes with 15 students so don’t expect the discussions and close relationships with professors that come with that. However as a junior and senior, if you stood out among the many undergraduates students, you may have opportunities with top-notch projects and facilities (it depends on the subjects you’re taking, too.)</p>

12

<p>To its credit most first year UofT courses do have discussion based sections in addition to the large class sized lectures. These are the tutorial sections, where you get a group of 20-30 undergrads assigned to a TA in the course and during the tutorial sections the TA goes over in more detail what the content in the previous lecture was as well as give out practice quizzes and answer student’s questions on the course material. Most of the big freshman year undergraduate classes have these tutorial sections and there is usually a small portion of your grade (eg. 10%) based on either attendance of these tutorials or based on weekly 10 minute quizzes in them. So there is some small one on one class time, even for the larger courses, with these tutorial sections generally being 1 hour long, once a week where as the lectures are 2-3 hours long and this can be all at once or more often divided into 1 hour blocks several times a week.</p>

<p>As to making relationships with professors, I don’t entirely agree with MYOS1634. I made some good relationships with professors in my undergraduate degree not only in the small (20 people) 4th year classes but in the larger first and second year classes (eg. 2nd year statistics professor -in a class of about 400- who was one of my references for graduate school). Again though you build this relationship by asking them questions after class or during their office hours or over email. Don’t be shy about talking to these professors, they are happy to talk to you and answer questions about both the coursework and their own research (which can be a great inroad to working in their lab). Again though, the onus is on YOU to approach them, as the classes are large and there really isn’t much one on one attention during classes, outside of tutorials.</p>

13

<p>Thanks guys for the responses that really(and I truly mean this) relieved me, whew!</p>

<p>Now that I understand the way most Canadian universities function and the atmosphere, everything is much clearer and I now understand how my college experience would be if I were to go to UBC or UofT, for example. Also, with respect to research and professors I have no problem having to ask the professors for help:)
( oh yeah, at UBC I sent the May SAT for the aforementioned reason but at UofT I was actually REQUIRED to send all exams; when I was about to send my scores, there was a popup bubble at collegeboard stating this university requires all exams to be sent)</p>

<p>and I do still have a couple of questions(sorry for wasting so much time for you on this):</p>

<p>Are there still advisers for students even though you don’t have a weekly meeting with one of them and can you make meetings? To add, if there are advisers do they help in the way that they’ll make sure I’m on track and in the right direction regarding courses and so forth because that’s what my friend who is currently in Massachusetts told me?</p>

<p>At the UBC website when I was getting ready to apply, I was reading the majors that are involved with Biology and saw that if I were to go into a biomedical engineering major I would receive a B. of Applied Sc. whereas if I were to go Biology I would receive a B. Sc. and I have so far chosen Biology. Since I want to go to medical school after undergrad would it make a difference for me?</p>

<p>thanks again guys:)</p>

14

<p>Well at least with the SAT scores you didn’t make a mistake then. I think they will only really care about the most recent set of scores or at the least I am sure they will care more about your latest set of scores then the first ones.</p>

<p>As to guidance Councillors sure. Usually you can set up an appointment the day of or the next day, although during exam periods they are always very busy. It is free and they will give you advice on everything from structuring your workload to what credits to take for your major, ect. My point was that you can meet with an adviser as much or as little as you want. If you wanted to set up an appointment every week you could, or you could never see an adviser at all (although uoft did suggest all its freshmen went to at least one meeting with an adviser at the beginning of the year). I personally only went met with an academic adviser 3 times in 4 years, but I know other people who went more regularly. The point is that it is completely up to you, and you have to be sure you are ready for that kind of freedom because there are people who are not ready at 18 to function without someone looking over their shoulder and prodding them if they start to slip behind. At most Canadian universities there is no one who will come after you if you get into trouble, you will just be put on probation and if you still dont want to seek help from an adviser no one will force you.</p>

<p>Medical schools don’t really care all that much what your degree is they just want to make sure you have the appropriate background courses to succeed. A B. Eng will be fine. An interesting route from there would also be bioinformatics which is a booming field right now (i know a bunch of the labs around me are looking for bioinformaticians) You should be aware though that Canadian schools do NOT inflate grades the way like many American schools do. The course averages in biology generally hover in the B- range, so make sure you work hard to get that A because it will not be given to you just for showing up and most successful applicants to Canadian Medical schools have at least a 3.7cgpa in undergrad.</p>

<p>Also if you want to go to medical school in Canada, hands on out of school experience is a very important on your application. You should plan to either work part time in a lab or to volunteer at a hospital in your third or 4th year.</p>

15

<p>Thanks @NamelesScholastic :)</p>

<p>you really have helped me out a lot and clarified those little things I was unaware of,
but now there still is one problem
I recently did the December SAT and here are my results:</p>

<p>CR: dropped by a lot
M: dropped by a lot
W:650</p>

<p>compared to my last results these are terrible and only my super-score improved</p>

<p>Basically, my last question is:</p>

<p>Would these new results decrease my chances or will they only look at the highest section score for each SAT OR look at the highest scored SAT?</p>

<p>P.S. I already used my score reports to send the scores to UBC and UofT</p>

16

<p>Honestly I do not know a ton about the details of SAT analysis in the admissions process of either university, but my gut says that it would not help your chances for UBC or UofT to see these December scores. I do not believe that UofT at least super-scores (although I could be wrong) so I do not think your slightly higher writing score will help much and the lower CR and M score could potentially harm your application. Again this is probably the kind of question to ask an admissions officer, but if I were in your place I would not have sent those SAT scores in, frankly your second round of scores were probably high enough.</p>