<p>Which has the most freedom in the undergraduate curriculum? I've been accepted to the BA and BSc at McGill and the BSc at U of T. Basically which school is most like a liberal arts school (like the ivies) in the US (that's where I really want to go but chances are slim)?</p>
<p>if want an ivy feel in terms of enviornment AND academics you should have applied to Queen's. in any case just visit both schools.</p>
<p>McGill.
Only people in Canada have heard of Queens, and Montreal is way cooler. U of T sucks for undergrad.</p>
<p>wutangfinancial - did you go to U of T, or is this just what you've heard?</p>
<p>Queens definitely sounds like it has very high academic standards, and it's smaller. My concern is the city- certainly it's not MTL or Toronto, but does Kingston have anything to recommend it culturally?</p>
<p>Queens is an excellent school, as are many Canadian universities. Kingston, obviously, cannot compare to cities like Toronto or Montreal. It's a fraction of the size and is located just about equi-distant from each. Aside from Queens and the Royal Military College, also located there, Kingston is known for its prisons and government offices.</p>
<p>UofT has greater freedom than McGill in program selection and course choices. It's also a much bigger school so the classes can be significantly larger, at least during first and second year. If you are choosing UofT I recommend the St George campus.</p>
<p>Prestige wise, I am a student from the UK and I personally believe UofT has a better reputation. I have been told, however, that it is McGill that has the better reputation on the US East Coast. McGill does attract more American students.</p>
<p>I strongly disagree that Queen's is more academically rigourous than either McGill or UofT. In fact, the common perception is the complete opposite, although Queen's commerce is an excellent program.</p>
<p>great thsnks dswrdr - so for grad school at the ivies, a McGill degree would mean more and grad school at oxford or cambridge, a U of T degree would mean more?</p>
<p>To give you an idea of what Kingston has to offer culturally, when Queens sent me their welcome package one of the "pluses" of going to Queens that they listed was: "And in addition to the cultural richness of Queens, cities like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are just a few hours drive away!"</p>
<p>After I read that line I figured, "Well, gee if those cities are so great, I'll just narrow down my choices to McGill, Concordia, UOttawa, Carlton and UofT".</p>
<p>By reputation I meant with employers (and I'm hesitant about making too sweeping generalizations in that regard). Grad school's take into account the reputation of your particular department and the professors recommending you. I am studying near eastern archaeology and UofT is seen as the best in Canada for that program - but it is closely followed by Laurentian and Laval, schools that aren't particularly notable elsewhere. A full archaeology program isn't offered by McGill at all, let alone my own specialization. But McGill has programs with better reputations than their counterparts at UofT, such as linguistics and sociology.</p>
<p>Harvard law school publishes the number of applicants it accepts from every Canadian school, and last year McGill and UofT were evenly matched (after correcting for student body size). Professional programs in the US are allegedly merit based and supposedly pay little attention to your undergraduate school (which I find doubtful). Since McGill has more American students, it probably sends more graduates to the US for work and grad school, which may give them an advantage with admissions committees who would be more familiar with their school and past alumni.</p>
<p>I suppose the most important factor is what field you are interested in. If you are undecided then I'd still recommend UofT for its wider selection of disciplines. You do not choose your majors at UofT until the second year so you have plenty of time to explore.</p>