U of Toronto, or U of Washington (seattle)?

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>I have chosen Business as my freshmen major, with information tech as my focus. I am really into everything-computing, but would rather have a business major instead of engineering (math has always been my weakness).</p>

<p>Which of the two universities do you guys think is a better option? I heard the Canadian system requires us to maintain at least a 3.5 GPA to stay in the faculty? What about over the long term? Would it be harder for me to go to US for masters if I went to U of T for freshmen instead of U of Washington (seattle)?</p>

<p>Any advice would be appreciated! (:</p>

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<p>Toronto- the only reason I say this is because the president of my school went to Toronto as a history major then went to the U. of Chicago. That is the only basis for my reasoning. Go to both websites- compare the programs, areas of focus. I am pretty sure Toronto is better than Washington… I heard Washington’s campus is nice, but that there is nothing to do around it. But, I don’t know much about Toronto. Look at class stats as well.</p>

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That happened many many years ago. Are you sure it’s still relevant today?</p>

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The UDub campus has a nice college town feel, with the Ave on one side and University Village on the other. There’s plenty to do on campus and around. Downtown Seattle is an easy 20 min bus ride, and the bus system is excellent. Seattle is no LA, but is cleaner and more environmental friendly. It has everything you need in a big metropolitan. Great music scene, multicultural cuisines and close to the slopes if you like skiing.</p>

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<p>Toronto. It’s one of the best universities in Canada, particularly in business (yes, I know it’s no Queen’s or York). UW is merely mediocre.</p>

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<p>Toronto is a more livelier city than Washington, with better and greater internship, externship and off-campus work opportunites.</p>

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Toronto is cleaner and more environmentally friendly than both.</p>

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Toronto has everything you need in a metropolis – and more! </p>

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Toronto has a better music scene, more multicultural cuisines, and is even closer to slopes…good slopes, too!</p>

<p>I was being a bit facetious above, but it’s all true: Seattle is no comparison to Toronto, in my opinion. Toronto is basically the centre of Canada, which by itself makes it more exciting than a Seattle, a city on the periphery. Also, Rotman is ranked significantly higher than Foster in international rankings, at least by the Financial Times. And in the world of business, rankings do matter.</p>

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I’d like to see you prove it… Toronto “cleaner and more environmentally friendly” than the Pacific Northwest?</p>

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I’d like to see you prove that too… Toronto is closer to which slopes that are better than Whistler? I’d concede that Toronto has better Chinese cuisine, but what about seafood and farm produce?</p>

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<p>“Toronto currently recycles and composts 40% of the garbage collected by the city; it plans to increase this figure to 60% in 2010, and 100% in 2012.” See [David</a> Miller (Canadian politician) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“David Miller (Canadian politician) - Wikipedia”>David Miller (Canadian politician) - Wikipedia) for more.</p>

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<p>By close, I was thinking ~2 hours. What is it, 5 hours from Seattle to Whistler? Not feasible unless you want to stay at a ridiculously over-priced Whistler hotel for a night or two, something most college students can’t afford to do. Toronto has some nice ski resorts nearby, including Ontario’s largest and arguably best ski-resort, Blue Mountain, within a two-hour driving distance.</p>

<p>As for music, Toronto is the centre of Canada’s commercial music industry (Montreal is more of an indie scene). Major American artists are more likely to stop by Toronto than Seattle, simply because of the size of the Greater Toronto Area. I, personally, enjoy rap/hip-hop and reggae, and Toronto has been producing some stellar stars in that area (k-os and, more notably, Kardinal Offishall come to mind). Toronto also has more of a world music scene than Seattle, owing to the fact that 50% of its residents were born outside Canada.</p>

<p>And multicultural cuisine? That goes back to the point above: half the population are recent immigrants, so you know you’re getting the authentic stuff. I’m not just talking Chinese but also South Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, Portuguese, Greek. There are many cultural festivals throughout the year that allow you to sample all these foods, too. As for seafood, well, you might have us beat for freshness. But farm produce, no way: see <a href=“http://www.greenbelt.ca/greenbelt/learn/facts-figures[/url]”>http://www.greenbelt.ca/greenbelt/learn/facts-figures&lt;/a&gt; courtesy of the Government of Ontario.</p>

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<p>Apparently you know a lot about Toronto but not much about Seattle and the state of Washington.</p>

<p>Re: Ski slopes

I’m not a skier so I can’t give you details…there are 4 or 5 ski resorts within an hour or two of Seattle - Snoqualmie, Stevens Pass, Crystal Mountain, etc. But if you really want to get away for a ski vacation, Whistler is within reasonable driving distance. I know several student groups at UDub organize annual ski trips to Whistler.</p>

<p>Re: Toronto “cleaner and more environmentally friendly” than the Pacific Northwest

I’m thinking more about natural beauty. Does Toronto have cleaner air and better water quality than Seattle?</p>

<p>Re: Farm produce
"Washington is a leading agricultural state… For 2003, the total value of Washington’s agricultural products was $5.79 billion, the 11th highest in the country. The total value of its crops was $3.8 billion, the 7th highest.</p>

<p>“In 2004, Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red raspberries (90.0% of total U.S. production), wrinkled seed peas (80.6%),… apples (58.1%), sweet cherries (47.3%), pears (42.6%), peppermint oil (40.3%), Concord grapes (39.3%), carrots for processing (36.8%), and Niagara grapes (31.6%). Washington also ranked second in the nation in production of lentils, fall potatoes, dry edible peas, apricots, grapes, asparagus… sweet corn for processing, and green peas for processing;…”</p>

<p>“Washington ranks second in the United States in the production of wine, behind only California…”</p>

<p>But I’m thinking more like this - [Pike</a> Place Market](<a href=“http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/frameset.asp?flash=false]Pike”>http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/frameset.asp?flash=false), right on the water front near downtown Seattle.</p>

<p>Re: seafood

Only freshness? How about varieties and price?</p>

<p>Besides, UDub has a nicer campus and milder weather.</p>

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<p>Wait a second: does the OP even ski? Does he have a penchant for fresh produce or seafood sold at open-air markets? Seriously, these are not even factors that should inform his decision about where to go to school.</p>

<p>And air and water quality? We’re not talking about the difference between Beijing and Portland, here. The five million plus residents of the GTA don’t appear to be gasping for air on a regular basis.</p>

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<p>Now here you may have a valid point. U of T is really integrated with the downtown core, having no gates or no real campus community (a lot of people commute). If you’re good at making friends, or already know people there, then you can just go out and explore the city with them on weekends; otherwise, you might feel a little lonely. And the temperature can get subarctic in the winter, but it’s nothing that a Canada Goose parka can’t guard against.</p>

<p>Anyway, if you’re really averse to cold and are in dire need of a campus community, then the University of Toronto might not be for you. But if your academic and career goals are your top priorities, then go to U of T and try to land an internship at one of the major Canadian banks. You’ll adjust just fine.</p>

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<p>I don’t want to start a new topic, and I see that here are some internationals . Is U o T giving scholarships to Internationals? :)</p>

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<p>Wow thanks for all the awesome posts guys, really appreciate’em.</p>

<p>And @ bernarud, yup they do hand out scholarships - I don’t have a scholarship offer personally but my relatives heard of friends who do.</p>

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<p>thanks :smiley: heading toronto then</p>

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<p>^ Doesn’t U o T only give out need-based scholarships?</p>

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<p>^ They do provide need-based ones, but I’m sure it’s only a portion of all the scholarships that they hand out. This is because when I applied a few months ago, around Christmas, I got an email from them as part of a selected group of applicants -it was an extra form for UT to see if I was “elegible for student scholarships”. All of this came along before they officially handed me an offer, and I’m sure I didn’t apply for aid, so yup there you go. Hope it helps!</p>

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<p>^Oh right yes, I just checked their website. Haha, that is totally new to me.</p>

<p>[UT</a> - Student Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.adm.utoronto.ca/fa/international.htm]UT”>http://www.adm.utoronto.ca/fa/international.htm)</p>

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<p>U of T sure does give scholarship to international students. A friend of mine has a 50% in her first year because she has ranked second in her high school. It is also possible to get a couple grand scholarship during your studies provided you have some 3.5+ GPA. Still it is much harder to get one as an international than as a Canadian.</p>