U Toronto vs McGill vs UBC vs WPI (CompSci)

International Students
1

<p>Hi,
You can find my background below. I am thinking of U Toronto, McGill, UBC and WPI. My major will be computer science.</p>

<p>I have taken the May SAT and it went well. I will take reasoning in June, TOEFL on May and SAT Subject tests MAT1 MAT2 Physics on October.</p>

<p>EDUCATION
One of the best schools in my country and I am in IB Science-Math specialization
GPA = 70/100</p>

<p>LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
I am the co-founder of Turkey’s one of the best known and prestigious gaming providers, which is involved in setting up and selling servers, organizing online and offline events, and developing gaming solutions such as anti-cheating software and unsupervised gaming systems.</p>

<p>I was also the co-founder of two other organizations which used to be the best in their field (online and offline gaming).</p>

<p>INVENTIVE PROJECT COMPETITION
An International Design Olympiad, Finalist 2010
A prestigious national competition, Regional finalist 2010
Another prestigious national competition, Winner (Gold Metal) 2009
Another prestigious national competition, Finalist 2010
Two or three is going to add here and I am about to apply for a patent.</p>

<p>I had over 15 awards before starting to high school</p>

<p>ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Armarium Infragilis, Head Developer 2009-present
Advanced encryption software which is hiding any specified data into any file while keeping the carrier file functioning correctly as though has been changed on it</p>

<p>GameSec, Head Developer 2009-present
The only online anti-cheating solution/software which is actively being used by Turkish gamers during online tournaments. GameSec’s two-sided reporting system prevents gamers from cheating or bypassing the application while still playing.</p>

<p>OMYS, Developer 2009-present
An unsupervised gaming solution, enabling gamers to organize matches without having to need a referee. OMYS has the ability to work integrated with GameSec and Interactive Gaming Solution. As soon as the match ends; scores, statistics, demos and screenshots are automatically published on web panel.</p>

<p>Interactive Online Gaming Solution, Developer 2009-present
A system which is enabling its users; to access all the history, statistics, screenshots of other gamers, to communicate with each other and if the user is a server administrative, to control his/her server completely.</p>

<p>COMPUTER SKILLS
Proficiently coding in C#, Java, Delphi and C/C++
Reverse engineering experience and therefore Win32Asm programming knowledge
Web programming experience with PHP
Database administration knowledge with MySQL and MSSQL
Experienced in Windows and unix-based operating systems, while having extensive knowledge on the inner workings
Broad knowledge and experience on computer hardware</p>

<hr>

<p>Please note that the school system in Turkey is different and a GPA of 70/100 is not awful as you think it is. It is much over mediocre.</p>

<p>Which of these schools will be able to provide the best education? I am also planning to get a graduate education at MIT, Stanford or Caltech after I graduate.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Is this also a chance thread?
Or are you only asking which school is better?</p>

<p>Canadian universities don’t even ask about extracurriculars so everything after “GPA=70/100” is of minor importance. In Mcgill’s case, you can apply for scholarship using extracurriculars, which is where I think you might get it if you are accepted in the first place.</p>

<p>Having said that, I think your biggest challenge is to have a persuasive explanation of how your country’s education system (regarding your GPA). Good SATs will help in the persuasion too.</p>

<p>As an international student, it’s most likely between Mcgill and U of T. I’m kinda leaning on U of T in this case (computer science). Maybe if you could mention your goals during-after your university education it would be easier to point a way.</p>

<p>As a side comment, are you applying to US universities too?</p>

3

<p>I will also apply to US universities. I didn’t know that Canadian universities don’t even ask about ECs and only take a look at the GPA.</p>

<p>By the way, this is a half chance, half which school is better thread. :)</p>

4

<p>Thought of Waterloo?</p>

5

<p>Before I opened the topic, I was thinking about Waterloo but somehow I forgot to write it.</p>

<p>This topic includes Waterloo too. What do you think about it?</p>

6

<p>Best Comp sci program in Canada. In terms of employment after grad, better than nearly all schools in this continent save MIT, Stanford, CMU, etc.</p>

7

<p>I’m not sure if this fits any of your future plans, but Microsoft supposedly hires a lot from Waterloo. </p>

<p>Source: [Bill</a> Gates visit | News, Media, and Events | University of Waterloo](<a href=“http://uwaterloo.ca/media/billgates/]Bill”>http://uwaterloo.ca/media/billgates/)</p>

8

<p>Was going to put in my big for Waterloo too :)</p>

9

<p>Thank you all for providing valueable information.</p>

<p>What do you think about Waterloo, compared to U of Washington? I just heard that Microsoft hires alot from U of Washington.</p>

10

<p>70/100 GPA?</p>

<p>thats gonna hurt you no matter where u apply, especially since your foreign.</p>

11

<p>Waterloo vs. Washington. My guess? Waterloo is chosen, despite being 4000 miles and a country away, because of their expertise in the area of comp sci, as a specialty school. Washington is simply location-- it’s right there, next door, making hiring (for any kind of position, tech or nontech) easy. It is probably a spurious correlation: like most major employers, they hire the most from the immediate region and most students from Washington are from the region.</p>

12

<p>re: 70/100: different country and culture. Schools know how to interpret what it means. It isn’t the same as 70/100 from Canada.</p>

13

<p>

That isn’t quite fair. Perhaps partly because of the industry concentration around Seattle, Udub is typically ranked in the top ten CS programs in the US. The department there is exceptionally strong.</p>

14

<p>how do you know that starbright? Are you an expert in the turk education system?</p>

<p>70/100 is considered a B in turkey (according to UNICEF). Thats gonna hurt the OP. However, I do embrace diversity, so I offer my sincere wishes of luck.</p>

<p>oh, good luck on stanford, mit and caltech…</p>

15

<p>Actually somewhat. I am a professor and I sit on an admissions committee at a Canadian university and quite a number of our outstanding graduate students come from Turkey! For some strange reason, we have a LOT of Turkish applicants, I’m not kidding. So yes, I do have some insight. But more generally, we see a ton of applicants from around the world and can readily adjust to the transcripts.</p>

16

<p>

</p>

<p>Thanks noimagination. You are absolutely correct and I’m glad you clarified! I completely agree, but what i wrote did not convey that. UW is a great school and I did not mean to dismiss its CS program! What I was trying to convey- poorly- was the geographical advantage of UW (independent of quality).</p>