My GPA is a 3.78UW and my ACT is a 33. UBC and UofT are the two Canadian schools I am considering because they are both ranked in the top 40 in almost all international lists, UofT in the top 25.
Both excellent choices. Depending on major I would think you are very competitive at both. May want to throw McGill into the mix as well.
@my2caligirls I was considering it but McGill isn’t in the top 40 on almost any list I find, while UBC and UofT are. Although, McGill does have harvard like reputation here in the states.
@Sterny16 I think all 3 are good options and I see McGill rank well but not sure how great some of these “world” rankings really are - McGill tops UofT and UBC here: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2016 - all would be fun places to go to school and all are excellent. I live in socal but grew up in Canada and went to Cornell. My D is a junior in high school but these 3 will certainly be on her list as she has dual citizenship making it that much more affordable. All 3 offer a unique urban environment that would make for a great college experience. Where are you from, and what is your major and career interest?
McGill is a very, very good school, and certainly considered to be at the same level or higher than UBC and U of T. Depending on what you are looking for, Queens and University of Western Ontario are also very good. The rankings really should be taken with a grain of salt. Just because U of T is rated highly, doesn’t mean it will be the best school for you.
Worldwide rankings are based on research output with no adjustment for the size of the school. McGill offers the added advantage of bilingual Montreal.
Yeah, I think that foreign students coming into some of the top Canadian schools are in for a shock when they experience the rigor and lack of handholding in some of the tougher majors at UBC, U of T, McGill, Queens, etc… I am not saying it is good, or bad, but departments like Engineering will chew you up and spit you out if you don’t stay on top of them.
I’m applying for business
To: my2caligirls - My family and yours are in a similar position, though my oldest daughter is not yet a junior. I am a UofT graduate, now living in Southern California, working in a professional occupation. My two daughters have dual citizenship through me, and I am encouraging them to think of (1) the UC schools in California, which are generally excellent; and (2) the most prominent Canadian universities–i.e., UofT, McGill and UBC. I lean towards UofT (because I know it well, and think it’s top notch) or UBC (because it’s also highly regarded and is geographically more proximate to California and also has milder winters than Toronto, though the prevalent winter rain is a bit of a downer). I have seen a lot of commentary that UofT has the toughest grade distribution, which could be an impediment to later grad school applications, but I expect the actual differences between the foregoing three schools, in terms of grading, may be not be truly material. I’m sure McGill is excellent, and I believe it continues to have a strong reputation in some circles in the U.S (particularly the northeast USA), but I think that the increasing emphasis on formal rankings are not going to do McGill many favors vs. UofT in the years ahead, as UofT is a wealthy, powerful school in a city that is the economic center of the country. McGill also has perhaps the highest percentage of American students among the Canadian schools, which is a plus for McGill, given that my children will likely end up living in the U.S. (and going to grad school in the U.S.). But Montreal also is significantly colder than Toronto (which in turn is colder than Vancouver). I remember (a long time ago) doing business day-trips on the plane from Toronto to Montreal, in, say, November, and I just wore a suit (no coat) in Toronto, and then froze when I got to Montreal, and was glad to be back in Toronto at the end of the day. The college affiliation system for undergrads at UofT St. George makes it a good choice, I think, particularly, say, Victoria, Trinity and University College. At this point, I am struggling with which Canadian school would be best for my two daughters, and I will be interested in what choice your daughter makes (speaking as one Canadian-legacy Californian to another). Cheers.
To: 57Special -
I believe the significance of formal rankings are overblown–meaning that a person should not get too exorcised about the slight differences–e.g., between, say, UofT, UBC and McGill. However, you’re off base when you say that McGill “is considered to be at the same level or higher than UBC and U of T.” Just look at the prominent rankings (i.e., Times Higher Education, US News & World Report and QS World University Rankings). Only on QS is McGill slightly higher than UofT (30 vs. 32 in the world–essentially tied), whereas on the other two prominent rankings (T.H.E. and US News) McGill currently trails both UofT and UBC pretty badly (T.H.E. has the rankings as 27 (UofT), 34 (UBC) and 63 (McGill), and US News has the rankings at 21 (UofT), 31 (UBC) and 50 (McGill)). McGill is, at best, considered to be roughly equivalent, currently, to both UofT and UBC (and that’s being generous to McGill). That being said, as per my original comment, I do believe that these rankings, and even overall general public reputations, are often overblown, in exaggerating the actual differences (I say that in McGill’s favor, not against it).
But then Maclean’s, Canada’s own publication, ranks McGill as #1. It really doesn’t matter; all three are excellent. I am also a dual citizen, and have toured all three schools with my dual citizen junior daughter. She will likely attend one of them, but is torn equally between the three. UBC has the better weather and outdoor activities and amazing scenery, Toronto has the residential college system and impressive library system and first year seminars, McGill has the unique Quebec culture and language and flexible curriculum.
I suggest looking at the degree requirements for your proposed major at each school and see which structure suits you best. They are not the same. And of course, visit if you can.
@GoldenState99 if your daughter has never lived in Canada, even as an infant, she would qualify for the Quebec tuition rate at McGill, about C$4000. it is a peculiarity of the regulations.
To: TomSrOf Boston
Thanks Tom. I actually recently became of aware of that peculiarity (through this forum or another somewhere else), and it’s a good plus for McGill (v. UofT or UBC), though not a game-changer. Per my other posts on this thread, probably my biggest negative factor for McGill (vs. UofT or UBC) would be just that Montreal is a lot colder than Vancouver, and even significantly colder (typically), in winter, than Toronto. I expect I’m going to take my daughters to all three cities for a tour, and let them decide, but I’m keenly interested in the different variables between the three institutions, since I want to give my daughters good advice. I’m also going to be comparing the Canadian institutions to the various UC schools in California, which will most likely be the primary U.S. alternative. But I’m not interested in paying, say, US$70K per year to send my children to, say, Duke, when they can get as good (maybe even better) education, at say, UCLA or UC Berkeley, or at one of the above-named three Canadian schools, for much less cost. Of course, if by some happenstance my daughters applied for, and got into, say, Princeton or Yale, then it would be a slightly different equation, as the exceptional merits (and, I’ll admit it, international brand recognition) of those two schools would need to be considered along with the exorbitant cost. Likewise, I need to think hard about whether, given that I am now a permanent California resident, it would be better to send my children to the excellent UC schools (vs. the excellent Canadian schools), based on issues like their subsequent networking opportunities and allowing them to make friends with Americans to whom they would be likely to remain geographically close after graduation, vs. their going to a school in Canada and then having to come back and effectively leave behind 50+% of their new friends (who would be Canadians remaining in Canada). On the other hand, for a long-time SoCal resident (now high school student), going up to Canada for college would be a broadening, perspective-enhancing experience, vs. just staying close by in California at a UC school. So, as you can see, there are lots of countervailing factors, and it may not be an easy decision. Cheers.
To: ShrimpBurrito
I will be interested to hear the choice your daughter makes. It sounds like we’re in a similar boat, re: UBC, UofT and McGill. Please post your new thoughts, as she moves to a decision. Thanks and cheers.
Some people flourish at U of T, but for those who don’t, one common complaint is that it is big and impersonal. Western Ontario is also very good for business. Has a different vibe again, than the other schools. Has a milder winter than Toronto, by a bit.
We are on Round 2 of visits. Any excuse to visit those three fantastic cities, right?
Round 1 (all in the summertime) we did general campus tours and casually enjoyed the cities.
Round 2 has been much more in depth, spending several days on campus, meeting with advisors, and doing multiple classroom visits.
We have already done Round 2 with UBC, and we are leaving on Saturday for second visits to McGill and Toronto. As my D has been emailing wIth Toronto professors to arrange classroom visits, she’s noticed that although they have all been courteous and accommodating, none of them have said, “Please stay after class and introduce yourself. I’d love to meet you,” like 4/5 of the UBC profs did. The UBC profs spent a lot of time chatting with her after class and one even counseled her about her college options and career path. It could just be a coincidence that the UBC profs appear (at this point) to be more engaged with their students than at U of T, or it could be a legitimate difference in school culture. We will find out more next week.
For the record, upon request, McGill admissions emailed us a list of classes available for visits. No advanced arrangements are needed–my D can just show up! She has ten classes picked out 
To: ShrimpBurrito
Thanks very much for that message. Very interesting. Any data point (like professor engagement/friendliness) is still a data point. I’ve got a couple of years before decision-time (and then I’ve got 3 children who will be going to college in succession). We’re probably going to visit UBC or McGill this summer–like your Round 1–which we already did in 2016 in Toronto (and saw some live theater, etc.). I had not thought of going so far as to request classroom visits (probably just because I’m not yet fully immersed in this process, though we’ll soon be gearing up). It’s good you’re going during the actual winter term this weekend, so that your D will see what the actual regular session atmosphere is like, and also what the weather’s like (which I’m mildly obsessed with, since I had enough of Canadian winters growing up there–my kids, on the other hand, think snow is a pleasant novelty). Please keep posting… Maybe my own D will end up at the same school after yours is already there. Cheers.
Another facet to compare UBC, McGill in UofT: Western vs Eastern Culture. In general, BC is more like CA and Toronto has much more of an Eastern feel. Montreal is “special” and it is the only place that has reasonable real estate pricing and rents! Western natives are much more friendly than their Eastern neighboUrs. UBC might be a lot more “international” especially in Engineering or Sciences.
Academically, McGill has a great reputation but it is unclean how it will sustain it as an anglophone school in a francophone province. I wager that in 20-30 years it might slip a couple of places. UBC has certainly moved up over the past few decades. Future reputation might be more relevant than the backwards looking criteria.
In general, competitive faculties such as Business and Engineering are very strong because they have cutoffs in the 90’s for Canadians (and interanational applicants) and 80% is considered an A in Canadian high schools. That might yield higher caliber of students/minds than many top US public schools. On the flip side, some of the faculties/schools with lower cutoffs might actually have more lower caliber students. US schools typically have more uniformity between different majors. Grading tends to be tougher North of the border but the learning environment is also better, based on the experience of my CDN parent. Another significant difference is that US has some high end private schools that skim a lot of talent off the top but in Canada most of those folks attend UBC, McGill and UofT with a much smaller proportion heading to US.
Finally, there is a lot more ranking variation between different majors. Basic advice: do not just go by overall university ranking, look into the actual faculty and programs you hope to pursue to help drive your decision.
Don’t take the rankings too seriously. UBC, McGill, and Toronto are all great universities. If you are not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, then check the prices. They might vary, although all are less expensive than a comparable US university unless you get a great offer from the US school. If you are a Canadian citizen who was born in the US, then the price for McGill is incredibly reasonable (the same as for a resident of Quebec).
McGill has a great reputation worldwide. I have met people from many different countries who have asked about it.
I have heard that the U of Toronto is very difficult in terms of “weeding out” of students through very tough grading and hard courses. I know some very smart and very hard working people who went there and loved it, but is it tough. It is generally said that McGill and U of T are harder to graduate from than they are to get into (in contrast for example with Harvard, which is said to be hard to get into and easy to graduate from – my two friends who went there both agreed with this but then they had both done undergrad at MIT). There are some very strong high school students who go to Toronto and find it too difficult, and need to transfer elsewhere.
I have relatives who have graduated from McGill, and other relatives who have graduated from UBC. All were very strong students, worked very hard, and loved both universities.
As others have pointed out, there are also other great universities in Canada. Queens is excellent, McMaster is excellent, and there are a lot of other good choices. There are also some very good small universities which are less well known outside of Canada.
In terms of the winters: Toronto is a little bit milder than Montreal, but you will get used to it in either location. You will need a good coat and good boots, but the local stores will have these. Get a tuque, and consider getting silk gloves to wear under your mittens (I would say the same for U. of Michigan, Wisconsin, or Vermont). It rains a lot in the winter in Vancouver which can bug some people. Crime rate will be lower than similar sized US cities, but these are still big cities. Expect the universities to treat you like an adult, with minimal handholding.
If it were me I would go for McGill. However, I don’t think that there is a bad choice here, with the exception that for Toronto and to some extent for McGill expect freshman year to be very academically challenging. I think that I would prefer all three ahead of anything in the US, partly due to the ability to see the world from a different perspective.
One more nit: Housing is very tight in Vancouver. Apply for dorms early, and don’t give up your dorm room unless and until you have something lined up off campus. I am not sure about Toronto. Housing in Montreal seems to be more reasonably priced and more available than most other large cities in Canada.