So I am a Canadian Permanent resident and I got admission to Mcgill and UBC for Engineering, and I don’t know what to choose. I am from the prairie provinces so both would be far and out of province. So far, I have gotten an entrance scholarship from Mcgill for $3000. I am currently learning more towards UBC because I have a friend who will also go there and I think i’d be less lonely. I’ve heard really good things about Mcgill though, and living expenses in Montreal I heard would be more affordable than Vancouver, so now I am super conflicted-- could anyone give me some advise and help on what to choose??? Thank you!!
We are from Ontario and my Daughter is at UBC, not in Eng but loves the school and campus. They have more on campus & upper year housing than most schools so we have not found living expenses to be a burden. You pay a bit more but only pay for the 8 months she is there so it works out vs. having to commit to a year round lease at many other schools.
Both are good schools. Winter weather in Montreal could be tough.
The OP (original poster) is from the Canadian prairie provinces. Montreal winters are going to be a walk in the park (perhaps a walk in Mount Royal Park).
I have lived in both Montreal and Vancouver and have relatives who have attended both universities. From an academic point of view I do not think that you can go wrong.
Montreal winters will be closer to what you are used to, but probably milder than most of the Canadian prairies. Vancouver winters will be wet and rainy. It will very occasionally snow in Vancouver, but most of the precipitation will be in the form of cold rain.
UBC is sort of at the western tip of Vancouver, surrounded by water on three sides and Vancouver on the 4th side. UBC has a very large campus with a forest, a botanical garden, a small farm, a nuclear physics research facility (which you will probably not notice), and a beach that nearly disappears at high tide and reappears as the tide goes out. You can see mountains in the distance, when they are not hiding behind the clouds. McGill is right in the middle of Montreal. There will be more social events, museums, night clubs, restaurants, and so on right there near McGill. McGill is not all that far however from the park on the top of Mount Royal. Of course Montreal is a bilingual city in the middle of a French province. With McGill and Concordia close to each other, they are in a section of Montreal which tends to be bilingual rather than strictly French. When I am in the area I will walk into a store or restaurant and try to speak in French and they immediately switch to English (and yes this is a hint of the quality of my French).
If you want to live off campus then yes housing will be more affordable at McGill. The people who I know who attended McGill have mostly lived off campus in nearby apartments from their sophomore year on, but I do not think that this is required.
I think that Montreal would probably be more interesting as a place to live for four years. I am not sure whether or not French would be needed for internships or coops in Montreal, whereas it would not be needed in Vancouver. Internships or coops are valuable so I might be tempted to check this out before deciding.
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