UBC vs McGill vs UofT vs UofW

College Search & Selection
1

Hi, I have been admitted to University of British Columbia, McGill, and University of Waterloo in the Faculty of Arts and UofT Scarborough for Psychological and Health Sciences. I intend to major in Psychology and then go to graduate school (aiming for Ivies and the like). However, I cannot decide where to go. I was hoping current students and alumni could give me some input on the following points -

  1. How harsh is the grading? Is grade deflation a major problem? How hard is it to get a 4.0?
  2. How abundant are undergraduate research opportunities?
  3. How well does the school prepare one for graduate school?
  4. How hard is it to get into Honors Psych at UBC and McGill?

I’ve heard horror stories about how McGill, UBC, and UofT slander your GPA. I’ve also heard that Waterloo’s Arts Department is very weak. So I’d like some input on those points too.

Thank you :slight_smile:

2
  1. No easy A's at any of those schools. 4.0 at any of these schools would be difficult.
  2. Research opportunities are available at all four. UT Scarborough is a branch campus with limited opportunities there.
  3. Excellent preparation if you take advantage of the opportunities.
  4. Honors involves a deeper concentration in your major.

Arts is not the strong part at Waterloo.

I would say to exclude UT Scarborough unless you plan to transfer to the St. George campus.

3

UTSC is a commuter campus. I wouldn’t go there unless you plan to live at home and commute.

The overall university experience will be similar at each of the other 3 schools. The main difference will be in the cities they are located in. Do you want to live in a west coast city near the ocean, a historic French speaking city, or a small city?

I graduated from U of T and know plenty of people who went on to grad school at high end US universities.

4

Agree with above advice. McGill and UBC are probably your best options. My D looked at both and applied to McGill (admitted). Recall seeing that UBC had the top rated Psych program per Macleans ranking.

GPA will be tough at both but clearly plenty of students get accepted to good grad schools from these programs.

5

If you don’t know much about Montreal or Vancouver, they have very different climates and their cultures are quite different as well. I’d do some research into these aspects and decide which would suit you best.

6

McGill and UBC do both have excellent psychology departments. (So does U of T, but on the main campus.) Those rankings/reputations are mostly due to faculty research and the doctoral programs, but there is some overlap to the undergrad program.

As was stated above, Montreal and Vancouver have very different cultures!

You can’t really go wrong, so this one is about what kind of experience you want.

7

Agree that between McGill & UBC there is no wrong choice.

8

@bouders Thank you so much!! I’d love to live in Montreal but I’ve heard McGill is very underfunded so I’m not sure about it…

9

@my2caligirls Congrats to your D!!! Which faculty did she get admitted to?

10

Thank you so much to everyone!!! I’ve narrowed it down to McGill and UBC. Would anyone be able to tell me more about their experiences at those two? Are grade deflation and underfunding huge problems at McGill?

11

@fireheart24

Admitted to McGill Arts - also Psych major.