<p>I has been accepted by U of Michigan at Ann Arbor, McGill, U of Toronto and UBC and on waitlist for UChicago for undergrad Economics. </p>
<p>I am very much confused at the moment and don't know which I should choose. BTW, Money is not a factor for my selection of Univ.</p>
<p>My plan is that after my undergrad, I would do a postgraduate degree in the same or similar subject (Econ or Finance) in the top schools in the US or UK. I would like to work for big banks or finance corporations. Which Univ would be easier for me to find a job in this area later on.</p>
<p>If I look at the international rankings (Shanghai etc), U of T and UBC are much on top of McGill in Economics and Business, but Michigan is not that high up over the former two. It appears that they are much similar in the rannkings although McGill is lower.</p>
<p>On the sideline, what is the chance to get in UChicago off the waitlist?</p>
<p>I would llike to make decision on which to go soon, so that I can concentrate on preparation for my final IB exams. </p>
<p>Help please! Your early advices are much appreciated! Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi,
I’m currently an econ student at UBC, and I have to say I’ve been disappointed with the quality of my education here.<br>
The econ professors I have had here have been either unprofessional or careless about their teaching. Most only care about their research and not the students, and overall the classes have been boring and lacking any sort of passion. I understand UBC is a public research university and that many professors will be more focused on research, but I have often had teachers who yell at students or act extremely unhelpfully. The workload is also quite heavy.
I know that UBC has a good reputation in econ, but I’ve considered transferring from UBC (to McGill, despite a lower reputation) several times because of my disappointment and also because the school is large and impersonal, and it is extremely difficult to meet people. Not only is it full of 50,000 people but it is also a commuter campus. However, Vancouver is a beautiful city.
Focusing on a school’s academic reputation seems like a good idea going into undergrad, but you should think about the overall experience you want as well (the atmosphere of the school). I have not had a good experience as an econ major here.
Also, you should think about where you would want to apply for graduate school or get a job after graduating college. I have found that UBC does not have a very strong reputation outside of Canada. For myself its been difficult to get internships, even with a 3.8/4.0 because most people in large financial centers like New York/Boston/East coast area have not heard of UBC.
I would recommend looking more into personal aspects about the schools you are interested in than overall reputations because your overall experience matters. You are very lucky to have the great college choices you have, but what you do at a school often matters more than rankings.
Also, as for the wait list…I was a recruited athlete to UChicago in 2010 and I was wait listed and did not get in. So it might be difficult to get in off of, although I do not know your background as a student or person.
I hope some of this advice helps.</p>
<p>I think that the rankings that most undergraduates look at are based on the Econ graduate school here, as most rankings are. Do not forget that most rankings are based on research as well, not the quality/experience you will have there.
Don’t count UBC out–it definitely is a challenging program. However, I think better quality for the amount of work the program is can be found elsewhere. Another factor in my unhappiness in the program is also because I don’t like the impersonal vibe of the school in general.
Overall, now that I have been through 2 years in university, you begin to realize that a lot of the rankings business is not very significant. It matters how well you perform at any given college to get into graduate school, and how well you can sell yourself to an employer. I used to think the rankings were everything, which is why I did not transfer to McGill, but now I am transferring to UCSD because I want to enjoy my college experience. I’ve also found that staying at UBC for its rankings has been a bad choice because I found when applying an internship on the east coast, the rankings I had so relied on were useless because most employers (Bank of America, Delloite) had not heard much about UBC, nor did they treat it with any prestige.
Rankings are a nice benchmark, but they don’t tell you the big picture. It is nice to base educational goals from them, but they should never be the deciding factor in a college decision because in the end they are not very significant. Those with choices should choose to go where they feel like they will have the best time.</p>
<p>@ubcucsd: Are you American? Because you mentioned that you tried looking for finance-related jobs in NYC and Boston.</p>
<p>I’m heading to UBC this fall, but wanna work in Canada (say, Toronto or Vancouver). Do you think employers there will look favourably at UBC graduates?</p>
<p>@spasticity I am American/Canadian (I have Canadian citizenship so I get the nice low tuition perk, a good side of UBC).
I think that you will definitely have more pull/interest with Canadian employers. Canadian Universities are sort of regional, too, so keep that in mind. A Toronto employer might look upon someone from U of T with higher regard because they know more about the University that is in their backyard. I made the point about getting a job back east to demonstrate how these world rankings are not really as important (especially with big corporate firms, like the original poster mentioned), or well known as people make them out to be. I’ve found UBC doesn’t have the international prestige many have told me about, that’s all.
One thing I left out from my job example is something you should keep in mind if your are going to UBC next fall. The reason I was searching for jobs back home is because I had already been searching for jobs in Vancouver with no luck.
UBC Career Services/UBC Internship Services are extremely unhelpful, and overall a mess. I’m not sure if you are looking to be an econ major or not, but the experience I had with Career Services was ridiculous. I was accepted into an Arts Internship Program where I was told there would be a large variety of jobs for every arts major. However, what I found was that there were only jobs offered for communications/history/english majors, and nothing remotely related to my studies. If you are an engineer, however, I’ve heard great things about their Career Services. Be wary of Career Services and if you want to get a job before you graduate (especially as an arts student) make sure you join CO-OP.
Sadly, I’ve heard not-so-good things about CO-OP too, though I was not in it. I’ve heard the job selection/variety is pretty stingy. Just know what you are getting into (large University, no one is going to hold your hand and guide you on anything) and I am sure that you will be fine with jobs and all the other stuff. :)</p>
<p>The story is, i got into UBC and McGill arts (yes, i’m planning to major in econs as well and maybe political science as my second major or minor).</p>
<p>Getting a good job after graduation (not necessarily finance though) is a priority for me, so getting internships or co-op really matters to me.</p>
<p>Initially, i’m leaning to McGill but keep hearing how it pales in comparison to UBC especially in econs. Also, not to mention that its pretty difficult to get a job or internships in Montreal as compared to Vancouver due to the language barrier. </p>
<p>I did consider UofT too but heard how it can be a GPA killer and thus defeat my chances of getting a job (considering that i’m not exceptionally intelligent).</p>
<p>I also struggled with the decision of McGill vs. UBC when I applied to transfer to McGill last year and was accepted.
I stayed at UBC based on econ rankings, which was like I said a bad call on my part. I’ve heard really good things about student life at McGill, but not so great things about their internship offices from friends that go there.
Overall, I don’t think that it is going to be a huge deal which one you choose. Most employers look to see how personally motivated and accomplished you are as an individual. As long as you go to a generally decent school, all of that stuff about rankings most of the time doesn’t matter too much (unless say you are ranking Harvard vs. a community college). I highly doubt an employer, based with two students, one a UBC grad and one a McGill grad, would choose the UBC student off the bat.
You should visit the campuses, and choose which one you feel best at and which one you think you will have the best time at. After all, college is supposed to be the best four years of your life, right? Why waste your time choosing “rankings” over personal happiness. </p>
<p>As for your choices in political science at UBC, I can say that UBC poli sci, coming from an econ student, is quite easy here. I took one class in poli sci thinking about it as a minor and it had to be the driest course I have ever taken. I went to about half the classes because it was so boring, and I got an A. Obviously, thats an opinion of mine, others might feel differently, but thats the general impression that I got.</p>
<p>As for your “gpa killer” comment, I also have to warn you that UBC econ is a really difficult program. A lot of students that come in first year that want to major in econ end up in poli sci because they cannot pass the requirements. I think nearly 40% of students in my calculus class in first year failed. Its tough, but college is tough anywhere.</p>
<p>My advice overall I guess is to visit the schools, see how you feel at them, and consider the rankings as a small factor because you option of schools is already great. Choose where you will feel happiest.</p>