I’m currently a junior in New York with a 4.0 GPA, two jobs, but no ECs. I want to major in environmental science, getting a Masters at minimum, and end-game I want to move to Canada . I figured one of the best ways to get a head-start on citizenship and connections would be to do undergrad in Canada (the apathy for EC’s helps too), but tuition/living costs is over my budget for schools like UBC or UofT. Would it be easier to go to a SUNY for undergrad, or is the international price tag worth it?
I would be inclined to go to SUNY for undergrad unless you have a lot of money at your disposal. At Canadian universities, you tend not to make tons of connections during undergrad degrees. Most undergrad classes are very large so few profs know your name. I have a son in his fourth year at a Canadian university and he has yet to have a prof who has known his name. My middle son took more small classes and was quite vocal in them, so that in his fourth year most of the profs knew his name. Connections tend to happen in grad school much more.
I don’t know whether doing your undergrad would improve or speed up your chances of gaining citizenship, but even if it did, you would be paying a steep price for it. Knowing whether the price tag is worth it would require knowing your family’s net worth.
Sorry for my very slow response. I have heard that getting a 4-year degree from a Canadian university comes with a 3 year work permit. If this is true then this would be a very useful step towards getting a permanent resident visa, which I think is probably a required step towards getting Canadian citizenship (unless you or a parent were born in Canada). From what I have read on-line, I think that a two-year master’s degree can lead to a 2-year work permit.
If you seriously want to move to Canada then this is something that you should look into in more detail (don’t take my word for it). One place to start is:
By the way, do you have a good guess regarding what SUNY would cost you?