<p>I'm an international and got admitted to the Electrical Engineering programs at the four universities. Any suggestions about which I should choose? I wanna go to graduate school so I need letters of recs and research opportunities. Money is not an issue.</p>
<p>I would choose either Waterloo or U of T. since this is a U of T forum you should know that the program at U of T is highly selective – as competitive as getting into the ivy league. I know people with 97% averages who got rejected, so consider yourself fortunate. But don’t pass up Waterloo so easily either. But Toronto is a vastly better city than Waterloo, if off campus life is also a factor in your decision. If you want something a little more intimate in the city life then take a second look at Waterloo.</p>
<p>I’ve got several questions: </p>
<p>1)How would you rank the five universities mentioned above, in terms of strength in EE? </p>
<p>2)Which university can offer more theoretical education that will prepare students better for grad schools? </p>
<p>3)Which university can give me a better chance for the top EE graduate schools in the US?</p>
<p>4)How much does undergraduate coop experience help when you apply to grad schools?</p>
<p>5)I heard that Waterloo’s EE curriculum is relatively practical, which is just suitable for those who want to find jobs as soon as they graduate. Is that true?</p>
<p>I would probably rank them something like this:</p>
<p>1) U of T, Waterloo, UCLA, UBC, MGill</p>
<p>keep in mind when it comes to computer engineering Waterloo is the MIT of Canada. Microsoft recruits there.</p>
<p>2) yes waterloo is practical </p>
<p>3) I would go for U of T for a good mix of practical and theoretical. Consider Toronto has many opportunities for internships and summer jobs. But companies do come to Waterloo especially for engineering students.</p>
<p>4) That depends on what school your are applying to, I would assume. the more experience you have wouldn’t hurt either with grad schools.</p>
<p>5) Waterloo or U of T will prepare for you any top U.S grad school. </p>
<p>Sorry my answers were not in order.</p>
<p>Here is a link whichs echoes what I was saying. Btw, I was going to say that mcgill and UbC are pretty much interchangeable in engineering. this list has them pretty close, and IMO underanks waterloo:<br>
[World</a> Science & Engineering University Portal: World University Ranking of Engineering Schools 2009](<a href=“http://www.universityportal.net/2007/09/world-university-ranking-of-engineering.html]World”>University Portal – Blog About Papers Writing For Students)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You have no idea what you are talking about, UofT engineering is no where as near competitive as ivy leagues. The courses may be challenging, but the admissions are a breeze. This is coming from someone who applied to ivies and is heading off to uoft engsci next year.</p>
<p>^^^ you’re the one who doesn’t know what he is talking about. I assume you knew my friend who was rejected with the 97%? And just because you got rejected from the ivies and into U of T doesn’t mean a thing. There was girl in 2003 who made the news because she was a world class researcher at 17, I believe from Kingston Ontario. she was rejected by U of T but got into Princeton. U of T has “wink winK” affirmative action program for internationals, even though you won’t find that published anywhere. . Again, it’s amazing to me that American’s think for some reason you understand the Canadian university admissions system… you don’t… get over it already. Selectivity is generally rooted in staying in past the first year… and admit rates are published so only those have the grades apply…meaning admit rates look high because most who apply have the published standards to get in…You probably have an advantage over canadian applicants, meaning similar test and grades …had you applied from Alberta, you might have faced rejection. your international status helped you here…but not at the ivies.</p>
<p>let’s look at some opinions and research, U of T is ranked as the 10th best engineering school in the world. When did the Ivies become strong in engineering…sorry Stanford and MIT are not ivies. . U of T in this area and is the most selective undergrad program at the university and generally one of the most in Canada. </p>
<p>Cornell is the highest ivy at number 7 in undergrad engineering and columbia next at
number 20, according to U.S news.</p>
<p>On the world ranking toronto is 10 and Cornell is 24, mind you this is graduate ranking but it gives somewhat of indicator as well at the undergrad level.</p>
<p>**Canadian Engineering University ranking:<a href=“February,%202008”>/B</a>
- University of Toronto
- University of Waterloo
- McGill University
- University of British Columbia
- University of Alberta
- University of Ottawa - Carleton University
- Queen’s University
- University of Western Ontario
McMaster University - Universit</p>
<p>First off, I’m Canadian, so none of your “wink wink” affirmative action stuff applies. The very fact that UofT has this so called affirmative action for internationals shows that they are not very selective. And I don’t know who you know that had a 97 average and didn’t get into UofT, but anyone who has a 90 average or higher in Ontario can easily get in to EngSci and any other engineering program. And the reason EngSci has such a high dropout rate is because UofT’s easy admission policies allow too many students into the program who aren’t really prepared for the course load. The rankings you listed only has to do with research, and is not correlated with admission difficulty. This is not to say that UofT is a crappy school, it definitely isn’t. But face it, its admission is no where as difficult as those of ivies.</p>
<p>To repeat myself: Let’s all know if you survive the first year and then tell us about selectivity.</p>
<p>Enough said. Cheers,</p>
<p>one more question… which university would increase my chances/prepare me better for a top US grad school in Mechanical OR chemical engineering or an MBA?
1McGill
2UofT
3waterloo</p>
<p>please answer subject area wise… so that i dont get confused… please please answer anyone
Thanks.</p>
<p>All would be fine.</p>
<p>Hey ivyleager I certainly enjoyed reading your posts. You know alot about U of T and I’ve got one question I’d like to ask. I’m an international student, but friends in the US recommends engineering grad schools like Purdue and RPI over U of T. I’m a PhD applicant. </p>
<p>I was also hoping you wouldn’t go into how American’s are big-headed and ignorant. I just want some facts. The reasons my friends gave me is that going to a US school provides better chances of working in the US industry (which is what I plan to do after graduation).</p>
<p>Hey SilhouetteDown, I’m facing the same problem as you, except that I am applying for undergrad in civil engineering. I’m wondering whether I should go to UofT or US publics like Berkeley or Michigan, as it seems hard to land a job in the US for an international student (which I am), and Canada immigration policies are much more lax. But on the other hand, UofT isn’t as good as US universities in engineering.
</p>
<p>UofT is a good school. It really depends on where you want to live. If you want to live in canada your better off going to UofT. There is also a solid amount of international students at uoft. For undergrad some people argue that US is better. Toronto is very multicultural. There are a lot of immigrants in Toronto so its not like your really that different from everyone here. UofT is ranked 13th in world if that means anything for undergrad. However if you want to live in US your probably better off going to a US uni.</p>
<p>University of Toronto engineering? </p>
<p>The pros:
Toronto is a cool city.
Some of the profs are good. Maybe half, at most.
UofT is famous, probably because it’s old.</p>
<p>The cons are many:
They make you take a design course in 1st year, all year. It’s a pain and a colossal waste of time.
Some lectures are given by teaching assistants who can’t explain well. This really sucks. Why don’t they have real profs?
Most tutorials are a waste of time because most of the ta’s don’t actually teach. They just tutor individually, while the rest of the class just sits there. Lots of students don’t see the point of attending.
University of Toronto engineering is expensive, at $12,000 for Canadians. But it’s a weak program, so why do they charge more than everywhere else? And they don’t tell you the full tuition amount until after you’re already enrolled.
If you can’t pay off all your tuition by mid November, they gouge you for 1.5% interest every month, which you have to pay if you don’t get all your student loan money until january.
There are too many other stupid, annoying things to mention. And the dean gets paid almost $400,000. If she can’t run the engineering program better than this, why does she get paid so much?</p>
<p>If you got high grades in high school, maybe you think you’re smart. But if you really are smart, you won’t go to UofT … unless you already live in Toronto, and can save money by living at home.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>APS 111… no one should have to go through this course.</p>
<p>Dont know what u mean by TA’s teaching classes though the only time this has ever happened to me is when prof is sick or something and even then it has happened about three times. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>NO. Never commute unless you have to. Commuters have it rough.</p>