Hi! I’m an international student from South Korea. I recently posted another thread about UF vs UW-Madison, but even though I finally chose UF, I just got accepted from the University of Toronto and I am confused again. I’ve been hearing from other people that I should also consider Brandeis because of its education and growth potential, so I don’t know which college should I attend.
My intended major is Education Studies, and I know that all three colleges accept UF is popular for that major(UF made that major in fall 2018.)
I don’t know how to interpret Canadian college rankings, so I don’t know how prestigious the University of Toronto is.
I personally love Florida’s warm weather, so while I love all four colleges, I think I’m a bit more attracted to UF. However, this is only because of its weather, and since I do not know much about those four schools, I am considering all four colleges.
I think I’ll either come back to Korea or get a master’s degree in USA after graduation.
I went to a very huge middle school and a very small high school, so I don’t care much about student population.
What is the reputation of those schools in USA? How would you rank those schools and which college would you recommend attending?
I would recommend you look up all three schools in LInkdin. Then select alumni and under where they live, enter Korea. You’ll get a breakdown of alumni living in your country. You can even message some of them and ask for feedback on the school.
You’ll notice that a lot of U of Toronto graduates are in economics, a lot of UF’s are in education, etc.
I have a degree from Toronto. Most Americans have no idea what it is. But those who do would probably consider its undergraduate programs to be similar in quality to Wisconsin & Florida. Like Wisconsin, the winters there are very long & very cold. Toronto is a large, lively, & expensive city, and both the city & the university have a significant number of students who are of Chinese ancestry.
Brandeis is much smaller than your other options…the life on campus would probably be less friendly & less interesting than the other 3 universities. Also, long cold winters. It is in a suburb of Boston, which is also a large, lively, & expensive city.
At Wisconsin & Florida, the university sports teams are very popular, whereas at Toronto & Brandeis, nobody is very interested in the sports teams.
U of T(assuming that is the downtown campus)is likely to be the toughest in terms of academics. The top CAN schools can be a grind. It’s reputation is at least the equal of any of the other schools, if not higher. An undergrad degree from U of T would be recognized just abut anywhere in the world. UW is certainly very respected, also. UW and U of T would have similar weather. Madison is not just a college town, but is known for it’s rah-rah, big time athletics, and is a prototypical Big 10 school. Toronto is a bigger school, but is overshadowed by being in the middle of a large city. For a big city, Toronto is relatively safe, and has a large Asian population- mainly Chinese and Indian, but there are certainly Koreans there. The eating is outstanding.
Brandeis is completely different. Smaller, suburban. Traditionally know for it’s Jewish student body, but I had a non Jewish friend who went there from Saskatchewan, and she loved it. More like LAC feel, than the big school feel of the others.
I know nothing about U of F.
I know Wisconsin(am in the upper midwest) and Toronto best. Toronto is a really good school smack dab in the middle of a city. Some find it impersonal and competitive, others love it. WI has the more open, friendly, midwestern vibe to it.
Toronto, and U of T, is about as diverse of a school as you can find. There are many International students, but also many, many Asian Canadians(as well as others).
I’ve lived near Brandeis and UW and graduated from U of T. U of T will have a lot more Asian students by far. There are a lot of Koreans in Toronto but hardly any in the areas of The other schools you are considering.
Attending any of the schools will enable you to go to graduate school in the USA.
If you graduate from a Canadian school you can get a work visa. You can’t do that if you graduate from an American school.