I am still waiting to hear back from a couple more schools, but I have narrowed down some of my options as of now:
McGill:
Pros: International prestige, relatively cheap, international student body
Cons: Difficult academics? Got into the Mac Campus (which idk if it is good or bad per say)
Boston University:
Pros: Ranking, strong name, city experience
Cons: Very expensive
University of Rochester:
Pros: Academic (ability to sculpt own path), ny? lol, love their campus
Cons: cost…but waiting for fa package still
In state school:
pros: ranked very highly (top 10 by us news), great academics, i would attend for free
cons: close to home!!!
I would like to attend med school after undergrad. i’ve narrowed it down to these 4 but i’m honestly stuck at what to chose. i have visited 3 of them and their campuses are all similar imo. any suggestions from students who attend these uni’s?
Also, URochester is nowhere near New York City if that’s what you mean by “ny?”
Have you received your FA package yet, and it is afforable?
BU is super expensive for no good reason. Cross it out.
What’s your major? The Mac campus is away from the city and more like the life science/agronomy/agriculture/environmental science/nutrition school. It’s kind of cool, because you’re on a real campus with beautiful residences etc, and there’s an actual campus life, but on weekends you can easily get away to the city (45mn by public transportation). McGill in Montreal is a huge behemoth with 60,000 students, no campus, and it’s really not what you’d call a tight-knit community. While McGill McDonald’s isn’t quite close-knit either, it’s closer to what you’d imagine college to be in the US (minus sports etc).
Can you list, for each of these colleges, the result of this problem (tuition+room&board + fees) - (scholarships+ grants) = ?
Indicate next to the number if you got a work study job, federal loans, any other loan.
Then adults on this website will be able to ascertain which is the best value for you.
I’ve narrowed it down to McGill (downtown campus) and my in state school. From there, I am having too much difficulty in deciding. Please give me your input! Totally lost! Thanks
Mcgill:
Pros - Montreal, international student body (diversity), international prestige, amazing faculty of science, overall i like the thought of going out of the country to college
Cons - language barrier, I’m afraid because of the language barrier, it will be difficult in finding internships and research opps on/off campus, apparently mcgill does not cap their classes at you get higher in levels, as American universities do, so I feel like it may be 10x harder to make a relationship with the professor, which in turn could be difficult in finding recs, 60kish debt +/- 5k
State School:
Pros: pretty much free for me, i like some of the clubs/acitvities they have here, that are not offered at mcgill, all my friends are going there, possibility of getting research positions and stuff because no language barrier (but then again, its a big school…)
Cons: too close to home! lack of diversity (law says like 80% must be in state students),
Language barrier in Canada? Besides the occasional French, English is widely spoken I’m pretty sure. GO TO THE STATE SCHOOL. Being too close to home isn’t an awful thing. Besides, I think you can suck it up for the free, “highly-ranked” education.
I’d advise the state school. If it’s a good school and it’s offering you a full ride, then it ought to be a no-brainer unless there was a good personal reason. If there was you wouldn’t still be considering it so…go for it!
Even so. Affordable is good, rather than the tab you’d be picking up at McGill if you are still getting a quality education. Especially if you’re planning on graduate school. If you go to grad school of any sort, the school you choose there matters more in terms of prestige, although a state school is solid enough a recommendation as long as you do well.
I assume the state school is UNC-Chapel Hill, in which case I would definitely accept its offer. I can’t see paying $60,000 more for McGill. UNC is an amazing school, and while it might be 80% in-state students, you will have smart, interesting peers from all over the world. If you’re concerned about prestige, a UNC degree carries a lot of weight in the US (McGill is not necessarily more prestigious - in the World University Rankings, McGill is 39 and UNC is 46 - not much of a difference).
