<p>U of T is a top 30 Universtiy worldwide and a top 15 engineering school. I mean, a US school of a similiar caliber would be UC Berkeley. My guess would be that college confidential is an American based website but that doesn't sound convincing at all.</p>
<p>So my question is: why is it that there are generally less people interested in studying at Toronto? And this wasn't just judging from the number of posts on CC, but from other stats too.</p>
<p>I heard a friend of mine saying that he would prefer going to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(RPI) than U of T. He's an engineering grad student, and a US citizen. He said something about having better job opportunities, since the US has the bigger market for hi-tech products.</p>
<p>Most Canadian posters on CC are aiming for top US schools and might consider UofT as a safety only. As for Americans, UofT does not actively recruit in the US to the extent that say McGill does. Also, Canadian schools were popular with Americans a decade ago for “donut hole” families: too rich to qualify for need based aid in the US but not rich enough to write out a check for $50,000/year to a US school. International tuition in Canada now is approaching the level of private or at least OOS public American schools so that advantage is disappearing. </p>
<p>Also keep in mind that Canada has a smaller population than California so obviously there are more tech jobs in the US.</p>
<p>U of T is not in the same league as Berkeley. Michigan would be a more accurate comparison.</p>
<p>U of T is only ranked so high because of its research, which comes from the tuition it steals from its 60 000 students. Its education, at least at an undergrad level, is nothing special.</p>
<p>IAmPOS. So you’re saying U of T has top-notch research? Then it should be a pretty good choice for an engineering grad student, right? But again various people they would still recommend top 20 US engineering schools over U of T.</p>
<p>tomofboston. If we’re to confine the discussion to engineering graduate school, and therefore students are fully supported, how does UofT compare to top 20 US enginering schools? Does going to UofT limit chances of getting tech jobs in the US?</p>
<p>U of T is a very popular school with Canadian students, obviously. Otherwise it wouldn’t have 50,000-60,000 students. There are many international students, from the U.S. and around the world. Although it’s not the school for everyone, for a highly motivated, independent, mature student who doesn’t need to be coddled, the opportunity for an excellent undergrad education is certainly there. This may vary dept. to dept. but from our experience, and that of many family and friends, it’s a great place to go to school.</p>
<p>For an American student concerned about graduate school, U of T comes with risk.</p>
<p>Although there is some “diversity” appeal for graduating from a “foreign” school, that has to be balanced against the risk that graduate schools might not be prepared to accept the fact that U of T grades much harder than American schools. Since U of T does not have highly selective entrance criteria, for students in the highly selective category, the risk is even worse. i.e. average appearing grades from an average Canadian undergrad school, vs. good grades from a more selective American undergrad school.</p>
<p>As noted in a previous post, the cost advantage has shrunk dramatically with rising international tuition and a weaker US dollar. </p>
<p>Finally, alot of students are worried about the colder climate. </p>
<p>If a student knows he wants to live in Canada, it is a no brainer to go to U of T. But for a student who is on the fence on that issue, the risk/reward balance usually tips in favor of staying in the comfort zone.</p>
<p>If students are in the “highly selective” category, going to U of T which is not a highly selective school, shouldn’t they be the ones at the top of the grading curve?</p>
<p>^ High school success does not predict university success. You could be at the top of your class in high school and still become a college drop-out.</p>
<p>OK, but that doesn’t address my point. Sawdust says the risk is worse for students in the highly selective category. The presumption is that they could have gone to a more selective US school and gotten good grades but instead they went to less selective U of T and got mediocre grades. U of T profs would grade on a curve, right? If U of T is less selective, the “highly selective” should be at the top of that curve while the average joes that U of T lets in should be in the middle and the marginal ones that just made it in should be at the bottom. In other words, even though U of T grades harder than US schools, someone’s got to be at the top of the curve!</p>
<p>Allow me to restate my argument a little simpler: one of the reasons U of T is not more popular with Americans is that there is a perception that it might be harder to get into an American graduate school with a 79 average from the U of T than with an 89 average from the University of Michigan, even though there is a logical bell curve explanation as to why the two averages are actually equivalent.</p>
<p>I agree this may be a perception, but it is a false one. There is no ‘risk’ to getting into US graduate school- U of T, as with many research intensive Canadian universities are equally recognized as american ones. There is no border between academics in the two countries (Canadians and Americans coauthor, publish in the same journals, attend the same conferences).</p>
<p>As someone who has sat on admissions committees for many years, I can tell you that U of T transcripts come to us with class averages next to the actual grades. PhDs are pretty smart people…we can read and interpret such transcripts :)</p>
<p>Starbright. Yes I understand that generally Canadian schools are equally regarded in the US. Especially when an undergrad from Canadian schools are applying for grad school in the US. But I do believe that at the transition point from graduate study to industry (let’s say engineering), there is a difference. The hi-tech market at US is simply much larger than Canada, and these hitech companies would prefer graduates from an American institute. In other words, I do believe that it is harder for the same student to attend grad school in Canada then find a job in the US, than going to US schools to begin with. Sure, other factors must be taken into account, such as research experience and network etc, but I think my statement is generally true. Note that for an international student, it is even more difficult look for jobs in the US after having studied in Canada.</p>
<p>Of course, if one where to choose to go onto a postdoc, it doesn’t matter because publications matter the most.</p>
<p>A mechanical engineering professor at U of Ottowa told me that without any doubt, Toronto is the best engineering program in Canada - far above McGill. But I think he was referring to grad school and the research.</p>
<p>k, UofT IS AWESOME, ITS a great university and the best in canada.
anyone who sais its bad of course knows nothing about it then.
btw: canadian highschools are harder then american highschools on average and canadian students get better on average then americans, true fact, dont argue about it.</p>
There are many international students, from the U.S. and around the world. Although it’s not the school for everyone, for a highly motivated, independent, mature student who doesn’t need to be coddled, the opportunity for an excellent undergrad education is certainly there. This may vary dept. to dept. but from our experience, and that of many family and friends, it’s a great place to go to school.</p>