Deciding what business university to go to
I am a student currently in grade 12 who has just been accepted into the following Canadian universities:
U of British Columbia (Sauder)
U of Toronto (Rotman)
Queens
Waterloo
U of Calgary (Haskayne)
I have a few decisions to make in the next little while and want a few opinions.
First off, of those Canadian schools, what is the best undergrad (Bcom) business school in terms of career, and also, what school would give me the highest chance of getting into a top MBA school in the US.
Secondly, I am in a position to defer a year from university, where I plan to write my SAT's and apply to some US schools, do a lot of volunteer work, work to fund my education and jump on any traveling opportunities I can find (prob tie this in with the volunteering side of things). My question here is, is this a safe decision? Would the US schools reject me based on the fact I'd be applying 1 year later than the kids my age...and is it essentially BETTER to go to a Canadian school right away, or work hard and get into a US school for my undergrad university.
Thanks,
Alex
Queens or UofT. No question. Calgary shouldn't be on your map, UBC is highly overrated (if you ask me) and unknown in the US, and Waterloo is more respected for its comp sci/engineering/math programs. The only question is whether you want to live in a college town (Queens) or in a major city (UofT).
Agreed but I would go for Queens over UofT.
Is this question IB centered? Meaning, by "career" do you mean an investment banking career or any business related career?
First off, why in hell are you trying to go to the US for your undergrad? Unless you can crack an Ivy, forget it. Even if you can get into the Ivy League, a lot of times it's not worth it for Canucks. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Wharton and Dartmouth. I would draw my line if I didn't get into one of these schools. Do you know how much it costs to go to school in the US versus in Canada? Why go to a US school, pay 5 times as much and get out with the same education and job opps? Doesn't make sense. I did the analysis when I had to make this decision.
From your list above, I would go to Queens hands down. The UofT undergrad is not even close and Queens (if we're talking the B.Comm program) stands out like a sore thumb in that list you've got up there. In my opinion, the best general undergrad business program in Canada, with the best opportunities is the Laurier Co-Op program (no, I didn't go there). If we are talking IB, McGill and Ivey. Accouting and Consulting are Schulich and Queens.
The only reason you might consider going to Haskayne is if you wanted to work in the O/G industry, which is certainly not a bad call by any means. The only reason you might go to UBC is if you smoke a lot of pot and the only reason you might go to Waterloo is if you were accepted to some kind of dual Math-Business degree.
I went to Schulich and currently work in a boutique US Investment Bank. Send me a PM if you have any more specific questions. I know a lot about the Canadian business school system.
How did you manage to swing that?
My situation is unique. I followed an MD from a major consulting firm in Canada where I started out of school to the States.
Thanks for the insight.
I'm going to be facing this problem next year when I'm in Grade 12, but I have absolutely no intention of applying to a university in the States. My friend in Grade 12 got accepted into Harvard. He got accepted into Harvard largely on a Rowing Scholarship.
If you are planning to go to an Ivy League, especially if you're "international" (Canada), you have to be both an athlete and an amazing student. My cousin got accepted into a non-Ivy school in the States on a soccer scholarship. She wanted to go Ivy as well, but wasn't big on the academic side of things, although she's an amazing soccer player and has a chance at pro.
We have great schools in Canada as it is, especially if you want i-banking, which is what I'm shooting for as well. We have Schulich, Queens, Richard Ivey (huge in i-banking), McGill, etc.
Anyways, good luck on whichever choice you make Alex.
No he didn't.
I'm sure Canada has some good programs, but being at grad school with a lot of students who went to undergrad in Canada, my impression is that the quality of students and education is a lot lower than at equivalent schools in the US. No offense but Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Stanford offer a significantly better education than Queen's or UofT. Not saying it's worth the money if you want to stay in Canada, but it's really not even a comparison.
Which grad school & program is this?
It's a top British university, Oxford/Cambridge/LSE.
Given that the Canadian bachelors is 4 years but not liberal arts, meaning you focus on one subject the whole time, it doesn't make sense that British students who did 3 year degrees and American students who did 4 year liberal arts degrees seem to generally outperform them. This is just from my experience in classes. The McGill kids are pretty much solid though.
LSE is NOT on the same level as Oxbridge academically!
Who said same level? If someone said Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Duke were top universities in the US, I'd agree, even though Duke is ranked slightly below the first three.
Anyway, I didn't mean to hurt the Canadians' feelings, I just think that ValueAdd gave some bad info. Any US Ivy/MIT/Stanford/Duke will give you a better education, better resources, a stronger alumni network, and bigger international recognition than any Canadian university. If you can afford it, go to the States.
I know kids who were top of their Canadian universities who are definitely not the top of the heap compared with American and British students, many of whom went to worse universities in their own countries. They have really high grades and somehow know less about the subject than people who graduated 5 years ago from mediocre British universities. It's kind of shocking.
But like I said, McGill is an exception; haven't met a stupid kid from there.
The quality of an average american undergrad college student (non ivy or first tier, that is) is pretty atrociously low to the point of being an empty head.
Yeah sure. But UofT and Queen's are two of the best universities in Canada, and they seem to be the level of Boston College. ValueAdd said you can get the same education at a good Canadian university as you can at an Ivy/MIT/Stanford/Duke. No way.
No doubt about it.
If you got accepted into any of those schools in the States, it definitely beats any school here in Canada. I wouldn't recommend going to a school in the States if it's not Ivy, especially if you want to get into i-banking.
The cost just far outweighs any benefits first of all. On top of that, you'll have a significantly better chance of getting into i-banking if you go to a target school here in Canada (Richard Ivey, Queens, Schulich) than going to a non-Ivy in the States.
I'd agree with that.
Sorry. I phrased it wrong. He got accepted into Harvard because he is smart and a rower, but didn't actually get a scholarship because of that fact.
My deepest and most sincere apologies. :)
to the OP, go with Queens commerce. The experience you get at UofT commerce won't be the same as that of Queens Commerce. The student body, atmosphere, strength of the commerce program, class sizes and everything is much better there. However, UofT as a whole has a better rep. worldwide. In fact, the only CDN schools that the majority of Americans have heard of are UofT and McGill. So that may play into MBA admissions a bit, im not sure...
Nervertheless, Queens is the stronger program for undergrad and since this is an ibanking forum I assume you want to get into ibanking...so your best bet is with Queens as they have much better placements. Better work experience >>> leads to MBA.
Only consider the other schools on that list if you prefer to live in BC or Alberta.
in terms of the quality of education you'll receive, all of the canadian universities will be pretty much the same. for an MBA, U of T would probably hold the most water from its name. then it'd be UBC or Queens.
you obviously can't compare these canadian universities to HYPS. canadian unis are public institutions, and are mandated to educate the public first and foremost. prestige is somewhere way down the pecking order. private colleges have the luxury of doing whatever they want.
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