Going To College In Canada?

[1990C4S]

I think the whole 'protest' discussion is a non-issue.

There is a new premier now. And even at their peak they weren't much of a disruption. I have two kids there. Neither one mentioned the protests.

[ZOO]

Plug for my alma mater -- Queen's University, in Kingston ON.

[Nostril Cheese]

My wife is from Ottawa. Lots of good schools there.

[kanadary]

i went to ubc for my engineering undergrad degree, great school, great campus although its changed alot, when i was there were wasn't any starbucks or condos, just student housing and B lot (parking was free). i did my masters at u of washington and although most of it was done via the internet i did have to go in for classes on the odd occasion. its alot different having a campus in the city vs one that on the outskirts. enjoyed both.
one thing i noticed since moving to the states is that alumnis usually will go back to their school when looking for new hires. that would be the only drawback if you decide to work in the states after graduation, while in canada, or atleast at bombardier, it didn't matter that i wasn't from the same university as most of the senior engineers that were hiring, it just mattered that i came from an accredited university with an engineering degree.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

But the French atmosphere would be absent. Good for brushing up on your Mandarin, however.

Ian

Or Cantonese. A lot of Hong Kong expats in Vancouver.

[jyl]

Region - Northeast, South, West, etc - is not really important. In an interesting urban area, that is more important. Maybe a teeny bit of preference for the East Coast.

Quote de jyl

So, Reed is out - what other small liberal arts schools to look at?

What part of the country?

[creaturecat]

Sorbonne.
McGill.
Vancouver, as a city, is highly over rated. And expensive.
UBC? You will require a Chinese language, not French.

[yellowperil]

There are 3 excellent universities in Nova Scotia. St Francis Xavier (StFX) in
Antigonish (Football and partying) Dalhousie in Halifax (Medicine) and Acadia in Wolfville (Arts and partying). All my inlaws in eastern US come up here to enroll
in St FX and everyone gets these honking big "X" rings when they grad. Seems it's the most "must have" grad ring ever.

[1990C4S]

UBC - University of a Billion Chinese. (that's the politically correct version).

[vash]

i cant believe your kids are at college age!! wow.

now,,why Canada?

[creaturecat]

An aside:
One more generation - two at the most, and the honkey will be an endangered species in Vancouver.
Mark my words.

[vash]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

An aside:
One more generation - two at the most, and the honkey will be an endangered species in Vancouver.
Mark my words.

boom ming bye! (mandarin for "i dont understand") what are we talking about here? people of color taking over?

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

an aside:
One more generation - two at the most, and the honkey will be an endangered species in vancouver.
Mark my words.

tre

[jyl]

She's half Chinese, got the protective coloration thing going on.

[Black968]

I will second Queens in Kingston. Nice school and a beautiful town. My wifes alma mater

[Iciclehead]

Both kids did engineering at Queen's in Kingston. Fabulous experience for them, top notch education.

The positive difference is the degree to which the town of Kingston is focused on the university and the almost enforced collegiality and cooperation amongst the students that is engendered.

D.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Iciclehead

Both kids did engineering at Queen's in Kingston. Fabulous experience for them, top notch education.

D.

What is the failure rate? Shockingly low I suspect. The need for income means more students pass. That's not a good sign. Sorry, that's not 'top notch, at least not in my opinion.

[Christien]

I did my Master's in music at McGill and my undergrad at Queen's in Kingston.

McGill is a great school, no doubt. Their music program is as good as it gets, at least in Canada. But the best part is Montreal. Living there for 3 years was one of the best experiences of my life. I might have got lucky, but the 3 winters I spent there were quite tame. Rarely below -10C, and typical snowfall for a Canadian winter. Cost of living isn't what it was back in the early 90s, when you could get a nice apartment for $300/month, but it's still MUCH better than Toronto or (especially) Vancouver.

Kingston, on the other hand, is a very typical university town. The campus is much more separate from the city, compared to McGill or U of T, so it can be a very sheltered existence. For some folks, that's a good thing.

[Christien]

btw, we don't call these school colleges here - they're universities. Colleges are a completely different thing - usually 2-year skill- and career-oriented programs. Though the universities are quickly becoming more college-like.

[Iciclehead]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

What is the failure rate? Shockingly low I suspect. The need for income means more students pass. That's not a good sign. Sorry, that's not 'top notch, at least not in my opinion.

Not sure what you mean about the need for income. Queen's is no different than any other Canadian university with tuition rates at around $8k per year, the rest being funded by the government and the legacy trust funds from the alumni.

Can't speak to the other faculties, but the engineering one has a low failure rate (around 5% if I recall) as their academic entrance requirements are very high so they get a good grade of student (financial support directly from the university/alumni if required) and also they really work at providing the best teaching they can.

For example, if an engineering student fails first year, which they can do first time away from home and all that stuff, they offer something called J section which essentially is the first year repeated in a compressed fashion in the summer. If you don't pass there - same standard by the way - then you are out, but most students who enter J section end up buckling up and getting through.

Thankfully both of my kids made it through the normal path and graduated in 4 years.

This was quite different from other Canadian engineering schools that typically had failure/drop out rates on the order or 50% as means of weeding out the lower end, albeit with lower entrance requirements. As a parent who funded the education, I quite liked the fact that once they got in, given good academic performance, they would not be artificially weeded out and have to seek another discipline.

Queens is not considered a weak degree at all - at least here in Calgary where the Queen's mafia is pretty strong and pretty elevated in corporate positioning.

D.