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Topic question. Any thoughts will be appreciated!

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 08:38 am: Edit

I would go for Western Ontario. They are supposed to be the best Business School in Canada. Queen's is also excellent, as are McGill, Toronto and UBC.

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 09:17 am: Edit

Well I'm only considering between UBC or McGill. Between these two, which is better?

By Harpgirl27 (Harpgirl27) on Saturday, September 25, 2004 - 01:47 am: Edit

to be quite honest I think UBC has the better program, but McGill has the better international reputation. I am not really sure though...but for education I think your best bet is with UBC.

Noelle
McGill c/o 2008

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 11:38 pm: Edit

Thx Harpgirl! Any comments on the respective school's academics and social life (like are the students overly competitive, arrogant; whether the grades are belled; etc)?

By Harpgirl27 (Harpgirl27) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 10:30 am: Edit

can't speak for UBC, but I know at McGill students are very cool. Management is known for throwing some killer parties (everyone sneaks into their parties LOL), but everyone here works really really hard. It's amazing. McGill in general is really diverse and located in a great city (Montreal!). I've found the social life to be fantastic--people are really accepting and friendly, it's been so easy to make connections and find fun stuff to do with people. Man, no grade inflation here though (I'm in science). I'm working my arse off right now. I would imagine this holds true at UBC as well.

UBC crowd I don't think is as party-crazy as McGill (which is aided by the 18 yr old drinking age, I'm sure), but has a more laid back, west coast type approach. Though I know they work hard...especially in science and business ? I think. I know at UBC asian students make up a large majority of the internationals, where at McGill they really do come from all over. However I think both places are a lot less...cliquish, I guess, than US elite schools. However I have just heard this--can't say for fact.

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 03:21 pm: Edit

McGill sounds so perfect - the classy and beautiful city, the people, the partying... Hmm one thing that has always puzzled me though: do you have to know French to survive in Montreal? I heard rumours of how people in Quebec are discriminative towards non-French speakers.

Oh and what do you think of the Molson, McConnell and Gardner Halls? Are the single rooms small? Is it always noisy?

By Jstos5 (Jstos5) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 04:13 pm: Edit

UBC seems to give a huge amount of scholarships... I don't know how the situation is for americans though (if you are one), but definitely a plus if you have the marks for it. One of my friends who went to UofT with a 91.4% average received the following scholarships, maybe this will give you an idea of where the cutoffs for scholarships are for different schools:

York Schulich - 4k
UBC - 15k
UofT Mississauga - 1.5k
UofT St George - 0
UGuelph - 2k
Western Ontario - Main Campus - 3k
Western Ontario - King's - 3k

McGill and UofT St George I believe both have cut offs for guaranteed entrance scholarships at 92%... so you probably won't get much from them, but if you are american then maybe UBC won't be so generous on scholarships. In terms of which is better between UBC and McGill... I think they're both pretty good.

By Harpgirl27 (Harpgirl27) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 02:02 pm: Edit

UBC doesn't give big scholarships to americans for first year. If you meet their requirements for a certain percentage you can get a 3K scholarship, but that's it.

Then again McGill doesn't give finaid to internationals either, really

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 03:09 pm: Edit

I'm an international student and I'll be more than happy to receive any form of financial aid, although it's not an issue. Btw, what is the cut-off grade for McGill & UBC business in the Macleans guide? Perhaps that will be a good gauge to determine which is the better school...

By Jstos5 (Jstos5) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 03:20 pm: Edit

Macleans doesn't publish the cut off grade for individual undergrad programs... I've seen a couple of ranking for business schools but they were only for graduate level so it's not really an accurate way of telling which is better for undergrad. The average entering grade for all undergraduate programs between these two schools have always been within 4% of each other over the past 10 some years.

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 03:51 pm: Edit

Jstos5: Hmm I do have the 2002 edition passed from a friend whom got it from Canada; and it did print the "Minimum Entering Grades in First Round of Admissions" for each school... So in your opinion, is McGill or UBC better for business?

By Jstos5 (Jstos5) on Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - 10:57 pm: Edit

They publish it? My mistake then. What did they list as McGill/UBC's first round of cut offs for undergrad business? I personally think that McGill has better reputation, this is also true nationally if you look at the reputational surveys MacLeans takes every year. But I can't really say which is better for undergrad business... depends on which suits you better. Plus I live close to McGill so I'm going to be biased.

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 03:25 am: Edit

The thing is the guide didn't print the cutoff for UBC business; McGill had an entry of 80%. Anyway, I reckon you live in Montreal? A question I posted before that was unanswered: do you have to know French to survive in Montreal? I heard rumours of how people in Quebec are discriminative towards non-French speakers...

By Harpgirl27 (Harpgirl27) on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 12:16 pm: Edit

no, a lot of McGill students don't speak any french. Though it's a perfect atmosphere to learn.

As you go further out into the provence of Quebec, you hit more and more completely francophone neighborhoods. However Montreal is a large city and practically everyone is bilingual. I speak french pretty well, but when I go out I normally speak english and have yet to encounter any sort of prejudice against me.

I guess the best way to put it is that montreal is awesome no matter what, however you don't get the full experience without some french, so I would recommend taking some courses or something, just so you take advantage of living in a bilingual city. However no, you don't have to know french to survive in Montreal.

OH yeah, about the dorms, Molson, McConnell, and Gardner are all almost exactly the same...located up the hill (all the way!) which isn't too bad in fall but i've heard sucks in winter...rooms are pretty good size for singles, I think. They are definitely more party places than RVC but less so than New Rez. If you want my advice for dorm, go with Douglas!

Noelle

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 01:47 pm: Edit

Unfortunately they didn't print UBC's cut-off for business; McGill was 80%. Anyway, I assume you live in Montreal? A question that was unanswered: do you have to know French to survive there? I heard rumours of how people in Quebec are discriminative towards non-French speakers.

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 10:42 am: Edit

Oops pardon me for the double post above. Another question: is it easy to get a part-time job in or around McGill, especially since I'm an international student and I hardly know any French?

By Harpgirl27 (Harpgirl27) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 11:52 am: Edit

international student can get jobs on campus, but not in the city. and no, french is not a requirement to work on campus. I have a friend working in the Shatner building (student services) who doesn't speak a word of french and is an international (from Kyrjizstan...no idea on the spelling of that one!).

By Harpgirl27 (Harpgirl27) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 11:53 am: Edit

and all I found regarding UBC's business cutoff is that they are redisigning their business application to take into consideration an essay, ECs, etc...so they are hesitant to name an exact average.

I did find that the median average for UBC commerce students last year (?) was 89%

By Tombolo (Tombolo) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 09:55 am: Edit

So what is the average pay per hour for an average part-time job? Is it expensive to live in Montreal? Could you give a list of costs of common things: like a can of coke, a McDonald's big Mac, a night out clubbing, a taxi ride from the airport, etc?

On another note, are many classes taught by teaching assistants? What's the average number of students per class?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, though I'm really appreciative for your input!

By Harpgirl27 (Harpgirl27) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 12:11 pm: Edit

Hey, no problems!

Are you from the US? if so things will seem really expensive here at first, but there are tips and tricks you learn

I really don't know the average pay for a job...but I will enquire for you

It's not too expensive, some things are pretty cheap. Taxi ride from the airport is a flat rate of $30? canadian dollars. The bus/metro costs a lot less, like around $5 but is harder to navigate wiht a lot of luggage. Average admission into a club is five or ten dollars, but if you do frosh you can get into a ton of clubs for free with the frosh package...and I hve some tickety things for free admission to clubs that people were just handing out. Drinks in clubs are expensive, if you want to get drunk do some predrinking first. A can of coke....this varies a LOT. I found them in vending machines for a dollar each...you can get three for a dollar (but not brand coke) at the dollarama. Provigo also probably has reasonable prices. I have been fortunate enough to avoid McDonalds so I can't help you there ;)

Don't have a sinle class taught by a TA...the way it's worked so far is that the classes (lectures) are taught by the professor, then there are tutorials, led by TA'S in smaller sections, in addition to the courses. Some optional, some not.

The average number of students per class varies wildly--but as a general rule the freshman classes are huge and they get much smaller as the years go on--my classes range from 13 students to over 500.

Glad to be able to help, sorry I couldn't come up with more info
Noelle

By Xsmandy (Xsmandy) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 10:03 pm: Edit

Hey Tombolo, I am a senior from BC, Canada. Hopefully I can answer some of your questions. Last year the commerce cut-off wass 84% last year, the majority of students getting in with an average of low-90s. Those with exceptional extracurricular activities were admitted as well, although their grades weren't very competitive. Most Canadian schools don't really care about what you did outside the classroom. Queens and Western Ontario are exceptions though.
I visited the campus of UBC for quite a few times, and noticed how many Asians there were- made me feel that I am in Hong Kong.
I am planning to take business studies at univeristy, and currently I am more leaning toward McGill and U of T.