Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums College Americans attending college in Canada

Friends of one of our daughter's closest friends parents sent their daughter to Toronto. They are former soviet emigres who were not prepared to pay through the nose for the fluff that too many US bachelor degrees have been padded with. But were prepared to pay (still isn't exactly cheap) for quality.

Their daughter (also DYS level smarts) is thrilled by the rigour of her classes there.

Just to emphasize: Admissions policy and many other things like AP credits will vary by faculty and program, not just by university. You'll want to get past the generic stuff and into the specific programs of interest to your son.

Another DYS family that we know who are Canadian citizens sent their son to Waterloo for Computer Science. For them it was even less of a no brainer - lower fees AND a top flight program to boot!

Doh, I went and checked a few and you're right on the timing. Clearly time has warped my memories. I've fixed my post above.

Some universities now have a fall reading week, either in October or November to give their students a breather.

The main problem with U of T is that you can feel lost with the school being so big. You don't really get to know your profs, and your profs don't really know you unless you're in a small program. My experience at U of T was just average, but it also could have been because i was a commuter student.

Many friends who went to Waterloo had great experiences and easily found a job after graduation. While Waterloo may not have as much international recognition compared to Toronto, it is highly regarded by tech companies in the US.

Unless our kids get accepted into a top US school, we want our kids to go to a Canadian school for undergrad.

Since I am Canadian but lived in NYC for 30 years, now back, I have a good perspective.
DD is at UTS, a feeder school for both top US and Canadian universities.
U of T is a top school, has amazing resources. Waterloo is the most competitive CS and engineering school and kids get recruited by global IT companies. Your kid, like mine has an advantage, being American as visas are way down under Trump.
I had friends in New York who sent their kids to McGill (I wouldn't) because it had name recognition. But I put it as equivalent to Brown.
My kid has legacy at Harvard, but aside from applying there, I see the advantage of applying to CDN universities like U of T instead of many other schools. Also, I get to pay CDN resident tuition.
It is different than what my husband had at Harvard, living in housing. U of T, you might live in residence for a couple of years, then get an apt or live in frat housing. There is also university housing for upper students, but more like apts. Waterloo is very competitive to get into and although it is "marks", they look at where the kid goes to school now. Like DD's school is ranked higher than a regular high school. They know a 90 there is equivalent to a 98 at a regular high school, kind of thing. But you need 95 plus percentage to get into engineering or computer science at Waterloo.
I also think it gives a different perspective living in a different country.

U of T also has this whole college thing. You get accepted into a college (like Trinity is top college). You live there. Trinity used to dress for dinner when I was in college. But it is a classics college. New college is a relatively new dorm and a whole different feel. So you have a connection within your college. And I think that if you are in engineering or CS, you will know your profs. Being in a profession school, even with big numbers, like I was in engineering, you get to know your profs.

So, I have a decent perspective on this, considering I grew up in Waterloo and subsequently know a lot of people who went there, are going there, and even a couple of profs. Also because I go to UofT :p

So, overall UofT is harder to get into actually, for everything except computer science and engineering. Engineering is the big thing at UW, people come from all over the world to study engineering there. It's insanely competitive, as you would expect, but they are doing a lot to improve the mental health of the students in the program.

(also by Canadian standards Kitchener-Waterloo isn't a small town. It's a decent sized city, but still much smaller than Toronto so I'm splitting hairs here)

They're both pretty great schools but international tuition is ridiculously high from what I hear. You do get health coverage for using the emergency room and general health services (it's pretty comparable to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan minus the drug coverage for people under 25) through the school via UHIP. Toronto also has satellite campuses in the GTA suburbs of Mississauga and Scarborough if you want the UofT degree without the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto and the huge campus.

I will say UofT is more known for their research departments and that's why a lot of people go there, so that's something to consider as well.

All in all both are great schools both worth equal consideration...unless you want to do engineering, then definitely go to UW :P