|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 551
Location: toronto
|
tmhlee wrote:Okay so I've been pretty set on McGill for the longest time now
(ie. since gr 9 or 10, when I realized how easy it was to get into an ivy league school. Probably just because I read/heard someone say that McG was the best ranked school in Canada, and started looking into it.)
This was before I knew anything about anything though... ie. that McGill wasn't actually the best school in the country.
Nonetheless I don't think it's a bad school, but I don't want to make my university decision based on some wandering thought I had 4 years ago. For some reason, as much as I probably will enjoy myself at McGill, I can't help but think that it's not the best option for me. (Logically anyway.) And I can't get myself to accept my offer and finalize my decision. What if I end up regretting it? Isn't going to Queen's like.. guarateed fun?
I keep getting persuaded to go somewhere by someone but I end up coming back to square one and start considering another option. Am I just getting cold feet? I can't figure out if I'm not set on a decision because I know I am not truly happy with it or I'm just being difficult/indecisive.
Can anyone help me set my mind straight? Lol. Please, please?
Options:
McGill Arts & Science (Int'l development studies/biomedical science)
McGill Science
Queen's Life Science (with Global Development Studies)
Western Biomedical Science (Scholar's Elective reject. lol.)
McMaster Life Science (BHSc alternate offer. lol.)
- I'm not really considering UWO or Mac... Brother goes to western; mac too close. (I swear I'm not bitter.) So it's really the other two schools I'm concerning myself with.
Anyway what's making it hard for me; I'm not sure if any of the below are misconceptions? but...:
McGill-
pros: Montreal, French (I want to get fluent), Int'l reputation
cons: Underfunded, general downhill trend?, lack of school spirit, half the student population commutes, expensive
Queen's-
pros: strong sense of community, general uphill trend, future student centre, know a handful of people going here already, high student satisfaction rate, getting more $ here.
cons: Small university town, current construction...'til 2014 for phase 3 of student centre?, lack of things to do?, no french
I did visit both schools on a couple of occasions. Loved Queen's campus; McGill's was okay. Loved montreal, Kingston kinda sucked..
Wow, i wrote a novel.
Suggestions? Opinions? Should I flip a coin? Where would you go? Queen's construction of the parts most people will use should be done next year. The last stage is like, less important stuff if I remember.
|
|
Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 1,210
|
GGG wrote:how are ivy league schools easy to get into?! I dont get it you just need to do reasonably well on the SATs and have the money. There are about 7 people I know who chose to write them this year or last year and all got top scores and admission to the universities they wanted. It all comes down to the money ultimately
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 329
Location: Toronto
|
^ True. I know a guy who's going to Stanford next year. He's got great grades, but not that many ECs as far as I know. But he's a legacy because his parents (and grandparents?) went there.
Of course for most Canadians, especially those who have the grades to qualify, it's easier to stay in Canada and end up paying roughly 70-80 thou for 4 years of undergrad rather than 50-60 per year at an Ivy.
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 198
|
heythereb wrote:^ True. I know a guy who's going to Stanford next year. He's got great grades, but not that many ECs as far as I know. But he's a legacy because his parents (and grandparents?) went there.
Of course for most Canadians, especially those who have the grades to qualify, it's easier to stay in Canada and end up paying roughly 70-80 thou for 4 years of undergrad rather than 50-60 per year at an Ivy. also, ivy leagues love IB kids. i have two friends who got into ivy leagues. one got offers from cornell, UPenn, MIT and something else and she turned down cornell and UPenn and go for computer engineering in MIT. another got accepted into Yale. He rejected Oxford in UK since Oxford is too expensive. so go study IB lol
McGill University'12
|
|
Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 1,728
Location: Wilfrid Laurier University
|
newmarket.sucks.yo wrote:GGG wrote:how are ivy league schools easy to get into?! I dont get it GGG, there are public and private ivey league school. public ones are easier to get into. (comparatively) Only Cornell has any association with a State. They are private institutions.
-Stringer
|
|
Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 1,728
Location: Wilfrid Laurier University
|
Redrose27 wrote:GGG wrote:how are ivy league schools easy to get into?! I dont get it you just need to do reasonably well on the SATs and have the money. There are about 7 people I know who chose to write them this year or last year and all got top scores and admission to the universities they wanted. It all comes down to the money ultimately Money? Admissions people have no clue how much money you have so how could that be a factor?
-Stringer
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 329
Location: Toronto
|
I think she means for people applying it comes down to the money, sometimes since even with parental contributions, Financial Aid and scholarships, you still end up with major debt.
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 1,210
|
^yeah heythereb hit the nail on the head there
|
|
Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 1,728
Location: Wilfrid Laurier University
|
Redrose27 wrote:^yeah heythereb hit the nail on the head there Still, it's not easy to get into an Ivy league. The acceptance rates are well below 20% and that is of the top high school students.
-Stringer
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 607
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
GGG wrote:how are ivy league schools easy to get into?! I dont get it I was being sarcastic.. lol sorry. weird sense of dry humour. But uh, yes having connections help a lot in getting admission to those schools :S Otherwise you need to be a top top top top applicant I think.
|
|
Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/12/2008
Posts: 16
|
Go to Mcgill
I see your studying science,and speaking from an international point of view,Mcgill is the better option in comparison to queens
|
|
Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 198
|
Stringer wrote:newmarket.sucks.yo wrote:GGG wrote:how are ivy league schools easy to get into?! I dont get it GGG, there are public and private ivey league school. public ones are easier to get into. (comparatively) Only Cornell has any association with a State. They are private institutions. nahh. there are much more private ivy leagues for example william and mary in virginia.
McGill University'12
|
|
Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/6/2008
Posts: 193
|
those arent ivy leagues.
Upenn, Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Dartmouth and Brown make up the ivy league.
Schulich BBA
|
|
Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 108
|
I see it's gotten off topic. For me the decision has become sooo overwhelming, both are equally great. Whichever school has better looking people, is the one I'm going to!  jks jks Good luck with yours
|
|
Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 198
|
i know lol i am just going through the edges  Public Ivy is a term coined by Richard Moll in his 1985 book Public Ivys: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities to refer to universities which "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price."[1] Public Ivies are considered, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, to be capable of "successfully competing with the Ivy League schools in academic rigor... attracting superstar faculty and in competing for the best and brightest students of all races." lmao my bad. those are good schools too by the way
McGill University'12
|
|
Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/9/2008
Posts: 19
Location: Alberta
|
Haha this topic got mad thread jacked. I was in the exact same boat as you, with my mom mentioning Queens to me when I was in grade 9, and it was the first school I looked into because of it. But then other options presented themselves and, just like most people on this forum, I had a descision to make. I ended up chosing Queens, but not because of the factors that have been mentioned in this thread. I finally decided when I sat down and thought about each school, and when I thought about going to Queens I felt exctied. I'm still excited and know it's the right decision. I'm not saying go to Queens because I decided too, nor am I saying go to McGill because it was your first interest. I am not saying that this decision will be easy either. What I am saying is if you listen to what you're telling yourself is the right school, not the "best" school, but the right one for you, you'll figure it out. Just sit down for a while and think about it and you'll be able to decide.
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 607
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
Haha iss okay. If anyone wants, i'll switch the heading of this thread to "Ivy leagues are easy to get accepted into" Anyway, I talked to some more people. I think I'm set on McGill again. (for the 129th time pretty much). My physics teacher especially went through this pretty thoroughly with me before I had my bio class. Distance isn't an issue - far from home either way (yay) Fianance isn't really an issue - debt either way Do I mind the french, quebec? - no i will love it. It's part of the pull factor for McGill. Am I considering medicine? - Yes i'm trying to keep it an option Am I considering politics/law? - Yes i'm trying not to eliminate that either I told him my programs.. I am considering working internationally; hence int'l development. And McGill may be better for this from the connections I make with the people there with the Int'l population. McGill also has the large hospital/med school right there. though queens does have one too.. i dunno about this point. Kingston is a nice city, but I think he knew that I would probably prefer a cosmopolitan city; some european flare; the french. I mentioned how queens has that amazing school spirit, and he totally agreed. But mentioned that McGill does have its pride too.. and whatevs. Montreal offers the fun anyway. In terms of McGill deteriorating.. all universities go through major transitions. This may be it for McGill. It may be the funding issues.. but pretty much all schools face this... it might be the age of the professors.. e.g. U of T had to hire like 200 professors because of all the retirees. And even if mcgill's rep did really die down.. it wouldn't be when I'd be looking for a job. Not anytime soon. so yeah. I dunno how much sense that made. Everyone had been telling me to go to McGill with the exception of maybe 3 people. I was causing all this stress on myself but I am pretty relieved now. McGill seems right. I probably always knew that and I just like to overcomplicate things. I think I will accept tonight.  Thanks a lot still guys <3
|
|
Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/9/2008
Posts: 19
Location: Alberta
|
Haha who you trying to convince now? You just wrote an essay on the virtues of McGill haha, so I think you're making the right choice, and hell that's coming from somebody who chose Queens. When I finally made the choice, I felt crazy relieved and mad excited. If that's how you're feeling, then you're good buddy, you will never regret this choice. Congrats on getting accepted by the way and good luck.
|
|
Rank: Student Body Vice-President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 957
Location: Alberta
|
Good luck with that. I hope it's the right fit for you.
Taiyab wrote: Is it me, or is Karla Homolka gorgeous!
Lamoid wrote: SHE HAS A KILLER BODY.
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 607
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
haha thanks guys. I wasn't reaaaaallly trying to convince anyone..cough..myself. But that's basically what my physics teacher went through. sometimes he can be a bit touchy feely... but I think he understands people quite well.. ie predict that you would hate engineering and you'd be better off as a teacher or something. I dunno. I don't know if I'm being overly hormonal or something. but I cried because I was so relieved to have made a decision in my bio class after our talk. Lololol. i was quite quite happy. (frick i'm weird... future mcgill kids. watch out.. :S) So yeah, it better be the right fricking fit! Or if i am having the worst time in my life at mcgill (yeah right) atleast I can transfer to Queen's second year (or try to). and by 2nd year they will have that brand new pool ready for me  On a side note.. it was a plus that I had no interest in business or engineering.. in which case queens is probably a better school and I would've died from a far more difficult decision. Boo yeah.
|
|
