Assistance please: Researching good schools in Canada.

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

I’m currently researching my prospects of going to college in Canada. I’m currently working on my transfer degree now, so I have plenty of time to apply, write essays, etc. I’m currently pursuing medicine, though that could change if I get burned out by it.

The way I see it, Canada has everything the U.S. has and not nearly as many problems. I’d prefer to go to school in the Calgary area, since I know quite a few people from there, but anywhere that doesn’t hit subzero temperatures more than a scant few times a year is okay if the school is good enough. Suggestions, please? Thanks for your help!

Adam

#2

How about UBC (in Vancouver), they have a med school, a very temperate (but rainy) climate, and a beautiful city. It’s not too far from Calgary either (by Canadian standards, that is). I went to university in Greater Vancouver (not UBC), and I loved it. It’s a great city for outdoor pursuits - hiking, biking, skiing, climbing, sailing, but it’s also large enough to be very diverse and have quite a few cultural events.

#3

I’ll check it out. Thanks, Ultraviolet! Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Adam

#4

If you’re determined to live in Calgary, UBC is a LONG way away. Six hundred miles by car. Wanting to study in Calgary and then going to Vancouver is essentially the same as wanting to study in Detroit and then going to New York City.

On the other hand, if you want to avoid subzero temperatures, guess what? The Pacific coast is your one and only option in Canada.

You cannot stay near Calgary and avoid subzero temps, so you have to choose between them.

Drop me an E-mail and I’ll get you a copy of a university guide. It’s in my profile. My E-mail, not the guide.

#5

Definitely get the university guide from RickJay, but if you want to go to Calgary, your options are basically the University of Calgary or nothing. On the other hand, if you want to avoid cold winters, it’s UBC. There are other universities on the west coast (Simon Fraser just outside Vancouver, University of Victoria in Victoria), but they don’t have med schools.

Then there are the top schools in the country (McGill, University of Toronto, Queen’s), which are even farther from Calgary than Vancouver is and have subzero winters, so probably not what you’re looking for. However, I’m going to be biased and suggest my alma mater, McGill. Montreal’s an incredible city and I loved living there. I’m even currently considering moving back there, if I can bring myself to face the winters.

#6

My alma mater is Queen’s.

KILL MCGILL!

Seriously, you can’t go wrong with either. Toronto’s great too. University of Ottawa is also very nice. I’ve heard good things about St. Francis Xavier out in Nova Scotia, too.

#7

I’m guessing that the Canadian posters here are using “subzero” to mean “below freezing”, while Agent Foxtrot may be using it to mean “below zero degrees Fahrenheit”.

(Just thought I’d point that out, in case there was confusion.)

I go to the University of Ottawa. It’s alright. * shrugs * I’ve not gone to any others to compare to it. It does have a school of medicine, which I gather is fairly well known with regards to heart therapy. It has a certain amount of cross-dealings with the Faculty of Engineering, involving design of artificial organs, particularly hearts. The University of Ottawa Heart Institute’s website isn’t responding right now, though.

#8

Hmmm…On second thought Agent Foxtrot, disregard everything RickJay says. After all, you don’t wanna know what those people do with sheep :wink: (My abject apologies for trotting out a hoary old joke I was tired of by the end of frosh week, but really, how often do you get to use these things after graduation?)

Checking an online conversion, 0F = -18C, so it’s certainly not unheard of for any of the non-Vancouver cities mentioned so far to get that cold in winter.

Just did a quick google, Maclean’s has their university rankings online. They tend to give a fairly good idea of the relative quality of Canadian schools.

#9

I can’t believe I’m about to actually suggest Hamilton to someone, but here goes… (Note: I’m not originally from the Hammer, was here (well, Guelph) for school, now for my fiance to finish school, then we get the hell out of here!)

Anyways, McMaster University is a well-known med school with a good reputation of being very hands-on right from the start. It’s a program that teaches medicine through problem solving rather than out of textbooks/lectures only. So I hear, anyways. While there is snow and coldness in Hamilton, it really isn’t all that bad (maybe a handful of times a winter where there’s more than 5cm on the ground). It’s generally a wet winter, but with enough snow to not be muddy and yucky all the time. Close (with decent transit) into Toronto, a CFL team and Copps Coliseum for concerts, etc etc…it’s a good student town* and if you actually like it here, it’s a place that needs more doctors to set up shop!

*half-million people, really.

#10

Bah, the Maclean’s rankings are next to useless. Any scale that gives more weight to what business leaders think about a school than to how current the library is, or that thinks having teachers who actually work in their profession is a bad thing, should be taken with a salt shaker.

That, and Maclean’s is very lazy about fact-checking the responses they are sent from any given university’s PR office.

#11

Mnemosyne, I checked out McMaster’s website and I really, really like what I see thus far. Mississippienne and I might take a trip up there in October for a tour of the campus. Can anyone say Toronto dopefest? :stuck_out_tongue:

Would you happen to have any idea how hard it is to get into McMaster? Thanks for the info!

Adam

#12

If you’re interested in Cardiology, or Pediatric Anything (from oncology to orthopedics), or family practice, do not write off the idea of going to the University of Ottawa. The cost of living in Ottawa is fairly low, it’s a BEAUTIFUL little city (even if it’s the capital!) with a lot of stuff to do, and see.

Not to mention that the Ottawa Dopers are pretty cool too. :wink: