Advice on Canadian Universities

Post Reply
taraneh
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:28 am

Advice on Canadian Universities

Post by taraneh » Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:40 am

hi all
I need some help I wish someone would answer me.
I passed the GRE physics test and I got my score today it was
Last edited by taraneh on Mon Jun 22, 2015 10:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

TakeruK
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: advice on canadian universities

Post by TakeruK » Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:50 pm

Physics departments in Canada tend to post their financial information online:

Info for the top 3 schools (just as an example of what to expect, most departments will have a page like this below; also the lower ranked schools may offer more support to compete with these top 3):

UBC: http://www.phas.ubc.ca/graduate-program ... al-support
Vancouver is an expensive place to live though.

Toronto: http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/students ... pport.html
Toronto is Canada's biggest city!

McGill: http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/grads/finance.html
Despite being a big city (2nd largest in Canada), Montreal is a very cheap place to live.

It's important to know that most schools will still require you to pay tuition (so that the numbers quoted, unless otherwise stated, are what's paid to you BEFORE you pay the school back for tuition. International student tuition can be about 5000-10000 more than domestic rates. Tuition also varies a lot between schools too (UBC is ~4200/12 months, while my current school is at over 6000/year, the highest in Canada!).

Most schools WILL provide international student with additional funding to cover the additional tuition cost though. But sometimes the "top up" doesn't fully cover the cost -- this is something you have to check if you get an offer and are considering the school.

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: advice on canadian universities

Post by bfollinprm » Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:20 pm

In case you're focusing on canadian schools because you feel like the PGRE score isn't good enough for admittance stateside, there are plenty of schools in the US that will accept a foreign student with great grades and a decent PGRE. The top 10-20 is definitely out of reach, but there are still plenty of quality research institutions that you'll be strongly considered for admittance.

The US is so well funded in terms of graduate science education that oftentimes even a school ranked 30-40 in the US has more depth and quality than top schools elsewhere. Definitely UBC, Toronto, and McGill are great schools and have top notch research, but schools like UC Davis, where I go, have researchers with similar if not greater international reputation and do not actually require PGRE scores (though they are often "highly recommended").

TakeruK
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: advice on canadian universities

Post by TakeruK » Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:34 pm

Just want to add 2 things that you may already know:

1. Even though a school may be ranked e.g. Top 40, it might be very good at a particular subfield but rankings by research focus aren't usually published!

2. One advantage to Canada is that the MSc is really considered like a mini PhD, if your own MSc is the same way (i.e. courses + thesis requirement, 2 year program) then you can probably finish a PhD here in 4 years. Usually a student who stays at the same school will finish the MSc in 2 years, then a 3 year PhD immediately following (we'd have to reapply though, even if it's the same school). But most US PhD programs won't count a Canadian or equivalent MSc towards anything, and those that do will generally waive only a few courses!

taraneh
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:28 am

Re: advice on canadian universities

Post by taraneh » Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:15 am

Thanks for the replies.
well, i didn
Last edited by taraneh on Mon Jun 22, 2015 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

TakeruK
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: advice on canadian universities

Post by TakeruK » Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:06 am

I don't know what you scored on the GRE general test but it's not very important as long as you meet some minimum level. U Washington, for example, says it's 500/800 on the verbal and quantitative sections.

If your score was really bad then it might be worth it to find out what you need to work on (do some more practice tests to judge your skills maybe) and then try again -- you have some time before the applications are due, I think! After July 2012, you can just choose to send your most recent (or even just your best) scores using the new ScoreSelect option.

Maybe you have other reasons to not want to go to the US but if the General GRE is the only one, then it might be worth it to try again and give yourself some more options!

taraneh
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:28 am

Canadian cheap cities

Post by taraneh » Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:33 am

can somebody give
Last edited by taraneh on Mon Jun 22, 2015 10:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

nicholls
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:44 pm

Re: Canadian cheap cities

Post by nicholls » Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:27 pm

I really don't know much about tuition, but I'd imagine across Ontario it is pretty much the same or very close.

If you want cheaper living then you probably need to stay away from bigger cities like Toronto and Vancouver. Don't know about Montreal. I think Ottawa is OK for living expenses, they also give tons of money in terms of scholarships, at least for undergrad programs.

Some cities in Ontario with decent schools with physics programs that I could tell you are Guelph (U of Guelph), Kingston (Queens Uni), Hamilton (McMaster). I'd imagine living expenses are quite manageable in those places.

Other than that I don't know any cities that are known for cheap living, sorry.

TakeruK
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: Canadian cheap cities

Post by TakeruK » Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:15 pm

Here is some approximate tuition from across Canada:

I'm just listing some example websites so you know what to look for -- just find similar pages at the schools you are interested in:
Victoria -- Tuition Info: http://web.finance.uvic.ca/tuition/fees.php
Financial Support Page: http://www.uvic.ca/science/physics/pros ... ection0-29
UBC -- http://www.phas.ubc.ca/graduate-program ... al-support
Toronto -- http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/link/stu ... ;%20title= ; about same funding level as UBC
Queen's -- This is my current school. It has the highest tuition+fees rate in Canada (7300/year, double that for internationals). They also have higher funding though (minimum funding for PhD is $25k/year, Masters is $24k/year, for physics)
McGill -- http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/grads/finance.html -- lowest funding, but lowest cost (see below) I was offered $18k/year I think.

As for living expenses
Victoria -- not sure
UBC/Vancouver -- most expensive in Canada; but manageable with UBC's funding package if you live with others (or if living with a partner, they have a job)
Toronto -- main campus is in the middle of downtown so it's super expensive to live nearby. not nearly as bad as Vancouver further away though
Kingston -- pretty cheap, as it's a small town, but since it's a University town (~30% of population are students), the landlords take advantage of students and places close to school are crappy and expensive. can get a great deal if you are willing to commute a bit though
Montreal -- definitely the cheapest city in Canada to live in, surprisingly! Their tuition is currently the lowest but so is their funding.

taraneh
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:28 am

particle physics

Post by taraneh » Sun Jul 01, 2012 1:57 am

would someone tell me the best graduate schools in Canada for particle physics? and also if possible arrange the graduate schools in particle physics in Ontario from best to worst :)
Thanks

User avatar
quizivex
Posts: 1031
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:13 am

Re: Advice on Canadian Universities

Post by quizivex » Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:29 am

@ taraneh, You have been repeatedly posting threads asking people on this forum to research generic questions about Canada and Canadian universities for you.

Your 3 threads have all been merged into one called "Advice on Canadian Universities". You could answer most of your questions by doing simple research without posting new question threads. When you need to ask something, please keep related questions in the same thread.

blighter
Posts: 256
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:30 pm

Re: Advice on Canadian Universities

Post by blighter » Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:03 pm

Are there any schools in Canada that can be considered as safeties? I mean those that can be considered to be safeties by a person with a 3.0 GPA.



Post Reply