OT: University/College Questions Part IV

[CanuckBeSerious]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Med schools probably look for applicants who best "fit" their program based off interviews, essays, ethics tests, etc. Different schools probably look for different qualities in applicants.

Absolutely, UdeM and Sherby only look at your CEGEP (or College) scores before the interviews.

Meanwhile, Laval will ask for a motivation letter and McGill will ask for recommendation+motivation letters before the interviews

 

[LyricalLyricist]

I don't know much of other fields, but McGill for engineering isn't at the top, even in Canada.

Seems like the business school and the medecine/life science faculty are very good though.

They aren't impressive for engineering.

I'll be attending the John Molson School of Business at Concordia in September. I'm from Vermont, and have been to Montreal enough where I know the general area. Any tips from anybody? Any pointers? My residency is at Grey Nuns.

Not sure what pointers you need. Look, in September feel free to ask questions. I'm not a JMSB student but I've taken some courses there and my friends went there. you'll likely find answers to your questions here.

Good luck!

They have a weird way of selecting their students. My med school friends at UdeM got accepted everywhere except McGill, while my McGill friends only got accepted at McGill (rejected at UdeM, Laval and Sherby).

Recently heard a story about an applicant feeling he did terrible with McGill but somehow got selected. Was confused but probably showed some kind of characteristic.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Anyone know of any schools in Ontario/Quebec that do dual master degrees?

Specifically business degrees.

Been looking at these:

http://www.hec.ca/en/programs_training/msc/options/global_supply_chain_management/dual_degree.html

http://business.queensu.ca/grad_studies/mib/double_degree_options/index.php

Essentially, 2 masters, 2 years, 2 schools.

I only know of these two(although Queens has likem8) so i'd like to know of more before I apply.

 

[68*]

Anyone else crying right now?

 

[ThaDevilGirl]

Anyone else crying right now?

School free since April 30th 2011

 

[HabsRockBruinsChoke]

Anyone know of any schools in Ontario/Quebec that do dual master degrees?

Specifically business degrees.

Been looking at these:

http://www.hec.ca/en/programs_training/msc/options/global_supply_chain_management/dual_degree.html

http://business.queensu.ca/grad_studies/mib/double_degree_options/index.php

Essentially, 2 masters, 2 years, 2 schools.

I only know of these two(although Queens has likem8) so i'd like to know of more before I apply.

I personally think dual degrees (bachelors or masters) are kind of a waste of time and money... I mean a single masters degree is cheaper and you'll need to take less courses to complete. It's not like having two of them will put you past the "M.A." title you know? As long as you have 1 master you'll have the same title as a person with 600 masters degrees. Although it may give you a slight edge if you're double majoring in something like an MBA and a Law degree, but otherwise not my forte.

With that being said, Queens has constantly been rated as the #1 business school outside of the U.S. One of my good friends got in there for Master of Science in Business research program which only accepted a total of 5 students.

So I'd recommend Queens... IF you can get in

 

[HabsRockBruinsChoke]

They aren't impressive for engineering.



Not sure what pointers you need. Look, in September feel free to ask questions. I'm not a JMSB student but I've taken some courses there and my friends went there. you'll likely find answers to your questions here.

Good luck!



Recently heard a story about an applicant feeling he did terrible with McGill but somehow got selected. Was confused but probably showed some kind of characteristic.

There's only one university in Canada that has a world class engineering faculty: U of Waterloo

 

[68*]

School free since April 30th 2011

Ankle injury free since 1991

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

There's only one university in Canada that has a world class engineering faculty: U of Waterloo

You sure about that?
http://www.timeshighereducation.co....14/subject-ranking/subject/engineering-and-IT
http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldENG2012.html

 

[ThaDevilGirl]

Ankle injury free since 1991

Ouch. That hurts more than my ankle.

 

[HabsRockBruinsChoke]

You sure about that?
http://www.timeshighereducation.co....14/subject-ranking/subject/engineering-and-IT
http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldENG2012.html

Even I can come up with some BS rankings. UofT may be rated high only because of its general reputation.

I'm pretty sure my 75 year old marketing professor who gets paid quarter of a million dollars would me more of a reliable source when talking about world class engineering faculties.

 

[pine*]

Last year of uni underway

wooohooo

 

[LyricalLyricist]

I personally think dual degrees (bachelors or masters) are kind of a waste of time and money... I mean a single masters degree is cheaper and you'll need to take less courses to complete. It's not like having two of them will put you past the "M.A." title you know? As long as you have 1 master you'll have the same title as a person with 600 masters degrees. Although it may give you a slight edge if you're double majoring in something like an MBA and a Law degree, but otherwise not my forte.

With that being said, Queens has constantly been rated as the #1 business school outside of the U.S. One of my good friends got in there for Master of Science in Business research program which only accepted a total of 5 students.

So I'd recommend Queens... IF you can get in

It honestly depends because you don't do that many more classes. You're just doing a thesis at same time. HEC has their thesis MSc listed at 16-20 months for full time. With the dual, it's 2 years, pretty much the difference to make up the rest of the classes which is about a semester's worth. If the degree called for extensive time and/or classes I wouldn't even consider it.

One of the main issues is cost. Unfortunately, this is easy for other people because whether they spend a year at home or abroad they pay the same tuition fee each year. For Quebec residents I go from 7-8k for 2 years to like 30k for one year. It's kind of insane.

I'm not sure about the fact that someone with 600 Masters is the same as someone with 1 master. In terms of having a title by your name, sure. In terms of job prospects I'd say the guy with more education(assuming experience is equal) would have the upper hand unless the degree is irrelevant to your field.

Either way, I'm open to a few things. The idea is to do something less traditional but keeping in mind the costs associated with it.

 

[Brainiac]

Even I can come up with some BS rankings. UofT may be rated high only because of its general reputation.

I'm pretty sure my 75 year old marketing professor who gets paid quarter of a million dollars would me more of a reliable source when talking about world class engineering faculties.

And you'd be surprised by how much these old geezers can only talk about the good old times while not knowing anything about the current state of the world.

 

[Richiebottles]

Anyone starting in Communications at Con U ?

 

[TRG]

I'm kinda glad school is restarting. Let's get this done with.

 

[pine*]

any actuaries in the place?

 

[Kairi Zaide]

First day at Polytechnique tomorrow. Wonder if it will be that much different from UL.

Moved from physics engineering to biomedical engineering.

 

[CanuckBeSerious]

any actuaries in the place?

Graduated from UdeM a year ago in Actuarial Mathematics... currently doing my M.Sc in Financial Engineering.

 

[Sined]

Good luck to all the returning students!

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

Even I can come up with some BS rankings. UofT may be rated high only because of its general reputation.

Well that was predictable.

Let me get this straight. Both of these international websites, one UK-based and one China-based, which each have a very specific methodology for quantifying the value of an engineering program, are BS, while your estimation is unbiased, right?

Okay got it.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/provincial:
provincial adjective
: of, relating to, or coming from a province
: not knowing or caring about people and events in other places : having narrow or limited concerns or interests

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Well that was predictable.

Let me get this straight. Both of these international websites, which each have a very specific methodology for quantifying the value of an engineering program, are BS, while your estimation is unbiased, right?

Okay got it.

provincial adjective
: of, relating to, or coming from a province
: not knowing or caring about people and events in other places : having narrow or limited concerns or interests

Correct me if I'm wrong but rankings are based a lot on the research of the university.

I've heard of many McGill Engineering undergrads who openly say there was nothing special about the program.

They do have some interesting Engineering programs though, no idea if they are any good.

 

[DAChampion]

Correct me if I'm wrong but rankings are based a lot on the research of the university.

I've heard of many McGill Engineering undergrads who openly say there was nothing special about the program.

They do have some interesting Engineering programs though, no idea if they are any good.

I was at McGill Engineering for a year and knew a lot of people there.

Quite simply, there was a huge range in the quality of the students. Also, "Engineering" is not homogeneous, it is made of distinct departments.

With that said, the quality was higher in the mean than what you would find at U de M or, lol, at Concordia.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

I was at McGill Engineering for a year and knew a lot of people there.

Quite simply, there was a huge range in the quality of the students. Also, "Engineering" is not homogeneous, it is made of distinct departments.

With that said, the quality was higher in the mean than what you would find at U de M or, lol, at Concordia.

I would be out to lunch if I thought Concordia was a top 100 engineering school, that's why it's not even in the discussion. The argument is mcgill engineering isn't either. Either way, rankings say otherwise so not much I can say.

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

Correct me if I'm wrong but rankings are based a lot on the research of the university.

I've heard of many McGill Engineering undergrads who openly say there was nothing special about the program.

They do have some interesting Engineering programs though, no idea if they are any good.

This is true, LL. It really depends on your perspective. Waterloo is a great school for undergrad program. No argument there. Two of my good friends went there and they are happy with their education. I would say that at the undergrad level, Waterloo trumps McGill to a certain extent , especially if they still have a coop program (McGill has an Honours program though, which sets the table beautifully for grad school). However, McGill has great graduate school, and from my standpoint as a BME, McGill, like U of T and UBC, as well as Western, benefit from their proximity to a top medical school. Make no mistake, biomedical engineering is the fastest-rising area of engineering, due to age demographics as well as the appeal of BME to female students, which doubles the talent pool compared to traditional engineering departments.

When I go to international conferences related to BME, I see a lot of papers from McGill, UBC, Western and to some extent U of T (and nearby hospitals); I hardly ever see papers from Waterloo. This take may reflect my BME bias, but fast-forward 10-15 years, and I believe that this explosive growth will continue, BME will rival Mech Eng and Elec Eng in size and scope, at the least. The result will be that Waterloo sees itself handicapped as an engineering school from their relatively small footprint in this area, partly the result of Kitchener-Waterloo (McMaster) not being in the same league in terms of their medical program as McGill, U of T, UBC and Western and not being so close physically as one integrated campus. There would be a way around that, but Waterloo and McMaster would have to be much more proactive about working together. However, for the most part the grunts there don't speak clinicalese very well, and the docs there don't relate to engineers well enough to make the most of that technical brainpower, in the manner that Western is doing just down the pike.

Edit: on a related note, those of you who are doing engineering, I enthusiastically recommend grad school (Master's or PhD, no matter), if you want to really enjoy your career as well as set yourselves apart (provided that you choose well, based on your real interests). As a bonus, those of you doing BME (which is often a graduate program) will actually have a fairly large number of women in your class.