#Boston University vs UofT

69 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

quartz bloom
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Schools: Boston University and University of Toronto
Intended major: Biology (Arts and Science)
Similarities: Similar in school ranking on global uni ranking

Boston Uni
Pros:

  • Nice Weather
  • Pretty good academically
  • Easier to get into US dental schools for masters since BU is in US
  • Parents have business in America and can visit often
  • Lower acceptance rate
  • College town
  • heard the professors are good
    Cons:
  • Expensive (90k) no aid no scholarship
  • I heard some buildings are very run down
  • No single room dorms
  • Safety concerns (im a girl)
  • No campus feel because campus is just a road
  • No family or friends in Boston
  • Grade deflation

UofT
Pros:

  • Beautiful campus with campus feel
  • Have friends going to UofT
  • Have family in different area of Canada
  • Scholarship 50k (St. George)
  • Single room dorms
  • Downtown so lots to explore
  • Lots of Asians in Toronto
  • Number 1 Uni in Canada
  • Nice selection of majors in case I want to explore different avenues

Cons:

  • Hard to maintain good GPA and good mental health
  • easy to get in
  • Family can’t visit too often
  • Heard it has no sense of ‘community’ (correct me if I’m wrong)
  • Hard to make connections (From what I’ve heard)

Tiebreaking considerations:

  • cost is not a huge issue
  • UofT was my dream school since 8th grade but I’ve been having second thoughts because some people keep telling me that Boston has better opportunities and academics
  • My parents said if I go to Boston and dislike it I can drop and go to school elsewhere (not sure if this is a lie just to get me to go there)
quartz bloom
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To add, some Boston U dorms are amazing but its a big lottery so I might end up with one of the less ideal ones

spiral brook
# quartz bloom **Schools:** Boston University and University of Toronto **Intended major:** Bio...

Hi, I am a UofT senior about to be graduating this June! I saw that one of the pros that you did was "Nice selection of majors", but that's not all. At UofT you have to do any of the following to graduate with a honours bachelors degree: a specialist (which is more traditionally whats called an honours degree), two majors in different subjects, or a major and two minor. So exploring different subject areas is almost certainly a given unless you do a specialist (hard to get into).

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As for hard to maintain a good gpa, not necessarily true. I have gotten straight As fall semester, and got only one B+ last semester after another semester of straight As, so it's not impossible. Uoft is "grade neutral", in the sense that they ensure that the grade average in a lot of artsci courses tend to be around 70 percent, but this holds less true for STEM areas, where getting high grades is not that hard (if you do humanities or socsci, different proposition)

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As for no sense of community, ig that depends. Its always a harsh break to come to Trono, but there's a plethora of clubs and activities on campus you can participate in, but you really have to take an active part in finding these opportunities for yourself. But once you do I feel you can make connections easy. Having that "one friend" helps makes more.

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Most importantly that 50k scholarship is great, waaaay better proposition than the BU 90k

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On the tiebreakers, idk who says that BU has better opportunities, its true that UofT is a much larger school and kinda dominates the toronto area and the canadian job market is not doing that hot rn, but if you're working in the US I presume that uoft will be fine

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Academics idk, UofT generally seems to have extremely rigorous academics to me (with the exception of a few depts that are a mess like stats), but I dont really know the comparison with Boston

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If you have any other qs ping me

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ALSO

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Ignore acceptance rate

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Its a scam and frankly irrelevant, prestige-mongering at the level of BU won't give you like, huge network advantages over public schools

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Tl;dr is that UofT is a school for go-getters: if you invest the time and energy, you'll get results.

quartz bloom
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I’m an international student so I don’t have citizenship in the US and Canada

quartz bloom
spiral brook
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immigration is easier in canada too if thats what you want

quartz bloom
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I was wondering if the employability in UofT is good or not?

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I heard that after undergrad America only gives us 3 months to find a job compared to Canada’s 3 years

spiral brook
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i think this is something BU probably wins over uoft, but because america just has a larger job market

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canada is undergoing a dampened economy rn too

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but if you go now who knows, maybe in 4 years you'll hit a job economy peak

quartz bloom
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HAHA true

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If I were to go to BU then decide I wanted to go to UofT instead would it be easy to get in as a transfer?

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I’m not certain on UofT’s transfer rates

spiral brook
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That I do not know.

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there's probably some data out there though

quartz bloom
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Is the winter weather in Canada really as bad as everyone says? I’m from a tropical country so I worry I won’t be able to adjust to the harsh cold weather

spiral brook
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I'm from a tropical country too! You should definitely bring clothes for the winter here, and you'll need at least one big snow jacket

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Luckily if you go to fire sales and stuff you can get a great deal

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but you'll get a few months to adjust to the weather, september and october are generally warm, it gets chillier in november so get a warm hoodie or a cardigan or something

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My understanding is that Boston gets fairly cold too, and actually has a similar weather to Toronto

quartz bloom
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Ohh really? I thought Boston had warmer weather XD

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Do American universities accept a UofT degree? I’m planning on doing my masters in America and so some people tell me it’ll be more beneficial to go to an American school now for my undergrad

spiral brook
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absolutely yes

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uoft already has a lot of prestigious departments that are very well-respected

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it filters down to undergrad teaching and rep

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note though, if you're doing a pre-med track then uoft does not inflate grades

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so thats something worth considering

quartz bloom
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Oh no I’m not taking pre med

spiral brook
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cool then it isnt that big of a problem haha

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because uoft premed is famously tough

quartz bloom
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I heard life sci in UofT is tough

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😭

spiral brook
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yerp

quartz bloom
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Did you have trouble finding friends there?

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Since I heard the vibes are very competitive and all

spiral brook
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when i moved to toronto a bit but after that i found a close group of friends

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honestly i never got the competitive vibe

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more of a problem is everyone is friendly but it takes effort to actually take that friendliness off campus into activities

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uoft has a robust club system where a lot of people make friends

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if you live on campus you get a lot of opportunities to socialize in your dorm too

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i have seen people make friends in class too! i did it!

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and toronto is a world class city so youll find shared interests to do with whomsoever

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like im a film obsessive and so are some of my friends so we exploit the hell out of the under 25 tiff pass to get free screenings

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theres also greek life on campus if you want, I know two people who do it, but greek life at uoft is kinda small

quartz bloom
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I see thank you

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It seems UofT isn’t as bad as what the people around me paint it to be 😭

spiral brook
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I think its important to note that online has a lot of self-selection

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the people who enjoy the experience wont be talking about it vocally

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Have you talked to your friends going to UofT? They might be able to help. Its a large school and people have diverse experiences.

spiral brook
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I would have to countersuggest, if you are concerned about immigration Canada is way better than the US, besides Boston is more expensive to live than in Toronto

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The one positive for Boston, I will admit, is the potential for jobs, but if you get a Canadian work permit, and then PR, you can move anywhere within Canada easily.

quartz bloom
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I heard in America after graduating you only have 3 months to find a job (if you dont have citizenship) before they ask you to leave the country, is this true?

quartz bloom
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I don’t think I’d like to marry someone from US nor hide as an illegal immigrant 😭😭

spiral brook
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Note that getting a green card is near impossible if you are from particular countries

quartz bloom
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which countries? :0

spiral brook
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E.g. India. I have heard China also has looong wait times

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its very luck based

quartz bloom
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Oooo I see thank you!