My year North America - SUCCESS! Now let's get planning!
- Thread starter Hixee
- Start date
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Re: My year North America - help?
I already had a bit of a chit chat with you on Facebook about this, but I'll put in my input again!
McGill- Definitely regarded as Canada's best school but the thing that would put me off is the fact that it's in Montreal. I didn't like the city, the people in Quebec are generally rude, but then again there are probably many students from Ontario and abroad as well. As far as parks, you're probably right near La Ronde, but I'm not sure that's a good thing! So yeah, reputable school but as far as the area goes, I'd have to pass.
McMaster- I applied for this school and having seen it in person, I think it's a really nice campus too. Hamilton is a nice city; it's not too big but it's not small either. It's one of the most reputable schools in the country, and has a good sports scene especially as far as (American) football is concerned.
University of Toronto- The thing I like about the Toronto campus is that although it's in the city, it's in a nice area surrounded by a lot of trees and stuff, so I suppose if you ever got sick of the hustle and bustle of the city it wouldn't be a problem to get away from. The campus is actually pretty nice, but I'm not sure about the programs. I know it's a good school with a good reputation, and as far as parks go you're pretty close to Wonderland as well as the airport if you ever wanted to fly somewhere easily. I was never fond of Toronto but everyone in England who has been there really likes it, so I guess from an outsider's perspective, it's a good place to be.
University of Waterloo- Tricky because I think it would probably be one of the best choices for your program, but I think the campus is blegh. It all looks a bit industrial, cold, and concrete. The city itself isn't that great either, with the only fun-ish thing to do being the African Lion Safari, which doesn't even have a cred
. It's known as being a technologically good school and it has a good reputation, but apparently the actual student experience isn't meant to be that great.
Out of the schools I know the most about, I'd probably say this is the order I would choose:
McMaster
Toronto
McGill
Waterloo
I already had a bit of a chit chat with you on Facebook about this, but I'll put in my input again!
McGill- Definitely regarded as Canada's best school but the thing that would put me off is the fact that it's in Montreal. I didn't like the city, the people in Quebec are generally rude, but then again there are probably many students from Ontario and abroad as well. As far as parks, you're probably right near La Ronde, but I'm not sure that's a good thing! So yeah, reputable school but as far as the area goes, I'd have to pass.
McMaster- I applied for this school and having seen it in person, I think it's a really nice campus too. Hamilton is a nice city; it's not too big but it's not small either. It's one of the most reputable schools in the country, and has a good sports scene especially as far as (American) football is concerned.
University of Toronto- The thing I like about the Toronto campus is that although it's in the city, it's in a nice area surrounded by a lot of trees and stuff, so I suppose if you ever got sick of the hustle and bustle of the city it wouldn't be a problem to get away from. The campus is actually pretty nice, but I'm not sure about the programs. I know it's a good school with a good reputation, and as far as parks go you're pretty close to Wonderland as well as the airport if you ever wanted to fly somewhere easily. I was never fond of Toronto but everyone in England who has been there really likes it, so I guess from an outsider's perspective, it's a good place to be.
University of Waterloo- Tricky because I think it would probably be one of the best choices for your program, but I think the campus is blegh. It all looks a bit industrial, cold, and concrete. The city itself isn't that great either, with the only fun-ish thing to do being the African Lion Safari, which doesn't even have a cred
. It's known as being a technologically good school and it has a good reputation, but apparently the actual student experience isn't meant to be that great.Out of the schools I know the most about, I'd probably say this is the order I would choose:
McMaster
Toronto
McGill
Waterloo
Snoo
The Legend
Re: My year North America - help?
You have to think about it though, in major college football, the schools represent not only years of alumni but in some cases, the entire state or region. For instance, my team, Ohio State, has been the one of the biggest and strongest schools in not only the region but the entire nation. I've grown up being a Buckeye fan. You can identify, much like football in the UK, with the school if you're from that area. It really is like a religion.. and most stadiums that size are filled to over-capacity every single week. It's amazing.
And that isn't even the only level.. high school football might be the biggest spectator sport in the country, with almost the entire nation covered with schools with football.. with schools that can get sometimes 20,000 fans every Friday. Hell, my alma mater averages 7,000 fans a week.
When you understand the sport and support it, especially with Matt having a background in Rugby, if you have spare time on weekends and have tickets, it really is an event to behold, especially if the school is actually good.
Ben said:
You have to think about it though, in major college football, the schools represent not only years of alumni but in some cases, the entire state or region. For instance, my team, Ohio State, has been the one of the biggest and strongest schools in not only the region but the entire nation. I've grown up being a Buckeye fan. You can identify, much like football in the UK, with the school if you're from that area. It really is like a religion.. and most stadiums that size are filled to over-capacity every single week. It's amazing.
And that isn't even the only level.. high school football might be the biggest spectator sport in the country, with almost the entire nation covered with schools with football.. with schools that can get sometimes 20,000 fans every Friday. Hell, my alma mater averages 7,000 fans a week.
When you understand the sport and support it, especially with Matt having a background in Rugby, if you have spare time on weekends and have tickets, it really is an event to behold, especially if the school is actually good.
Venom2053
Hyper Poster
Re: My year North America - help?
LiveForTheLaunch pretty much summed up the Canadian schools though I disagree with the statement on Montreal. Yes, sometimes the french are annoying but the city itself is way nicer than toronto. Personally i'd take McGill over UofT any day. When it comes to parks though Wonderland is way better than La Ronde. So same order expect I'd switch Toronto and McGill.
McMaster
McGill
Toronto
Waterloo
LiveForTheLaunch pretty much summed up the Canadian schools though I disagree with the statement on Montreal. Yes, sometimes the french are annoying but the city itself is way nicer than toronto. Personally i'd take McGill over UofT any day. When it comes to parks though Wonderland is way better than La Ronde. So same order expect I'd switch Toronto and McGill.
McMaster
McGill
Toronto
Waterloo
Re: My year North America - help?
OK, I’ve looked through all of your comments and I’ve read through some more of the information that we’ve been given, and I’ve also gone back over some of my original research and I’ve narrowed the list down a little more. I think I’ve ruled these ones out for definite, although they could still be subject to change. I think I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and rule some of them out on the basis that I don’t like the look of them. I was thinking about this today and I think I’m just going to have to narrow the list down somehow, even if it does seem a little reckless! So, here are the ones I’ve said goodbye to for the time being, and a brief reason why:
McGill University – I’m not all that fond of the idea of being in somewhere so French speaking for a whole year. I do really like the look of Montreal though, and it’s gone down on my list of places I’d like to go and see, it’s just not that appealing to live there.
University of Alberta – It’s miles from anywhere really. Don’t get me wrong, the city looks nice and the surrounding area looks nice, but it just looks so remote on the map. It also looks like it’s a bit of a hell-hole in winter!
University of Waterloo – As much as the reputation of the place is really good, it seems a little uninteresting compared to some of the others that are on the list. I’m sure it’s nice, but it doesn’t seem interesting as others that I can choose from.
Montana State University – Bozeman – I think this may be a bit too small of a place for me. I think the surrounding area looks awesome, and again, I’d like to go exploring that area, but I don’t think I want to live there.
Oregon State University – Corvallis – This is very similar to the above really. Looks nice, but possibly too out of the way of everything. Oregon looks interesting though, this one was a bit of a random exclusion.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Basically I just think this could be a little dull. I obviously don’t know too much about the place, but from a bit of looking around on Wiki, Google Images/Maps I don’t know if there aren’t more interesting places I could go to.
University of New Mexico at Albuquerque – Albuquerque looks a bit too beige for my liking. I don’t know if I’d want the heat and desert-y-ness of it. Falls into the category of “think-there-would-be-somewhere-else-I’d-rather-go”.
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee – The main reason for me losing this one is that I have to put the other Wisconsin one down, and this one looks far less interesting that the one in Madison. Simple as that really.
The only one I’m on the fence about, and you guys have changed my opinion here, is Virginia Tech. When I’d looked at it on my own it seemed like a really good University in the middle of nowhere with little surrounding it. According to our Study Abroad adviser only one student has come back early from a year in North America in the five years he’s been in his role. That student was at Virginia Tech and apparently said it was just too remote and uninteresting. However, you guys seem to be saying the opposite and that it’s a really good place. So… I’m not sure what to think now!
So that’s roughly where I’ve got to at the moment, my current favourites are looking like Madison, Case Western, Drexel, Maryland, Toronto and McMaster. Will have to try and get this down to six soon though, need to start actually doing the application!
OK, I’ve looked through all of your comments and I’ve read through some more of the information that we’ve been given, and I’ve also gone back over some of my original research and I’ve narrowed the list down a little more. I think I’ve ruled these ones out for definite, although they could still be subject to change. I think I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and rule some of them out on the basis that I don’t like the look of them. I was thinking about this today and I think I’m just going to have to narrow the list down somehow, even if it does seem a little reckless! So, here are the ones I’ve said goodbye to for the time being, and a brief reason why:
McGill University – I’m not all that fond of the idea of being in somewhere so French speaking for a whole year. I do really like the look of Montreal though, and it’s gone down on my list of places I’d like to go and see, it’s just not that appealing to live there.
University of Alberta – It’s miles from anywhere really. Don’t get me wrong, the city looks nice and the surrounding area looks nice, but it just looks so remote on the map. It also looks like it’s a bit of a hell-hole in winter!
University of Waterloo – As much as the reputation of the place is really good, it seems a little uninteresting compared to some of the others that are on the list. I’m sure it’s nice, but it doesn’t seem interesting as others that I can choose from.
Montana State University – Bozeman – I think this may be a bit too small of a place for me. I think the surrounding area looks awesome, and again, I’d like to go exploring that area, but I don’t think I want to live there.
Oregon State University – Corvallis – This is very similar to the above really. Looks nice, but possibly too out of the way of everything. Oregon looks interesting though, this one was a bit of a random exclusion.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Basically I just think this could be a little dull. I obviously don’t know too much about the place, but from a bit of looking around on Wiki, Google Images/Maps I don’t know if there aren’t more interesting places I could go to.
University of New Mexico at Albuquerque – Albuquerque looks a bit too beige for my liking. I don’t know if I’d want the heat and desert-y-ness of it. Falls into the category of “think-there-would-be-somewhere-else-I’d-rather-go”.
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee – The main reason for me losing this one is that I have to put the other Wisconsin one down, and this one looks far less interesting that the one in Madison. Simple as that really.
The only one I’m on the fence about, and you guys have changed my opinion here, is Virginia Tech. When I’d looked at it on my own it seemed like a really good University in the middle of nowhere with little surrounding it. According to our Study Abroad adviser only one student has come back early from a year in North America in the five years he’s been in his role. That student was at Virginia Tech and apparently said it was just too remote and uninteresting. However, you guys seem to be saying the opposite and that it’s a really good place. So… I’m not sure what to think now!
So that’s roughly where I’ve got to at the moment, my current favourites are looking like Madison, Case Western, Drexel, Maryland, Toronto and McMaster. Will have to try and get this down to six soon though, need to start actually doing the application!
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Re: My year North America - help?
Okay fine, so I was only in Montreal for a few hours besides the time I was at La Ronde, but the people were just so blah and it was a hard place for me to navigate. I'm sure it's not that bad and I'd like to give it another chance one day, but the thing I hate about Quebec is that they aren't very accommodating to English people. In Ontario, all of our signs on the road and stuff are in both languages, but everything there is strictly French which I find a bit unfair.
Okay fine, so I was only in Montreal for a few hours besides the time I was at La Ronde, but the people were just so blah and it was a hard place for me to navigate. I'm sure it's not that bad and I'd like to give it another chance one day, but the thing I hate about Quebec is that they aren't very accommodating to English people. In Ontario, all of our signs on the road and stuff are in both languages, but everything there is strictly French which I find a bit unfair.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
Re: My year North America - help?
Typo. And Goliath can't save that ****. Nothing could.Josh73 said:
Venom2053
Hyper Poster
Re: My year North America - help?
Not all signs in Ontario are bilingual, only some. The cities like Ottawa, and Toronto have them but smaller towns wouldn't.
Agreed Goliath is the only thing it has going for it, and I'm sorry but an ok Hyper with airtime isn't enough to make a park.
Josh73 said:
Not all signs in Ontario are bilingual, only some. The cities like Ottawa, and Toronto have them but smaller towns wouldn't.
Joey said:
Agreed Goliath is the only thing it has going for it, and I'm sorry but an ok Hyper with airtime isn't enough to make a park.
tomahawk
Strata Poster
Re: My year North America - help?
Austin temperatures really aren't THAT bad. Texas gets a bad rap because June-August, some Septembers, can be downright horrid, over 100 degrees everyday and humid, but you also have to realize how huge Texas is. I mean, the AVERAGE from August-May is 60s-80s as the highs, which really is absolutely perfect. Austin isn't that humid, but it is worse than say, Canada.
Marcus hit it right on the mark of how big of a deal the football games are. Especially when you think of the millions of dollars dumped in constantly to the schools. I mean, my school Kansas State, has a "small" football stadium, at 54,000, but it sells out every week, and the student sections are so underrated. We just has a $10 million renovation for new turf, and they are beginning the talks to expand the stadium, which would be another $80 million probably at the scale they are considering expanding. And essentially, the alumni are paying for all of this. The best experiences I have ever had at school is being in the student section. You have to consider the student life with it, and a good football/basketball team makes it that much better.
And yeah, I call a 5 hour drive not that bad, but if I want to get to any REAL civilization, its an 8 hour drive.
Austin temperatures really aren't THAT bad. Texas gets a bad rap because June-August, some Septembers, can be downright horrid, over 100 degrees everyday and humid, but you also have to realize how huge Texas is. I mean, the AVERAGE from August-May is 60s-80s as the highs, which really is absolutely perfect. Austin isn't that humid, but it is worse than say, Canada.
Marcus hit it right on the mark of how big of a deal the football games are. Especially when you think of the millions of dollars dumped in constantly to the schools. I mean, my school Kansas State, has a "small" football stadium, at 54,000, but it sells out every week, and the student sections are so underrated. We just has a $10 million renovation for new turf, and they are beginning the talks to expand the stadium, which would be another $80 million probably at the scale they are considering expanding. And essentially, the alumni are paying for all of this. The best experiences I have ever had at school is being in the student section. You have to consider the student life with it, and a good football/basketball team makes it that much better.
And yeah, I call a 5 hour drive not that bad, but if I want to get to any REAL civilization, its an 8 hour drive.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Re: My year North America - help?
Although my old university was bigger, at about 40-50,000 students, I find that I much prefer my new university because it's smaller and more friendly. It's still a decent size at around 20,000 but you get to know the people and professors much better and I've just had so much more fun. I find that if you go to one of the big, reputable schools, a lot of the people are snobby A-holes up on their high horses who are just generally unpleasant to be around. For the sports, obviously Canadian universities don't have the reputation that American colleges have, but even with that I prefer the small scale thing where you know at least some of the people on the team and can personally cheer them on. It's much more personal, and I enjoy that experience more than just being a number in a crowd.
Although my old university was bigger, at about 40-50,000 students, I find that I much prefer my new university because it's smaller and more friendly. It's still a decent size at around 20,000 but you get to know the people and professors much better and I've just had so much more fun. I find that if you go to one of the big, reputable schools, a lot of the people are snobby A-holes up on their high horses who are just generally unpleasant to be around. For the sports, obviously Canadian universities don't have the reputation that American colleges have, but even with that I prefer the small scale thing where you know at least some of the people on the team and can personally cheer them on. It's much more personal, and I enjoy that experience more than just being a number in a crowd.
Re: My year North America - help?
OK, I'm going to be just a tad biased, but I say Texas. Not only is it one of the best Universities in the country but it's also right in the heart of Texas (hahaha yeah pun whatever). Tom has told you almost everything, but it's all true. Texas is a big ass state, population wise and geographically. Austin is quite honestly perfect distance from everything. It's ~2.5 hours to Dallas (my town :wink and ~2 hours from San Antonio. As for weather, Texas just gets the stereotypical "it's always so damn hot" and some days, especially this summer, were downright awful, but when it gets to October, it gets gorgeous. Yes, the weather down here is "bipolar" where it can be in the 70's in the morning and 5 hours later it can be in the 40's, but Texas is just a truly great place. The cost of living is quite low for the US, and it's good old southern hospitality. We're our own little country really. But be warned, once you move here, you'll never wanna leave. I know family and friends who have moved back and they never wanna leave.
Now, Marcus and Tom have really said everything they can about the school, sports wise and academic, so there's my contribution. Hope to see you in the Lone Star State if you do choose it (but no pressure :wink
OK, I'm going to be just a tad biased, but I say Texas. Not only is it one of the best Universities in the country but it's also right in the heart of Texas (hahaha yeah pun whatever). Tom has told you almost everything, but it's all true. Texas is a big ass state, population wise and geographically. Austin is quite honestly perfect distance from everything. It's ~2.5 hours to Dallas (my town :wink
and ~2 hours from San Antonio. As for weather, Texas just gets the stereotypical "it's always so damn hot" and some days, especially this summer, were downright awful, but when it gets to October, it gets gorgeous. Yes, the weather down here is "bipolar" where it can be in the 70's in the morning and 5 hours later it can be in the 40's, but Texas is just a truly great place. The cost of living is quite low for the US, and it's good old southern hospitality. We're our own little country really. But be warned, once you move here, you'll never wanna leave. I know family and friends who have moved back and they never wanna leave.Now, Marcus and Tom have really said everything they can about the school, sports wise and academic, so there's my contribution. Hope to see you in the Lone Star State if you do choose it
(but no pressure :wink
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Re: My year North America - help?
^^ Well, small compared to other schools here. Western was 40,000, McMaster is nearly 30,000, and Toronto is about 45,000, so my school is pretty small at 17,000 or whatever.
^^ Well, small compared to other schools here. Western was 40,000, McMaster is nearly 30,000, and Toronto is about 45,000, so my school is pretty small at 17,000 or whatever.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Re: My year North America - help?
For getting a degree in Mechanical Engineering, they definitely gave you a list of random colleges.
For a ME degree, Case is probably the best. My friend is going there right now and he has said nothing but great about Case. A bonus about Case is it's in Cleveland, which in my opinion is an AWESOME city, especially for a ME.
Georgia Tech is also a great school. Atlanta is a bit dangerous, but it's an awesome city as well. Montana State may be small, but the area around Bozeman is absolutely gorgeous, and if you're willing to drive a bit, you'll be able to see a lot of nature(and take a ton of awesome pictures).
Other than that, I can't tell you much about how good the schools are. To be honest, I haven't heard of a lot of them because their engineering programs aren't anything special.
To add to what's been said about college football, one of the reasons why it's so appealing is because the players aren't making money. They're still playing to play the game and for the glory.
Lastly, Michigan Tech is around 7,500 undergrad. It's fairly small, and campus is only a ten minute walk from one end to the other, but I like it.
For getting a degree in Mechanical Engineering, they definitely gave you a list of random colleges.
For a ME degree, Case is probably the best. My friend is going there right now and he has said nothing but great about Case. A bonus about Case is it's in Cleveland, which in my opinion is an AWESOME city, especially for a ME.
Georgia Tech is also a great school. Atlanta is a bit dangerous, but it's an awesome city as well. Montana State may be small, but the area around Bozeman is absolutely gorgeous, and if you're willing to drive a bit, you'll be able to see a lot of nature(and take a ton of awesome pictures).
Other than that, I can't tell you much about how good the schools are. To be honest, I haven't heard of a lot of them because their engineering programs aren't anything special.
To add to what's been said about college football, one of the reasons why it's so appealing is because the players aren't making money. They're still playing to play the game and for the glory.
Lastly, Michigan Tech is around 7,500 undergrad. It's fairly small, and campus is only a ten minute walk from one end to the other, but I like it.
Re: My year North America - help?
Also, it's not necessarily the size of the Uni I'm bothered about. I mean, as long as there's more than about 100 it should be alright. It was more that if I'm going to be living somewhere for the year I liked the idea of being near a city that would be interesting, instead of only being able to get to the interesting stuff by car. However I don't know!
On that note, do you guys have any idea how easy it would be to pick up/insure a car at my age? I'm not sure if I'm going to go down this route, but it seems like it could be a good option. Only problem is I have no idea how feasible it is!
Well the exchange isn't just for ME students. It's open to all of the engineering departments and a few of the science departments too.Antinos said:
I did think Montana looks awesome, and I'm hoping to sort out some sort of car situation (will have to have a discussion about that later on too!), but I didn't know how much of the awesome scenery was going to be that accessible for me directly. Which is why I thought I might just include it in a 'list-of-places-to-visit'.Antinos said:
Also, it's not necessarily the size of the Uni I'm bothered about. I mean, as long as there's more than about 100 it should be alright.
It was more that if I'm going to be living somewhere for the year I liked the idea of being near a city that would be interesting, instead of only being able to get to the interesting stuff by car. However I don't know! On that note, do you guys have any idea how easy it would be to pick up/insure a car at my age? I'm not sure if I'm going to go down this route, but it seems like it could be a good option. Only problem is I have no idea how feasible it is!
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Re: My year North America - help?
^ Oh I know, I wasn't saying that size of a school necessarily matters, I'm just saying I prefer the smaller school atmosphere and experience (and still, by small I'm talking 17,000 students) rather than the massive student bodies of 50-60,000.
As far as renting a car, you wouldn't really be able to. Insurance would be crazy expensive if you were to buy or lease, and I'm almost sure it wouldn't really be that feasible.
^ Oh I know, I wasn't saying that size of a school necessarily matters, I'm just saying I prefer the smaller school atmosphere and experience (and still, by small I'm talking 17,000 students) rather than the massive student bodies of 50-60,000.
As far as renting a car, you wouldn't really be able to. Insurance would be crazy expensive if you were to buy or lease, and I'm almost sure it wouldn't really be that feasible.