sillybird

I actually didn't get into UofT! Or at least I haven't been waitlisted or gotten any news at all, which is pretty much the same thing. I'm not too surprised since I didn't technically fulfil the stats requirement. I participated in the webinar together with a friend of mine though and I think you'd be smart leaning towards UofT too. They've just got way deeper pockets and that's really important for grad school research funding and quality of profs. Plus, they seem to really push for helping grads with jobs post-MPH. I did however put a bunch of effort into speaking with alumni for McGill and several of the faculty/profs in person, and since they're smaller, there's a lot more flexibility in the program and you'd really be able to customize your experience and develop useful relationships with the profs. I'm sure you're well aware of this already, but McGill's program's just a lot more tight-knit and personal (all of this is way more wishy washy compared to UofT's guarantee for career preparation though). All this said, I think UofT's better on paper, but if you put the effort and heart into it, I think it'd be easier to get more out of McGill and make it your own. (Btw, both McGill and UofT have super solid foundations in quantitative research methodology and epi; I don't think the quality of the actual study material itself is a deal breaker.) Anyway, those are my thoughts, but I have zero authority on this really. Just as a p.s. I'll be going to Imperial College London in the fall, and congrats on everything! It's a good dilemma to have, feel free to update when you decide!

For those of you who've been accepted to UofT Epi, what's your deadline to respond? And congrats! Good luck to everyone else in the same boat and still waiting

We've got similar stories actually, cept I'm from ontario. Also did my undergrad at McGill, political science and international development though. In Canada it's only McGill and UofT. I was pretty insistent on going abroad for my masters so I applied to several schools in Europe (Imperial College London, UCL, Copenhagen, Lund). But the more I look at it, the smarter it seems to stick to McGill/UofT for exactly the same reasons you listed. Being more familiar with the system and challenging yourself off of an established springboard rather than starting from scratch. Not to mention the crazy financial strain of setting up in a foreign country. The north american programs also seem to be much more quantitative, and that's what I'm looking for. I guess we'll have to see what happens at crunch time.

Awesome, great feedback! Two questions for you, how are you choosing between UofT and McGill? And what was your bachelors background?

Is there any particular reason why so few people seem to have applied to McGill's MScPH (or at least not talk too much about it)? Is it not readily considered a good school for public health?