Would somebody rate these Canadian schools?

[Bleu]

Would somebody rate the following Canadian schools according to their PhD program in computer science?

UofT, UBC, Waterloo, Queen's, Alberta, McGill

[newms]

Would somebody rate the following Canadian schools according to their PhD program in computer science?

UofT, UBC, Waterloo, Queen's, Alberta, McGill

UofT is generally considered to be the best CS grad school in Canada - it's comparable to a top 10 US school. Waterloo just might have a better undergrad CS program, but is probably second to UofT at the graduate level. UBC would probably be next, followed by Alberta (which has a strong machine learning group), McGill and Queen's. I haven't seen Queen's compared in the same class as the other schools before. I've usually seen places like Carleton, Montreal and Simon Fraser mentioned before Queen's.

Here's ARWU's world rankings in CS - they have the order slightly different than I do: http://www.arwu.org/SubjectCS2010.jsp

[DamianD]

Honestly, I can't imagine myself doing a PhD in Canada, just because it is frikkin' cold there and I love the relationship I have with Sun :-)

[newms]

Honestly, I can't imagine myself doing a PhD in Canada, just because it is frikkin' cold there and I love the relationship I have with Sun :-)

Some of those places aren't too much colder than Ithaca, as I see you've applied to Cornell. Vancouver can be pretty mild - they were worried that they might not have enough snow there when they held the Winter Olympics there last year.

[DamianD]

Some of those places aren't too much colder than Ithaca, as I see you've applied to Cornell. Vancouver can be pretty mild - they were worried that they might not have enough snow there when they held the Winter Olympics there last year.

Haha, yeah silly me, I had no idea how cold it was in Cornell until last week!

Edited February 8, 2011 by DamianD

[Bleu]

UofT is generally considered to be the best CS grad school in Canada - it's comparable to a top 10 US school. Waterloo just might have a better undergrad CS program, but is probably second to UofT at the graduate level. UBC would probably be next, followed by Alberta (which has a strong machine learning group), McGill and Queen's. I haven't seen Queen's compared in the same class as the other schools before. I've usually seen places like Carleton, Montreal and Simon Fraser mentioned before Queen's.

Here's ARWU's world rankings in CS - they have the order slightly different than I do: http://www.arwu.org/SubjectCS2010.jsp

The interesting thing about Waterloo is that they admit students for PhD three times a year, Fall, Winter and Spring! And, they also have a lot of faculty. About Queen's, I do not agree that it is rated among universities like Carleton and Simon Fraser. Their school size is not that large, but research budget/faculty is pretty good. They say that they are fifth in Canada.

My problem is that I have applied only for these schools, and I doubt whether it would better to apply for Western Ontario, Calgary, or McMaster instead of Queen's. For some reason, I have only applied to Canadian schools.

[newms]

The interesting thing about Waterloo is that they admit students for PhD three times a year, Fall, Winter and Spring! And, they also have a lot of faculty. About Queen's, I do not agree that it is rated among universities like Carleton and Simon Fraser. Their school size is not that large, but research budget/faculty is pretty good. They say that they are fifth in Canada.

My problem is that I have applied only for these schools, and I doubt whether it would better to apply for Western Ontario, Calgary, or McMaster instead of Queen's. For some reason, I have only applied to Canadian schools.

I'll take your word on Queen's since I'm not too familiar with them. You have a MS already? Canadian schools usually prefer that you apply to the MS if you only have a BS and then go for PhD after. I've applied to 3 of those schools you listed initially and I plan on applying to the PhD afterwards, should I go that route. I also applied to a few US PhD programs as well.

[h.vasilev]

Speaking of Canadian Universities .....

As a permanent resident student.

Avg. scores from Bsc. degree: 5.35/6 ( 89% ) - obtained in an eastern European country.

Avg. scores from the last two years of Bsc. degree: 100%

GRE: 650V 800Q 3.5W

TOEFL: 114/120

LoRs: two professors and the dean.

SoP: i think i can write a strong one.

Cartificates, diplomas, work experience and undergraduate thesis

I'm specifically interested in:

1. U of T M.sc. CS program.

2. Waterloo's MMath CS program.

Chances?

[Bleu]

I'll take your word on Queen's since I'm not too familiar with them. You have a MS already? Canadian schools usually prefer that you apply to the MS if you only have a BS and then go for PhD after. I've applied to 3 of those schools you listed initially and I plan on applying to the PhD afterwards, should I go that route. I also applied to a few US PhD programs as well.

Yes, I have an MS already. UBC has a program called PhD track MSc, do you know about it? It seems they admit many applicants who already have MS to this program instead of their direct PhD.

[newms]

Yes, I have an MS already. UBC has a program called PhD track MSc, do you know about it? It seems they admit many applicants who already have MS to this program instead of their direct PhD.

I'm not too familiar with it, but I've seen a few acceptances to this program on the results board already.

[newms]

Speaking of Canadian Universities .....

I'm specifically interested in:

1. U of T M.sc. CS program.

2. Waterloo's MMath CS program.

Chances?

UofT is pretty hard to get into. I would say that you would need some good research experience in order to get into UofT since it's as competitive as a top 10 US school. Waterloo is still competitive - they take about 10%-15% of applicants, but it's probably a little easier to get into than UofT. I think your stats are good, but you should focus on getting good research experience in order to boost your application.

[idria]

I know U of T is good, UBC is also pretty good but not as good as U of T in my opinion, it isn't as big in general. I'm not as familiar with McGill but I think it's pretty good as well, especially in specific fields.

Waterloo is good for undergraduate but I haven't heard a lot about it in terms of grad school.

My impression of Queen's is that it's a party school, based on what I know of the people who go there, but academically not bad. Probably is more serious at the grad school level.

I know nothing about Alberta, I think it probably isn't as good as the others.

At U of T, I know that admissions are pretty much entirely based on how much a professor thinks you'd be a good match for their research. Your stats are good enough to get past the initial filtering process, after that, it might be best to get in contact with a professor you're really serious about applying to, get really familiar with their research, and see if you can get in contact with them. Though I've heard one prof say he gets an average of 50 emails a day from prospective grad students and can't possibly read them all.

U of T does have terrible weather, but you'll be sitting inside most of the time in well-heated rooms Actually, Vancouver has terrible weather too, it rains all the time instead of being cold. Otherwise they're both very pleasant cities, in my opinion - Vancouver's gorgeous especially if you like nature and nature-related sports and stuff, and at U of T you're right downtown which is pretty nice, there's never a shortage of things to do if you manage to find the free time. Aside from the weather they're both very nice places to live.

[Bleu]

I have applied for all the top Canadian universities, and UofT is the only school that I didn't get any answers from its professors. About UBC, the interesting fact is that they comsider themselves much higher than their real standing among CS schools. I was reviewing the website of one of their faculty, and he had written "I am extremely unlikely to take on new PhD students from outside UBC unless I am already familiar with their publications from conferences that I attend"! So if you were graduated from Stanford, but he had not seen you anywhere, he would to accept you! They also admit many qualified students from outside US and Canada, to their PhD track program instead of direct PhD. They do not review GRE scores, and in general, they are somehow special.

According to Endowment/Student, Queen's is the top Canadian university, at least until recently. But, their CS grad program is maybe 5th-7th there.

Edited February 13, 2011 by Bleu

[h.vasilev]

I keep failing to understand why do the North American universities keep requiring research experience for a Masters degree ?

Does the MMath CS program focus more on academic research, or does it focus on preparing the students for solving real-life, industrial, practical problems ?