Any Canadian school applicant?

[Guest Bol]

I recieve an offer from York University in Toronto. But there are some terms I am not very familiar with (a little different from Amercian terms)

1. it seems that they don't have "tuition weaver". Do they?

2. how many percent should I pay for the tax?

3. Is 25,000 (before tax) enough to live in Toronto? (I guess I must pay the tuition by myself, right?)

[Guest grad]

I can tell you about Canadian Universities.

1. No tuition waiver. So part of the money you make goes directly to tuition and fees, which are considerable. Some places decrease the tuition after some years into the program, but you have to check.

2. Taxes for incomes up to 35K are about 15%. You get considerable deductions because you pay tuition though, and for being in school full-time, so you won't have to pay a lot.

3. Depends where you live. If you share a house/apartment in the suburbs, where York is, it's considerably cheap.

Additional: York has the best Teaching Assistant contracts in Canada at the moment. They work half as much for the same pay. Isn't that nice?

[Guest Bol]

Thanks grad. Ya..I was surprised to see in offer letter that they only ask for 10 hours work for TAing. But the TA thing is strange that I should send out an application to the department I want to work..

[Guest graduate student]

How are Canadian schools with funding International (US) students? I know there are two major fellowships that cover Candians. Also, does TAing basically cover your tuition? Are there internal funding opportunities (say at McGill) or is it all external?

[Guest grad]

Bol:

The thing about TAing in Canadian Universities is that your income is pretty much dependent on it. In the summer you might get RAships, depending how generous your advisor is. Oh, and you have to actually apply for the TA positions every semester. That's the catch. They try to accomodate most students. Get a good advisor and your income will not be from on TAing every semester. You'll need some time for your thesis too, and TAing is time-consuming.

graduate student:

Canadian schools fund international students at the same TA/stipend as for domestic students. For many schools though, tuition is 3 times as high as for domestic, so when they admit someone, the department or the advisor covers the difference, like at McGill. Some places, like UBC, have no tuition for PhD students. I am an international grad student in an Canadian university, and TAing (15-20 hrs/week) was enough to cover tuition and a modest living. So it depends from school to school, inquire well beforehand. Best is to ask the students in each university to see how they cope.

Some schools tend to favour domestic students to international students because of this differential tuition thing, so the competition is stiff. Another thing they do is they tend give most fellowships and entrance scholarships to Canadian students, mostly to attract the ones with government scholarships (way bigger percentage of students get them here than in the US). So if one is an international applicant, the chances are really slim on getting fellowships from the university itself and you have to rely on TAing alone. Hence, get to know the advisor as most profs have government funding (it's another issue if they fund students with it).

Good luck!

[Guest Bol]

Thanks grad very much! does that mean I might not get any money if there is no department willing to hire me as a TA? But in the offer letter thay said: "Once you accept a Teaching Assistantship at York, it is guaranteed for five years" I am not sure what this sentence means. Does that mean many people don't accept teaching assistantship?

In addition, they also provide me "minimum guarantee" which is about 5000 dollars, but I really don't know what that is. does "minimum" mean I might get more that that amount? What do I typically have to do to get the money?

There are too many different terms between Canadian and American grad. system. Thanks grad to provide such a useful information!

[Guest grad]

Bol, it took a while to come back to the forum. I hope the following reply may still help you.

The school letter is basically asking you to accept their funding offer, which is mainly Teaching Assistantships. It will be up to five years, and at any semester, they will try to provide you with at least 5'000 dollars, for which you might have to TA, RA or just get as a university fellowship. Yes, it is a minimum, so you can earn more than that if they allow you to teach more, or get other funding. (I got over 35'000 dollars last year as a combination of TAing, RAing and fellowships, but then not everyone does. Most just get 18-20'000.)

Also check is the Canadian government funding agencies - NSERC (science/engineering) or SSRHC (arts)- to see how much funding your assigned supervisor usually gets, it is all public. If the supervisor is awarded enough, then there is a good chance you will get some Research Assistantships to focus on thesis and publications, instead of teaching every semester. Teaching can be a lot of fun, although a bit time-consuming.

Another advice: ask the supervisor for RAs and ask/check everywhere in the university what fellowships are available to apply for. Most supervisors are busy with their own work and will think you are happy with teaching money if you don't ask them. It doesn't hurt to ask. As for university fellowships, a lot of students may not know or bother to check and the secretaries simply may forget to remind you of the deadlines to apply for fellowships. Ask other students of extra funding opportunities, and you'll be fine.

[godwin]

Canadian schools are only interested in money. Esp. Mcmaster university. The get your application fee and wait for sometime be4 they send you the refusal letter. Some don't even write at all. The only write you when you pay your application fee and thatz all.

[Guest jeni]

I applied to University of Toronto 2 years ago and the secretary kept telling me I was on the waitlist whenever I called (April, May). The admission chair was completely ignoring my emails saying I had other offers, and needed to decide soon. I had very good credentials, so couldn't figure out why they couldn't even reply. It is not like they'd have more than 50 applications in that program. I eventually gave up asking them and accepted another offer.

You know when the University of Toronto sent me the rejection letter? November!!! As if it is hard to figure out you are rejected when you don't start school in September. I was consdering sending them a long complaint letter and asking for my application fee back, but decided wasting more time on them was pointless.

At least the US schools know the meaning of lawsuits, so they send out rejection emails even if they cannot afford to mail them.

[godwin]

Well, one thing i know is that as an international student that is willing to fund him or herself would not have any problems securing admission in canada. The moment you indicate a need for funding that is were you whole problem starts and ends. This is my last years's profile:

University of Calgary - not even a word after spending so much calling those crooks

Mcmaster University - Rejected

University of wetern Ontario - no word till date

University of New Brunswick -no word till date

What can i say, these are the so called prominent schools in Canada, This baffles me. Then who are the crooks or the criminals. What is the difference btw these rogs and a mere bungler. If such uncivilized attitudes happen in Universities of so called developed countries , i wonder what the world has turned into. I applied to the University of NEw south wales this yr. If anyone has any Idea about this school pls send me a wink. I will be happier to no whatz up than to wait for crooks

[Guest grad student]

I was wondering about that. But it's the same for US undergrad students. I am funding my MA in Canada and worry about problems in the future for the PhD. Hopefully, I'll do well enough to prove my worth to the program. What is your area?

[Guest dark]

I am considering McGill for a PhD in CS. I got accepted with full funding. I haven't heard from UBC , yet. The other schools I got accepted in the US are NC State and Rutgers. I don't mean to hijack the thread but how does McGill compare with major US universities.

[Guest grad student]

Are you American? I'd like to know too! I'll be going to McGill in the fall for grad school as well. As far as I know, Mcgill is considered qute a top school in medicine and the sciences, but I am not sure about computer sciences nor the humanities, which is where I am headed.

[Guest guest]

McGill is ok, but it is nowehere comparable with Ivy League schools in the US. UBC and Toronto are also ok, but like McGill in quality. Alberta, Queens, Waterloo are more or less in that league, but I would consider all of these Tier II universities, compared to the Ivies.

For CS, the big-name ischool in Canada, and well-known in US, is Waterloo. Their grads are the ones that almost always get the jobs in the industry. As for academia, the Canadian universities seem to prioritize hiring Canadians with top-US education. If you are a foreigner, chances of getting a job are really slim.

In almost any subject, the Canadian universities look up the US ones, but I am not sure the latter think that well of the former. Those are things to consider when doing a PhD. Also, I hear one can expect to get hired in a school one level down from the one they did their PhD at. There are just so many schools in Canada and the competition for postdocs is stiff, while going to the US may depend on whether the supervisors has connections there (if they were schooled there) and how your school reputation is regarded. Almost every grad student I have talked to, seemed to have chosen the Canadian universities because they either got Canadian government scholarships, or the supervisors were well-known, or they were not accepted to US top schools.

[Guest grad student]

McGill is ok, but it is nowehere comparable with Ivy League schools in the US. UBC and Toronto are also ok, but like McGill in quality. Alberta, Queens, Waterloo are more or less in that league, but I would consider all of these Tier II universities, compared to the Ivies.

For CS, the big-name ischool in Canada, and well-known in US, is Waterloo. Their grads are the ones that almost always get the jobs in the industry. As for academia, the Canadian universities seem to prioritize hiring Canadians with top-US education. If you are a foreigner, chances of getting a job are really slim.

In almost any subject, the Canadian universities look up the US ones, but I am not sure the latter think that well of the former. Those are things to consider when doing a PhD. Also, I hear one can expect to get hired in a school one level down from the one they did their PhD at. There are just so many schools in Canada and the competition for postdocs is stiff, while going to the US may depend on whether the supervisors has connections there (if they were schooled there) and how your school reputation is regarded. Almost every grad student I have talked to, seemed to have chosen the Canadian universities because they either got Canadian government scholarships, or the supervisors were well-known, or they were not accepted to US top schools.

To the above poster: do you think that McGill and top Canadian universities are comparable to top 25 US ones (not specifically Ivies)? eg Is it better to go to a top Canadian uni or a mediocre US one? I would think the former. What is your opinion? I would qualify as someone who probably would not get into an Ivy but chose McGill in Montreal over a state research uni in a small college town.

[Manchild]

I think it all boils down to your specific program. From what I understand, e.g. for Econ, UBC or Univ. of Toronto might be better than mediocre U.S. schools. Likewise for Pol. Science, definitely Toronto (especially theory) and possibly McGill are worth attending over mediocre U.S. programs.