Canada vs. US

[Buffalofan4255]

From Rotman business school...

 

-MIT Sloan

-INSEAD

-LBS

-UVa

-USC

-Berkeley Haas

-NYU Stern

-Duke

-Northwestern Kellogg 

-URochester

-Imperial College London

 

http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/Degrees/PhD/Careers/RecentGraduates.aspx

 

Yeah..I'd say that's good placement. 

Edited March 16, 2015 by Buffalofan4255

[nugget]

I think that it could have an effect, sure. But not sure how much of an effect it could have. That being said you have presented a bit of a false dichotomy here, there is nothing to suggest that getting an academic job in the US won't afford you a similar or higher quality of life, healthcare situation, or proximity to family and friends (Canada is a very large country and much of its population lives close to the US border). 

 

 

Perhaps you have a hard time believing this, but some people actually do not want to move to the US. Canada and the US may have many similarities but there are also many differences. For instance, racial tension and problems between blacks and whites in the US, expensive healthcare (compared to free in Canada), no paid parental leave in the US, vastly different gun laws and practices, a vocal and politically powerful Biblebelt in the US (the influence of Christianity on politics), discrimination against homosexuals (such as not being allowed to marry in some states), etc.... These are just a few differences that have nothing to do with economics that can impact one's quality of life and decision to not want to live in the US. I do not know how many Canadians do not want to relocate to the US, but this group of people will definitely have an impact on the numbers to a degree.

[Buffalofan4255]

I'm from Boston, MA, the heart of American academia AND progressivism. Canada is highly regarded for both of these things in the motherland . 

[Buffalofan4255]

Let's do some math, shall we?

 

U of T has only 607 U.S. students currently. 20% of those are grad students (let's assume they're all PhDs, for fun!). That's 120 total PhDs. Divided by 4 is only 30 U.S. PhDs who graduate from the entire university each year.

 

And yet, you find U of T PhD alumni across the top universities in the U.S. 

 

Your argument is just from the demand side, but you're also not evaluating what the supply side is. 

[TakeruK]

I agree with victorydance that it is pretty rare to see a Canadian PhD in a TT position at a top US school. I wholeheartedly agree that if you want a TT job in the US, you should do everything you can to attend a top US school. If choosing between two schools of equal ranking, pick the one that is in the country you want to work in. 

 

I am a Canadian and very proud of it, but I will admit that in my field, the top US schools are far superior to the top Canadian schools. As others mentioned in this thread, the top Canadian schools compare with second tier US schools. The main reason for the difference is the vast difference in funding and resources. For example, Caltech, one of the top schools in Astronomy, will own about 12% of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Right now, Canadian astronomers are campaigning for the Canadian government to follow through with their original plan to be part of this project and pay for a 10% share of the time. Let me say that again -- one top US school will own more telescope time on the TMT than the entire country of Canada. Top Canadian schools are all public and just cannot compete in terms of funding against top private US schools.

 

But that does not mean that McGill and other top Canadian schools are a waste of time. Not all of the good research is done at the top schools. "Second-tier" has negative connotations, but it doesn't mean the research produced by schools ranked 10 to 50 are useless. In fact, I would say the majority of the research happens here. Unless you have the mindset that you only want to go to grad school if you are going to a worldwide top school, then McGill and similar schools are excellent choices.

 

Finally, in addition to what jenste said about many Canadians not wanting to stay in the US (e.g. me), there's also the well studied (especially recently) trend that PhD program prestige is highly correlated with TT placements. The top schools produce the majority of TT positions, both at top schools as well as second and third tier schools. This means that if you are not in a top 10 program, whether it's Canadian or American, you will have a decreased chance at a TT position. If you want to compare TT placement numbers, you should compare U of Toronto with a similar ranked US school, not a top program. 

[Buffalofan4255]

Bernard is a trollll

[smpalesh]

Yes, I think it is obvious at this point that Bernard is either a troll or crazy.  Either way, no point in responding.  I highly doubt this person is actually attending any type of graduate program.

[ERR_Alpha]

I think he's been banned. Also I'm *so* happy someone finally taught us how to count to 10!

OP, I'm sorry for all this nonsense. Hopefully it didn't make the decision any harder than it already was.