Where should I go for my CS Degree?

[csApplicant]

Hi all, I'm a grade 12 student from Ontario who's looking to do my undergrad in computer science as a backup. I'm still very determined to enter medschool, and I heard that going to Saskatchewan or Manitoba will allow me to have IP status in those provinces and in Alberta, allowing me to have a much higher chance at medschool.

However, I'm lost as to where I should be going for my CS degree (stay in Ontario, or go to another province for IP status), and what universities I should be looking into. Should I do first year in Ontario and transfer to a university in another province (and if so, how)? I'd really appreciate any insights that could help me with this.

[bearded frog]

Go where you can get the best grades, have access to ECs that are important to you, and enjoy your life while you're at it. If that means U of T then go for it, if that means a small university-college than go there. In your case go where you can get a good CS degree and have access to supports, ie close or away from family as you desire. When it comes to med school applications, your GPA, your ECs, and your LORs are vastly more important than the name of the school you went to. If you can get closer to your profs at a smaller school vs say a UBC or U of T it may be easier to get LORs or it may not. Don't go somewhere for the prestige if you're one out of 400 in your classes and you're miserable in the city.

In theory Sask and Alberta may have a numbers advantage for IP, but is it worth moving there for? You don't know what the next 4 years will hold and I don't know what the CS programs are like there but if you're unhappy there your grades will suffer and it will not be worth it. In any case if you want to play the numbers game you should move to the Yukon. Last I checked you were in province for like 5 different provinces then!

[rice]

From purely a med school acceptance optimization standpoint, you are correct that going to Saskatchewan for your CS degree would the best option if you don't mind living there since most Ontario schools do not provide an advantage to in province applicants. However, the reason you are doing CS is to have a backup, so consider if your job prospects graduating from there will be worth it in the CS industry? If not, then consider doing a more standard life sciences degree.

[csApplicant]

On 11/29/2020 at 4:41 PM, bearded frog said:

Go where you can get the best grades, have access to ECs that are important to you, and enjoy your life while you're at it. If that means U of T then go for it, if that means a small university-college than go there. In your case go where you can get a good CS degree and have access to supports, ie close or away from family as you desire. When it comes to med school applications, your GPA, your ECs, and your LORs are vastly more important than the name of the school you went to. If you can get closer to your profs at a smaller school vs say a UBC or U of T it may be easier to get LORs or it may not. Don't go somewhere for the prestige if you're one out of 400 in your classes and you're miserable in the city.

In theory Sask and Alberta may have a numbers advantage for IP, but is it worth moving there for? You don't know what the next 4 years will hold and I don't know what the CS programs are like there but if you're unhappy there your grades will suffer and it will not be worth it. In any case if you want to play the numbers game you should move to the Yukon. Last I checked you were in province for like 5 different provinces then!

 

On 11/29/2020 at 8:15 PM, rice said:

From purely a med school acceptance optimization standpoint, you are correct that going to Saskatchewan for your CS degree would the best option if you don't mind living there since most Ontario schools do not provide an advantage to in province applicants. However, the reason you are doing CS is to have a backup, so consider if your job prospects graduating from there will be worth it in the CS industry? If not, then consider doing a more standard life sciences degree.

After days of thinking, I'm leaning towards doing my first year nearby where I still have family & support groups before moving out of province for second year. The only thing that's holding me back from doing that is whether or not I'd get IP status.

I heard that I'll need to have completed my 3 years of staying in Saskatchewan or Manitoba before I can apply to their medschools with IP status. I also heard that I'd be applying for medschool in my third year of university. However, by transferring in second year, that'd mean I would've only stayed for two years and not received IP status. Is it possible to start over from first year when transferring to another university, or how would I attain the IP status before applying to medschool if I'm only transferring in second year?

[MasterDoc]

23 hours ago, csApplicant said:

After days of thinking, I'm leaning towards doing my first year nearby where I still have family & support groups before moving out of province for second year. The only thing that's holding me back from doing that is whether or not I'd get IP status.

I heard that I'll need to have completed my 3 years of staying in Saskatchewan or Manitoba before I can apply to their medschools with IP status. I also heard that I'd be applying for medschool in my third year of university. However, by transferring in second year, that'd mean I would've only stayed for two years and not received IP status. Is it possible to start over from first year when transferring to another university, or how would I attain the IP status before applying to medschool if I'm only transferring in second year?

I think moving out of Ontario is definitely a good idea. I don't know why people downplay this, it's so cutthroat in Ontario. People would rather go international and pay USD $200k+ for a medical degree rather than move to a different province smh. When deciding where to move consider if ECs are more of your strong suit or academics. If you excel in ECs, then moving to Alberta or BC would be better since schools there care more about ECs. If academics, then either Sask or Manitoba (I am pretty sure both don't look at ECs whatsoever). If you are planning to apply in third year then you have to move for first year. Also transferring credits is sometimes wonky, and you may have to retake some courses if the university doesn't accept certain courses. Also if you are aiming more for Sask or Manitoba, then go to a school school in a rural town. It will be easier to get a 4.0 and you get the rural coefficient applied to your application. Since ECs don't matter who cares if you are in a rural place. 

[csApplicant]

11 minutes ago, MasterDoc said:

I think moving out of Ontario is definitely a good idea. I don't know why people downplay this, it's so cutthroat in Ontario. People would rather go international and pay USD $200k+ for a medical degree rather than move to a different province smh. When deciding where to move consider if ECs are more of your strong suit or academics. If you excel in ECs, then moving to Alberta or BC would be better since schools there care more about ECs. If academics, then either Sask or Manitoba (I am pretty sure both don't look at ECs whatsoever). If you are planning to apply in third year then you have to move for first year. Also transferring credits is sometimes wonky, and you may have to retake some courses if the university doesn't accept certain courses. Also if you are aiming more for Sask or Manitoba, then go to a school school in a rural town. It will be easier to get a 4.0 and you get the rural coefficient applied to your application. Since ECs don't matter who cares if you are in a rural place. 

Didn't know Sask or Manitoba don't value EC's as much! Could you expand a bit on going to "a school school in a rural town"? I haven't heard of this before, so this is new to me. 

[MasterDoc]

7 minutes ago, csApplicant said:

Didn't know Sask or Manitoba don't value EC's as much! Could you expand a bit on going to "a school school in a rural town"? I haven't heard of this before, so this is new to me.

Happy to discuss more. Not a lot of universities give preference to rural applicants other than NOSM and U of M (I may be wrong). At U of M your application gets a boost multiplier if you have rural "roots", rural work experience or rural volunteer experience. There are also multipliers for socio-economic factors like if you come from a dis-advantaged background. The reason for the rural preference is because Manitoba has a hard time keeping docs in rural communities and the research shows that med students from rural communities are more likely to practice in a rural area after graduating. 

A good rural school in Manitoba is Brandon University, the university isn't even in a "rural" town but U of M considers it rural for some reason.