Should I obtain my undergrad degree from US or from Canada

[Guest Kelvin Chung]

Dear Ian,

 

I am a Canadian citizen, but I live in Hong Kong and I have never lived in Canada for over 30 days in a year. I have the freedom to choose my residence status in Canada, because the time I spend in which ever province that I eventually decide to study in Canada for my undergraduate degree will qualify me to be the residence of that province.

 

I have applied to UBC, UT, Waterloo U and Western Ontario U, and I am waiting for their reply. Meanwhile, I also got accepted to 4 American colleges, one with partial scholarship. According to the American college pre-med advisors, the chance of international student applying to US medical school is extremely low. However, they suggest that I can study in US, and apply to Canadian medical schools because I am a Canadian citizen.

 

Can you give me any suggestions, whether it would be advisable for me to go to Canadian universities for my undergraduate study and establish my residence status at a certain province (either BC or Ontario), or should I accept the partial scholarship and attend US undergrade college, then apply to Canadian medical schools in the third year? Would getting a scholarship at certain schools add consideration to my future application, or is it more important to establish residence status in Canada?

[Guest G]

Well, it really depends on where you want to go to med school. If you go to the states, it is more difficult to get into a Canadian med school, but if you go to school in Canada, it is harder to get into American schools, but in the states, there are about a million more medical schools. Those are a few of the things that you need to weigh before you choose a school. By the way, don't go to UofT, your marks won't be high enough to get to med school. They ram you up the pooper there. UWO is a good choice, attractive girls and not as hard, but there aren't very many asians there, and you will kind of stick out.

[Guest Thewonderer]

If you can establish a residence, then go ahead and attend a Canadian university. UWO sounds like a good choice. BC only has a single med school and you will be at their mercy comes application time.

 

It is better to have some provincial schools as an option later on than going to the US and end up applying out-of-province for all canadian med schools.

 

Which US schools are you considering?

[Guest homelander]

HKU and CUHK have decent meds programs, and it's just 6 years and direct entry from high school. Tuition is about 50% of the Canadian schools (I think).

[Guest BC guy]

Do establish a place of residence in Canada, then go to the States to a school where you can get the highest marks, but be careful about your prerequisites ie make sure they are acceptable and then apply to the province of your Canadian residence for med school. This had worked for someone in UBC med now; or maybe you can go overseas to med and then apply to UBC (or wherever)med after a year.......that had worked too. UBC might be a better bet than Ontario as they do not seem to place as much of an emphasis on good grades as the Ontario schools for med admission. Good weather here in BC, but the health care climate is something else with this Liberal government in charge. IMO, scholarships do not count for much unless they are extraordinary.

[Guest Liana]

If you do choose to come to a Canadian school, the only school that will really offer you residency benefits is UBC. If you wanted to go to medical school in BC (if you don't mind doing two degrees at the same school), you would have a serious advantage being a BC resident, since they give preference to these applicants.

 

However, in Ontario, only 2 of the 5 medical schools give preference to Ontario residents, and of those (Ottawa & Mac) Ottawa only gives preference to Ottawa residents (so going to UWO or UT, you would have the same chance of getting in as someone from UBC anyway). The other 3 Ontario schools play around with different residency requirements, but any benefit is minor and essentially you won't have a very significant advantage coming from Ontario.

 

Of course, you should also look at the school that can offer you the best time without respect to what happens after. If you enjoy your undergrad years, your marks will be higher, you'll have more extracurriculars, and the admissions committees will be able to see how you have developed in your undergrad years, which is just as important as getting those good grades. Although it can be hard to judge, if you have a feeling you won't be happy at a school (whether they don't offer a large cultural community for you to benefit from, or they don't have a program you want to study, or perhaps they don't have a volleyball team for you to play on..) then you should seriously consider that in addition to the statistical data you use to base your decision.