Canada or UK?

[Ayumi]

Hi guys,

I've been having an internal debate with myself about whether I should study at a university in Canada or UK. I've received offers from my top 3 choices in UK and I haven't finished applying to all the universities in Canada yet. I'm hoping to study either management in UK or commerce in Canada. I just can't make my mind up on which country I'd like to study at! Even my friends' opinions are divided

The universities in Canada I plan to apply to:

- Queen's University

- UWO

- UBC

The universities in UK I have applied to:

- Warwick

- Bath

- Loughborough

- KCL

- UCL

Location, school experience, campus life, the people there, future job prospects etc. are all important factors to me. In UK, I would be able to have a placement year where I can obtain job experience. I think in Canada, there isn't that option but they would probably support me in finding jobs during the holidays? (idk) However, I have been told that in Canada, after you graduate you can easily get a permit to work there or something along those lines.

Just a few extra things from me. Right now, I'm more attracted to Canada (especially UBC [an alumnus from my school came in to talk about UBC and was pretty convincing + persuasive haha]) because I had a really bad time with my family when I went to Europe (but I didn't go to UK). I'm trying to overlook the awful trip I had in Europe but it's quite hard and that's definitely playing a big role in distancing myself from choosing to study in the UK. Also, many people have been telling me how the food isn't that great in UK... That's a major con for me. The lack of accessibility to Asian cuisine is also a minus for me. However, I can't completely let go of UK because

1) I have received offers from my top choices lol

2) My close friend will also be studying in UK

3) The education I would receive is world class and so, I might regret it later on if I didn't go?

I would really appreciate any opinions about this! Thank you

[Award Winning Boss]

For disadvantages that the UK has, do you think they're picked up by wherever you'd go in Canada? For example, is Asian cuisine easily accessible there too? If you go to UCL, you'll be in London so you probably won't have any problem with that anyway. Unless you stay in your room all day.

What was your bad experience in Europe? It might not be reflective of the university experience at all let alone the experience in the UK.

It seems like the main reason you want to go to Canada is because of a persuasive talk. What was said?

[Sandwich]

Okay, for the food issue: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089796/Britains-favourite-dish-Chicken-tikka-masala-knocked-spot-Chinese-stir-fry.html

Lack of asian cuisine and bad food = lie. Especially in London, but actually everywhere. Food is only bad in the UK if you choose to buy crap food. And conflating Europe with the UK is wrong on many levels as well. The UK is very different to most of continental Europe, I would say. Dunno what happened on your trip but unless somebody threw bricks at you and told you you were banned from the European Union for life, it's a totally irrelevant experience. My family got arrested in the USA once for something we didn't even do, but I'm not going to have an anxiety attack going to Canada. Or even back to the USA! Bad things happen but being on the same continental plate has not yet been proven as a cause.

Anyway I suppose my main point is that you can buy asian food in both the UK and in Canada. You can even cook in halls with fellow asian people because there are loads of people from India, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia etc. studying here, especially on the kinds of course you want to do.

Personally I think you're confused (understandably, it's a hard decision) but your criteria aren't really in perspective, and they're based on random hearsay. Somebody came and spoke to you and told you they loved UBC, fine, but every University is capable of generating exactly the same level of propaganda so to be honest you can remove "UBC" and replace it with any of the Universities you listed above. It's not really a compelling reason. I have a friend at UBC who loves it - I have friends at KCL who verge on worshipping their course. Good things happen in all places

Big differences between the UK and Canada are things like the major/minor/GPA system, length of the course, requirement to do classes which are not relevant to your degree and work experience. Maybe grab a piece of paper and make a list. People here can help you verify information, but we can't help you get over some traumatic experience you had in another country on the same continent as the UK, and to be honest I don't think that's going to help you decide either.

[Miccol]

I visited Bath in October, and its pretty chill man. Costs a bit more if your not from the EU, but in terms of what I saw it looked pretty amazing with the best student satisfaction in the UK. Let me know if you want to know more, but out the uni's you listed thats all i can tell you about....

[Ayumi]

Thanks for the replies guys!

For disadvantages that the UK has, do you think they're picked up by wherever you'd go in Canada? For example, is Asian cuisine easily accessible there too? If you go to UCL, you'll be in London so you probably won't have any problem with that anyway. Unless you stay in your room all day.

What was your bad experience in Europe? It might not be reflective of the university experience at all let alone the experience in the UK.

It seems like the main reason you want to go to Canada is because of a persuasive talk. What was said?

Tbh, I can't say for sure as everything I know about UK and Canada are from what people have told me or what I have found online. Hmm your last two questions are quite hard to answer. I just.. I guess the expectation I had for Europe didn't match what I actually experienced. All I could think was that I wanted to go back home already As for the talk about Canada, everything really. Since I just asked him questions about everything I could think of. The community, campus life etc that he told me about were the main things that appealed to me.

Okay, for the food issue: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089796/Britains-favourite-dish-Chicken-tikka-masala-knocked-spot-Chinese-stir-fry.html

Lack of asian cuisine and bad food = lie. Especially in London, but actually everywhere. Food is only bad in the UK if you choose to buy crap food. And conflating Europe with the UK is wrong on many levels as well. The UK is very different to most of continental Europe, I would say. Dunno what happened on your trip but unless somebody threw bricks at you and told you you were banned from the European Union for life, it's a totally irrelevant experience. My family got arrested in the USA once for something we didn't even do, but I'm not going to have an anxiety attack going to Canada. Or even back to the USA! Bad things happen but being on the same continental plate has not yet been proven as a cause.

Anyway I suppose my main point is that you can buy asian food in both the UK and in Canada. You can even cook in halls with fellow asian people because there are loads of people from India, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia etc. studying here, especially on the kinds of course you want to do.

Personally I think you're confused (understandably, it's a hard decision) but your criteria aren't really in perspective, and they're based on random hearsay. Somebody came and spoke to you and told you they loved UBC, fine, but every University is capable of generating exactly the same level of propaganda so to be honest you can remove "UBC" and replace it with any of the Universities you listed above. It's not really a compelling reason. I have a friend at UBC who loves it - I have friends at KCL who verge on worshipping their course. Good things happen in all places

Big differences between the UK and Canada are things like the major/minor/GPA system, length of the course, requirement to do classes which are not relevant to your degree and work experience. Maybe grab a piece of paper and make a list. People here can help you verify information, but we can't help you get over some traumatic experience you had in another country on the same continent as the UK, and to be honest I don't think that's going to help you decide either.

I really do hope I'm surrounded with people that can cook. The reason why I mentioned the trip I had in Europe was because whenever I talk about this with other people, an advantage they always give me for studying in UK is how easy it is for you to travel around Europe.

Overall, I guess I'm just curious as to whether people would choose to study in Canada or UK if they had the choice? I'm leaning more towards Canada right now but I feel like the education I would get in UK would be superior to Canada.

[Gaby]

The UK is very different to most of continental Europe, I would say.

I second that. The country has it's own quirky charm, being from continental Europe, I actually really enjoy the place. I'm also a big food lover, and you can find good food in the UK, no doubt. If you buy the cheapest stuff at the supermarket, I can promise you it'll be crap anywhere in the world. I had a lot of hatred for fruit and veggies in Tesco, then went to a market, where everything was sooooo much cheaper and fresh and just overall lovely. Basically what I'm saying is, UK is a very diverse, interesting country where you can find something for yourself if you really want to.

[by.andrew]

The students at Western and Queen's are predominantly Caucasian, so I'm not sure if you'll find good Asian cuisine there either. UBC and UToronto are probably your best bets if you're looking for Asian culture and good food. Western, Queen's and UBC also have beautiful campuses.

[Ayumi]

I visited Bath in October, and its pretty chill man. Costs a bit more if your not from the EU, but in terms of what I saw it looked pretty amazing with the best student satisfaction in the UK. Let me know if you want to know more, but out the uni's you listed thats all i can tell you about....

I'd definitely like to know more! Since if I were to study in UK I would probably either choose Bath or Warwick

[Ayumi]

The students at Western and Queen's are predominantly Caucasian, so I'm not sure if you'll find good Asian cuisine there either. UBC and UToronto are probably your best bets if you're looking for Asian culture and good food. Western, Queen's and UBC also have beautiful campuses.

I'm okay with all sorts of cuisines (as long as it's not spicy! lol) and I think someone told me that the food at Queen's is really good. I'm not really looking to be a part of an Asian culture as I've been brought up in a relatively international environment. It's just that I would miss Asian food (particularly Chinese food!!) a lot. Thanks for the reply btw

[r1111]

I doubt food should be an issue in London, Ontario (University of Western Ontario) or Vancouver (UBC). I have received offers from Ottawa and Western but I choose Ottawa because of the degree and the city. I think you should be fine in Canada. I don't know about the UK tough.

[Ayumi]

I doubt food should be an issue in London, Ontario (University of Western Ontario) or Vancouver (UBC). I have received offers from Ottawa and Western but I choose Ottawa because of the degree and the city. I think you should be fine in Canada. I don't know about the UK tough.

I've read online that if you go to study at UWO, you should go there with your eyes closed lolol. Apparently there's not much to do there but it's one of the best university for commerce in Canada. I think I've made up my mind now though. Thanks for the reply

[Miccol]

I visited Bath in October, and its pretty chill man. Costs a bit more if your not from the EU, but in terms of what I saw it looked pretty amazing with the best student satisfaction in the UK. Let me know if you want to know more, but out the uni's you listed thats all i can tell you about....

I'd definitely like to know more! Since if I were to study in UK I would probably either choose Bath or Warwick

Alright so the University of Bath is a pretty small but "Cosy" kind of campus situated on the top of a massive hill overlooking the entire city. From what you can probably see in youtube videos is that there is lots of grass space and a little mini lake. The mall/pavillion thing goes through the entire university (which is not very large, but like i said its cosy). The library looked pretty sweet, big glass building with lots of floors and tables (and they were filling up at 8 in the morning). There is a coffee shop and a restaurant also near the library and I think upstairs is the student union. From what i remember Bath isn't a very large university (10k undergraduates). There also is a little store situated to the left of the library with all things needed for cooking and living inside of it.

I visited the faculty of Sociology/social policy (they knew their stuff). Lectures seemed pretty small with good technology, etc. Didn't get a chance to see the accomodation but did see the sports facilities (amazing) (24 hour sporting and library facilities). The students are constantly going into and back from the city, the buses that run like every 5 minutes are packed with students and the city is awsome. Lots of old big structures, good restaurants and a lot of people walking around (pretty vibrant). And apparently for the people who really like clubbing they all go to bristol once a week. It is international (i saw a lot of Asian and hispanic students), and the opportunities to meet people via accomodation, course, or unions are pretty high (like most universities).

Let me know if you have any specific questions.