Advice Needed - University

[CaptainYooh]

My 18-yr old has just graduated from high school and is trying to decide which university to choose. He has been accepted into a B.Sc. (Biology) programs at UVic, UofA and Mount Royal. We don't have a clear winner, as each choice carries some good pro's and some significant con's.

• UVic has an excellent biology program. It's a beautiful city with nice climate. He'd live on campus and will not need a car. He will learn to live independently sooner. Lots to do in Victoria. Service jobs should be easier to find for part-time work. Con's: he would have be away from the family for two thirds of year. Travel and living costs will be high.
• UofA - he is accepted at the UofA Augustana campus in Camrose. Students to Profs ratio is quite a bit lower than average, I was told. He can transfer to Edmonton campus after the first year if his grade average is high enough. UofA is a good school with good reputation. They also have a medical school, if he decides to continue education. Con's: Camrose is pretty small and, I am guessing, not a very exciting town to live in with not much to do after studies. He will need a car (+gas+insurance) to travel home, which for the large part would be winter driving.
• MRU - brand new campus, can live at home and save $8,000/year on residency costs. Half of his high school friends are staying in Calgary. Con's: MRU is very low on the university ranking scale.

I am asking anyone with any exposure to these three universities to share their experience and opinions. Also, I would welcome any other advice that could be helpful in making the right decision. Thank you.

[flylock shox]

He should go to UVic and have some fun.

[keenan87]

Uvic has a very good biology program..

1) Good Program
2) Living on Rez Experience
3) Weather


Honestly, MRU vs UVic is an easy decision

[CaptainYooh]

Did you go there?

[Kipper is King]

I'm at MRU now, in communications. I really enjoy the culture at MRU, the prof to student ratio is great and I don't mind being at home as I finish my degree. I have friends who went away for university... and it does not feel great being tens of thousands of dollars in debt while struggling to find a decent job.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Flames in 07]

It would be curious to know what percent of grads in each institution place in their desired field after they graduate. It's hard to evaluate without knowing that.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Victoria is awesome, and it can be expensive but if you have roomates and can manage money well and get a part time job its totally doable. The weather is nice and Vancouver and Seattle are fairly close by ferry.

[krynski]

I can't say much about Uvic or MRU, I can stay stuff about the U of A main campus though.

I can say stuff about biology, I was a bioscience student at one point.

Just throwing this out there, he could also apply to Grant Macewan University and he could transfer to U of A after his first year. Grant Mac has excellent and beautiful facilities, really small class sizes (in comparison to U of A). It would be an easy transfer from Grant Mac to U of A.

U of A has pretty good biology department. The proffs are excellent, and quite accomplished and renown. I maintain some active ties at U of A, and frankly, best decision I ever made was moving away from home and attending U of A.

[MrMastodonFarm]

The University rankings are silly, an employer isn't going to worry about that.

Tell them to go somewhere away from Calgary, he'll have a heck of a lot more fun/experience this way. Being away from your family for 2/3 of the year when you're 18 isn't a con. Add that to the plus side.

[bluck]

Few of my friends graduated from UVic and they loved it. I have yet to hear a bad thing. I went to U of L and I had a good time, not sure if that's an option or not but its worth looking into. Close to home and has an excellent campus.

UVic would have the best pot.

[krynski]

My brother is UVic graduate, he Loved it out there. One of my siblings attended MRU, then transferred to U of C and graduated there, while another was only at U of C. I don't know how much the U of C/ MRU impacted them positively.

Whatever he decides to pick, the best advice I can give is to talk to your proffs and be involved in groups and academic events. It may seem that you don't have time for them, but this was the best thing possible for me. If you can get on a first name basis with your proffs and integrate well into the academic community, so many ties open up (whether that be for graduate studies, industry experience, or even just simple social interactions- not to mention great references).

[GGG]

If your son is taking on debt to go to Uni away from home I would seriously consider staying here. You are probably looking at an extra 30-40k in debt over 4 years to move away. If you can afford it then moving out would likely be a great experience.

Also if you are comfortable with your son getting loaded and not coming home some nights then staying in Calgary would work. If you are going to helicoptor parent him and give him a curfew that will cause conflict between you. Then you both might be better off with him going away.

I think the last thing to make the decision on is the universties reputation. Thats a factor when doing a graduate degree but to me an undergrad is an undergrad.

[BigNumbers]

If dad is paying - uvic is the best place for him.

If he has to pay, live at home and do MRU.

[Leondros]

I am finishing my 5th year at UVic (slacker) this summer. In first year I was a bio major and then I changed to business. UVic has a fantastic biology program and I have friends who have gone on to the top med schools in Canada and some friends in graduate programs across the country. I dropped out because med-school wasn't my thing.

As for cost of living, its very comparable to Calgary. Rent can be pretty low if he meets people in res and shares a house. My last 3 years I lived downtown to be closer to the night life. I have plenty of friends who have worked the whole way through school as servers and they all seemed to get jobs pretty easily.

Plus you can golf year round, surf, and ski all on the same day.

Being a rather immature 18 year old myself, I can say moving away from home was probably the best thing I could have done at the time. I learned quickly. I was very lazy in highschool and after my first year (which consisted of way too much partying and way too many Cs), I have been top 20% in my program.

Feel free to PM me about any questions you may have.

UVic all the way.

[Flabbibulin]

Imo, the university experience is about 1/10th as awesome when it is spent living with the parents.

Uvic sounds the best to me

[Codes]

I graduated from UVIC with a degree in microbiology and biochemistry. School is a decent size - not too small, and not too big. The transit is decent, and while I had a vehicle, I didn't really use it other than grabbing groceries. I lived in res my first year, and had a basement suite just down the hill from campus for my remaining years. Met some great people, and have fond memories. While the weather is nice in the summer, I'm not a fan of ain, and that can weigh on you after a while.

I'm not sure where your son's interests lie, and discovering that is part of the fun, but I do recommend the microbiology program if he becomes interested. The program seems to be well funded versus the general biology program. I also highly recommend exploring the coop program. It's an excellent way to earn money, get experience, and network. Work in the biological sciences is difficult to come by these days, and coop would give him a major boost over other grads seeking post education employment.

If you have further questions, feel free to ask me.

[Coach]

I spent my first year and UVic and loved it. Highly recommend. Small campus, the furthest class I had was a 10 min walk from my dorm. The dorms are organized in a neat way and they had just built some new ones the year before I got there. Very easy to get around without a car. There's a bus that goes straight from UVic to the ferry every friday so its easy to get to Van for the weekend or whatever.
All in all it was a great experience.

[Leondros]

I have to add on the transit point - fantastic public transit infrastructure from UVic to anywhere in Victoria. Get to downtown in 20 minutes. I had a car after second year but it definitely isn't a requirement.

[Rathji]

If you are paying for school, he should go to UVic.

If he is paying for school, go to MRU. That goes extra if he is using student loans

No reason to drive your self extra deep in debt for 'the experience' when not being in crippling debt when you are done school is quite an experience in and of itself.