<p>Agree with ^. All Canadian university tuition is subsidized by provincial governments (albeit to varying degrees.) McGill receives a good amount of American students because international tuition to McGill is roughly the same as in-state tuition, yet the quality of education is significantly higher at the former. The observation regarding small endowments is also fairly astute.</p>
<p>If your overall concern is finance, then your best bet is to boost your ECs now, and wait to see what offers you get in your graduating year. The Big Three in Canada - UoT, UBC, McGill - would all be top-50 equivalents, and most other Canadian research unis would still be fairly competitive. McGill’s life sci program is extremely competitive, and their medical school is undisputedly the best in the country. Other names you might be interested in are University of Alberta and University of Calgary; the former has poured massive funds into health sci recently, and the latter still has a decent security program. Both have some of the highest spending per student ratios of Canadian research unis, and their relative rankings probably would translate into better chances at scholarships. If you’re into critical theory, York used to have a reputation for postmodern/Marxist IR.</p>
<p>One last thing regarding ^: I’m not sure scholarships are “reserved for usually domestic students.” At McGill, international students earn a disproportionate amount of available funding (they make up 20 percent of undergrad pop, but earn 25 percent of scholarships, which makes sense given that the offer might be the make-or-break factor in their decision to come here.)</p>
<p>Edit: Not sure what you mean by “will all of my credits transfer?” Most uni sites will have fairly clear guidelines regarding US applicants.</p>