Chance me for Canadian universities?

International Students
1

Hey guys, I am a Brazilian student studying at the second best institution in the country, I am fluent in English, have taken TOEFL ITP and got almost everything right, and I am going to take IELTS in August. My cummulative GPA in university is around 3.4 in in a scale of 4. In high school I had grades averages like 90/100 in about everything, but I haven’t researched how that translates to non brazilian grading. I have a few hobbies, like playing the violin and shooting bow and arrow. I have been a Nanometric Thin Films laboratory volunteer and then a paid intern at the same lab. I have studied Physics for one year, then dropped it and transferred into Mechanical Engineering. Now I am a volunteer at a RC boat building team, we make(design everything from the hull to the propulsion system to the electronic controls) a model of a tugboat for a competition that happens every September. I also speak a bit of German and Italian. Recently, I found out that it is feasible for international students to get with no major complications into canadian universities, and I am going to apply for transfer for Fall 2018(in mech eng).

P.S.:I know that GPA seems a bit low for USA/Canada standards, but please do keep in mind that brazilian grading not completely equivalent to your GPA, as having a 3.85 GPA in a brazilian instituition would be enough to make you graduate with the highest accolade/honors/laurel possible, and I hear there are people in North America who have, like, straight A’s in the literal sense, which is something that doesn’t happen here. At all. So, if canadian institutions take that in account, my GPA might be considered a lot higher.

The Universities I am going to apply to are:

  1. UBC
  2. U of Western Ontario
  3. U of Carleton
  4. U of Alberta
  5. uOttawa
  6. U of Manitoba
  7. U of Victoria
  8. Dalhousie
  9. U of Guelph
  10. U of Calgary
  11. U of Saskatchewan
  12. U of Waterloo
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“I hear there are people in North America who have, like, straight A’s in the literal sense”

Yes, there are a significant number of students in the US who have straight A’s. Having straight A’s in a suburban US high school probably puts you into the top 10% of the school, but might not depending upon the school. I understand that grading is different in different countries, which makes it hard to predict how high your chances are at any given university. Do you know how your grades compare with others in your high school? I expect the admissions staff at universities in Canada will know how your grades compare with others from Brazil, or if you are the strongest to apply from Brazil they might just let you in.

I do however feel confident that you will get into some schools from your list, and my guess is that you will get into most of them. I also think that it is quite a good list. There are a lot of very good schools on your list. You probably should be aware that Saskatchewan will have very cold winters by Brazilian standards (and by Canadian standards) and that Alberta might be a bit cold also – although Alberta is a very good university. The University of Ottawa is officially bilingual (English and French), although I know someone who knows a couple of English-only students who went there as graduate students and did well and liked it.

“I found out that it is feasible for international students to get with no major complications into canadian universities,”

Yes, this is definitely true. You will need to get a visa, but this is straightforward and the admissions staff or foreign students office at Canadian universities can help you get this done. If you were to pick a school in Quebec you would need an additional form from the Quebec government (Québec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ)), but again this is straightforward, and you don’t have any universities from Quebec on your list. Also, if you get a four year degree from a university in Canada, the last time that I checked (only a few months ago) this gives you the opportunity to apply for and get a three year work permit to work in Canada.

The total cost of attendance is likely to vary quite a bit for international students among the various schools on your list. On the most part the cost will be significantly less than comparable schools in the US (in some cases perhaps only about 1/3 the total cost). You might want to be aware that housing is quite tight in some of the locations near some of the schools on your list, so you will want to apply for a dorm room and don’t give it up unless and until you know that you have off campus housing.

You will need TOEFL or IELTS or equivalent test results to show that your English is strong enough, but it sounds like that will not be a problem for you.

Good luck with this!

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Having straight A’s in a suburban US high school probably puts you into the top 10% of the school, but might not depending upon the school"

WOW! haha, that is funny. Here in Brazil, when I as in high school I had the second best grades when comparing to everyone in the same level as me, and in senior year, specifically, they were the best grades. No university here uses data from your high school to select you, we just have entrance exams called “vestibular”, so there is that. I took those exams twice, once for Physics and once for Mech. Eng, and my classification was, repectively 1st out of 55 applicants and 3rd out of 870 applicants. Right now I am about 6th best out of ~100, but that is less clear because my uni uses harmonic average instead of simple arithmetic ones, meaning a lower grade REALLY pulls your average down.

“The total cost of attendance is likely to vary quite a bit for international students among the various schools on your list”

I know, I have researched about that, and all the choices have been made taking in account the financial factor. The only reason UBC, that has a tuition of about 40kCAD is still in this list is because the benefits of living in Vancouver together with it being one of the best UNI’s in the world make the price bearable.

I also realize that uOttawa is bilingual, and if I spoke french fluently it would certainly be my main target, since the price you pay as an international bilingual student that is willing to take classes both in French and English is about the same as a canadian citizen, which would be great. Despite this, if I get accepted to uOttawa I certainly will start studying French, to be able to better communicate with everyone.

About the cold: Yes, it CERTAINLY will be very cold there, anywhere I go, by my standards, but not quite so much as it would be for other people from Brazil. I come from the mountains in the southernmost part of Brazil, and our winters are the coldest ones in the country. Negative temperatures are not rare, and the average temperature in winter is about 4 degrees Celsius. It has even snowed there once, when I was younger :wink:

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Most U of O students are English. You definitely do not need to be bilingual to attend. Ottawa is primarily an English speaking city.

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“I come from the mountains in the southernmost part of Brazil, and our winters are the coldest ones in the country. Negative temperatures are not rare, and the average temperature in winter is about 4 degrees Celsius.”

Winters in Victoria will be very close to what you are already used to. Victoria has the mildest winters in Canada – similar in temperature to Vancouver but less rainy. However, I think that you will get used to the winters in other parts of Canada also. Generally the mildest winters are on the coasts, and in the southern part of Ontario.

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