<p>Good evening ladies and gentlemen,</p>
<p>I am a Quebec student about to enter University of Montreal ( <a href=“http://www.umontreal.ca/[/url]”>http://www.umontreal.ca/</a> ) in the math & physics program. Before continuing, I would like to say two words about the Quebec academic system. Every Quebec student is required, prior to entering a provincial university, to go through a 2 year university preparatory program in a CEGEP, which is the equivalent of a junior college. As such a program is considered the equivalent of the freshman year, most undergraduate programs last only 3 years instead of 4. </p>
<p>UMontreal is one of Canada’s major research universities. It is ranked 137th by the QS ranking, 51-100 in mathematics, under 200 in physics (although it operates a particles accelerator) and 172 in the natural sciences. The university is also ranked 101-150 by the ARWU ranking, despite the fact that it does not appear in the top 100 in natural sciences and mathematics, mathematics or physics rankings. Finally, it is ranked 104th by the Times ranking, but doesn’t appear in the top 50 in physical sciences.</p>
<p>According to the statistics provided by the university, it has 61 000 students spread in 16 schools and faculties, 2600 full time staff (professors and researchers), 250 undergraduate programs, 350 graduate programs and is affiliated to a great number of organisations and institutions, as well as being the host to 450 Canadian research chairs. More info in the “Choosing UdeM” tab here : <a href=“Admission - Université de Montréal”>Admission - Université de Montréal;
<p>Here is the list of courses offered in the math & physics program (in french) : <a href=“http://www.progcours.umontreal.ca/programme/index_fiche_prog/119210_struc.html[/url]”>http://www.progcours.umontreal.ca/programme/index_fiche_prog/119210_struc.html</a></p>
<p>Here is a quasi-perfect translation of the page in english : <a href=“http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progcours.umontreal.ca%2Fprogramme%2Findex_fiche_prog%2F119210_struc.html[/url]”>http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progcours.umontreal.ca%2Fprogramme%2Findex_fiche_prog%2F119210_struc.html</a></p>
<p>In this thread, I seek opinions, comments, advises and thoughts on UMontreal. I doubt there is an alumni wandering on these forums, but it is always possible. Do you think it is a good university? What do you think of its math & phys program? Has it any differences with similar programs at Ivy League universities? After all, whether you learn physics and mathematics at one university or another, the core knowledge remains unchanged, although some universities can offer a little more (for example, McGill has a course on string theory, which I am interested to eventually take as a free student).</p>
<p>I’m open to comments and questions.</p>