Quote:
Originally Posted by mcmastergcdb
I hate to say it but McMaster has failed to impress me as one of the top Canadian universities. I am going into second year, but if I could go back in time, I would choose Western or Toronto over Mac.
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Toronto? My sister went there, and she had a whole hell of a lot of reasons to tell me to
not go there. Apparently, it is an undergraduate's nightmare - you thought 300 was big for a first-year class? Try 1200! The only reason my sister didn't switch out is because she liked her professors and her program, once she got past first-year.
In a lot of ways, academic reputation is overrated - even if your chosen university was the best in the world, if it doesn't have your program of interest or an atmosphere that you enjoy, it isn't for you. I came to Mac because of their Classics Department, and now I am staying because of the strength of their Linguistics and Anthropology Departments and, contrary to the stereotype, because of Hamilton, including my house and Mac's campus.
Sure, Toronto is a great institution, but that reputation - as with all major academic institutions - is built on graduate work, not undergraduate. In the grand scheme of things, where you get your BA/BSc pales in comparison to the importance of where you get your MA/MSc, PhD, MD, et cetera.
Of course, there are limits to this line of reasoning - last I heard, Trent stood for "Try a Real Education Next Time."
