Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with university and Canada

An American in Montreal

nax — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:31:15 -0800

miss nax, an American, is interested in going to university in Montreal starting with online courses this year, and matriculating FT in fall 2010. She's asked me to help investigate (she's living in China right now, making some of the research challenging.) What are some of the issues she'll encounter? Her French is rudimentary, but she's working on it, and will be living in France for several months next year-- can she get a job (for instance, teaching figure skating which is her current profession) without strong French language skills? Is there financial aid for foreigners? What are some questions she/we need to be asking? We live in Chicago, so the distance is not an issue.

MA-J portfolio

pcameron — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:48:46 -0800

I'm a young Canadian based in Toronto, looking to beef up my Journalism Masters application for next year with more clippings and media work. Can anyone suggest some places to pitch stories to? I'm thinking along the lines of CBC Outfront or Spacing magazine. I'm sure there are lots of places out there I haven't thought of. Thanks!

Academic rehab

pcameron — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:23:27 -0800

I badly bungled my Political Science undergrad program, graduating with a GPA in the low 3's and a non-honours degree. I want to go to grad school in the same field. What are my options? (I'm in Canada). I've always been passionate about politics and world issues. However I spent my first years at university with severe depression, and being in a mental hell and not wanting to live tends to make it hard to get to class or focus on readings. In my final year I had gotten help and was getting A's, but it was too late to save my GPA.

I graduated from Concordia, and I've been told it is impossible to go back and "upgrade" my degree to an honours. What should I do? Will I have to repeat an undergraduate degree? Study abroad? Is there any way to be accepted into a graduate program by displaying competence in the field?

I'd like to stress that I'm not looking for an easy shortcut. I'm willing to put a great deal of work into this. I've always been very passionate about politics, but I've never lived up to my academic potential and I'd like to have a second chance to prove to myself that I can excel.

Why can't I back the Huskies?

Chrysostom — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:46:37 -0800

Is there anywhere for a U.S. resident to get t-shirts from Canadian universities? Finding logo t-shirts from U.S. schools is easy (put "Penn State t-shirt" into Google, and you'll get about a billion options). But I'm having a difficult time finding anyone who sells the equivalent for Canadian schools. Sometimes the school's own bookstore sells them, but generally with a massive cross-border shipping charge (C$35 from the University of Saskatchewan!).

Is there any good source in the U.S. for this? Or a Canadian outlet that has reasonable shipping rates to the States?

RESP...still don't know what it means for me

acoutu — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:47:28 -0800

College savings: Does the government care how you spend a college savings plan in Canada? More than a year ago, I asked about registered educational savings plans. Now I'm wondering how the (Canadian) government regulates how you spend them.

I understand when my child(ren) can withdraw the funds and that they have to be registered in a post-secondary program. But, aside from that, how does the government check to see what you spent the money on?

I see that there's a $42,000 contribution limit over your child's lifetime. Let's say this grows to $78k. Tuition in, say, 2023, is $12k per year and my child needs a total of $50k to cover four years while living at home. My child also works at some internships and part-time jobs that cover, say, $24k of expenses. After they kick that in, there's around $50k left in the RESP. Heck, let's say there's even $25k left.

Do you have to spend this money on room and board? What's to stop someone from using this to save for a downpayment on a condo that they help their child upon graduation? Or for a car to help them get to school? Or for some other purpose? (I recognize the money is taxed in the child's hands upon withdrawal, but let's assume the child hangs on to the withdrawn money.)

And, if your child only does a one-semester program, can they pull all the money out at once? The government's RESP page is pretty vague.

RESP...tell me what it means to me...

acoutu — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 15:34:23 -0800

CanadaFinancialFilter: What's the best way to invest in an RESP? My husband and I recently opened a no-fee bank RESP for our son. We plan to use the bank RESP until we have enough money to warrant opening a self-directed RESP. However, we know some people who have gone with "scholarship trust" plans. It sounds like these programs involve a bit of a risk, in that your child may not pursue four years of post-secondary education. My husband and I both have masters degrees, but we recognize that our children may not be interested or even suited to university. We want to make sure that the maximum amount of our contributions/interest/grants will be available for RRSP transfer, cash out or what-have-you, in the event that our children do not pursue post-secondary programs. We don't want our children to feel guilty or pressured about university, even though we think there is a strong likelihood that they will pursue some form of post-secondary education.

Canadian parents...what do you think the best way to invest in an RESP is?

Should this Canadian pursue a philosophy degree in Belgium?

ori — Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:09:29 -0800

I am currently a philosophy student at the University of British Columbia (Canada). I've applied to transfer to the Institute of Philosophy at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven for their strong involvement with continental philosophy, and because I want to live in Europe. Will getting a Belgian degree significantly complicate things for me if I choose the pursue a graduate degree in North America? Will it be detrimental to getting in to a good school?

Canadian Film Essay

Napierzaza — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 20:26:20 -0800

I'm right near the end of my first term in university for film studies. I'm totally stressed out and I'm not sure it's worth it. I'm taking this b*llshit class on Canadian Film and I can't think of a topic. Does anyone have a suggestion for an essay that someone could do? Note it only has to be about a Canadian film/films and doesn't have to say anything about Canadian films directly.

HELP!

Job prospects in Canada?

Keyser Soze — Tue, 02 Nov 2004 22:30:36 -0800

Is Canada a good place to go if you want a decent job and a good place to go for college?

Recommned universities in Ontario and Quebec

Raze2k — Wed, 14 Jan 2004 11:43:47 -0800

My girlfriend is planning on transferring to a university on the east coast next semester (Ontario or Quebec with preference for Quebec). She has little experience with French so anglophone universities are a necessity. Currently attending a university in British Columbia (the name escapes me), she has a 3.4 gpa and hopes to bring that up to between 3.5 and 3.7 by the end of this semester. What are good schools? Safety schools? [In Quebec] How difficult will it be to locate part-time employment without speaking much, if any, French?

[She's undecided on a major so ideally the school would have a good sciences or liberal arts program] Thanks in advance for any help :)