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Calgary University

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jmason
Posts: 1595 - Karma: 136
So I just got accepted to Calgary U... what are the pros & cons? Worth going? I live in Toronto... Let me know
Feb 11 2008 2:30PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23
Congrats, GP.
I'm a T.O transplant living in Calgary for about 2 yrs....actually thinking of going back to U of C for post-grad shit.  (ya, I'm old.) Anyways, the schools got it's pluses and minuses.

Huge plus:  the mountains are close.  Real close.
Other pluses:
-Good programs in Business and Engineering and some sciences.
-Decent campus, lots of corn-fed prairies chicks.

Negatives:
-The nightlife/campus comraderie kinda blows chucks compared to some schools...especially the Guelphs and Queen's of the world.
-Housing is def. an issue here.  Rent isn't Toronto-like for the most part (I did undergrad at U of T), but it's not Kingston, Waterloo or London cheap either.
-Living in Calgary w/o a car can be a pain....Cabs are non-existant and the LRT works, but goes no where you want to go.

All in all, it's about what's best for your particular situations.
If you got any other specific questions, feel free to PM me.  I don't know the everything about the school....but know this from that.

Those are my impressions.
Actually, I'd be interested to see what other peoples' impressions of U of C are in this forum.


Feb 11 2008 5:20PM
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sim
Posts: 1399 - Karma: -6
I'd say you're pretty much spot on.

You actually don't need a car here, but then just make sure you find a place that is in a good location.  As far as cultural stuff, I'd say its getting better ever so slowly, but it is getting better.
Feb 12 2008 1:36AM
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skibunnie
Posts: 1756 - Karma: 14
I disagree with many things. Keep in mind I moved here from Vancouver. So we might have a different perspective on things.

the skiing is good, but not all that close. although if youre from ontario you will like it a lot. because we have mountains.

the kinesiology program is actually one of the best, if not the best, in canada. business and engineering are decent too. but there is probably a reason u of c is rated one of the worst schools year after year.

the nightlife here is actually really good. true, not as good as big cities like vancouver and toronto. but very fun. all you need for your first few years are rez parties and the den (campus bar).

yes rent is expensive, but live in rez. it's the same as any other rez, kind of shitty for first year but definitely livable. and I'm a pretty picky girl. apartments rez is good.

it is very possible to live here without a car. I did for 4 years. make friends who drive to skiing. live in rez. and you're set to get anywhere else you need to go on the ctrain.

I am super glad I came here for school. I tried to leave after I graduated but here I am, back again.

Feb 12 2008 3:15AM
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friedcheese
Posts: 1245 - Karma: 23
UofC is a terrible, terrible school. If I were  you I'd just stay in Toronto.
Feb 12 2008 12:32PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23
Nice analysis.
More anal than ysis.
Feb 12 2008 3:09PM
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___ASP___
Posts: 3861 - Karma: 490
im at the u of c right now, and i love it, its a great school, i dont know anyone who doesnt like u of c, plus calgary is a kick ass city and the skiing around here is amazing
Feb 12 2008 9:22PM
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dinglenuts
Posts: 47 - Karma: 10

Well it isn't toronto! and you can't get worse than that so you are on the right track

PS-Onterrible sucks

Feb 13 2008 1:59PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23
I'm not raggin' on the U of C, but the facts are that 90% of the people that go to university/college say they their institution...and they made the best choice.  This is for two reasons:
1) Would you spend $40K on something and then say it sucks?
2) These people don't get out enough to see other schools and what they're all about.  It's always nice inside a bubble....thus you can't judge what you don't see (other schools).

Now, I'm not saying ASP is that, I'm just sayin....

I went to U of T and can say it was a great school academically, but a piece of shit otherwise.
[I'm not an Alumni donor.] 

I fully hope U of C's a good school, and I'm likely going there in SEPT after doing a lot of "homework", but I'm not going to say it's the best school .....just the best school around.

p.s. I personally don't think Skiing should have a bearing on your school selection either.  Life's short, but OSAP can pay for a lot of nice ski trips out west!  It did for me.



Feb 13 2008 7:22PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23
I'm not raggin' on the U of C, but the facts are that 90% of the people that go to university/college say they their institution...and they made the best choice.  This is for two reasons:
1) Would you spend $40K on something and then say it sucks?
2) These people don't get out enough to see other schools and what they're all about.  It's always nice inside a bubble....thus you can't judge what you don't see (other schools).

Now, I'm not saying ASP is that, I'm just sayin....

I went to U of T and can say it was a great school academically, but a piece of shit otherwise.
[I'm not an Alumni donor.] 

I fully hope U of C's a good school, and I'm likely going there in SEPT [after doing a lot of "homework"], but I'm not going to say it's the best school .....just the best school around.

p.s. I personally don't think Skiing should have a bearing on your school selection either.  Life's short, but OSAP can pay for a lot of nice ski trips out west!  It did for me.  Thank you K.D.!



Feb 13 2008 7:23PM
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rockymountainmilitia
Posts: 2706 - Karma: 12
15 minutes to a good park. (COP)

hour and a half to good big mountain skiing (louise or sunshine)

2.5 hours from rad big mountain skiing (golden)

4.5 hours from revy

thats about as good as it gets for universities.

Vancouvers awesome and all, but it rains constantly all winter. I know it snows in whistler but fucking rain and grey bird everyday is just horrible. Vancouvers the best in the summer and if your moving for school, your going home in the summer anyways.

Live rez for your first year, then move out. Lots of shit real close to school and LRT that are cheap especially with 2 or 3 other buddies from rez.

plus the LRT takes you from school to downtown. i.e. the fine drinking establishments calgary has to offer. but like ski bunny said your first year will be centered around the den and rez.

on the school side of things. decent professors, overpacked classrooms and unless your in one of the few faculties that has outside financial help, your not getting the degree you pay for.

I'd also check out the UBC campus in Kelowna as well.






Feb 13 2008 11:01PM
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___ASP___
Posts: 3861 - Karma: 490
i didnt say that u of c is the best school, cause there are some great schools out there, and it is the best of the many i looked at, and having a school where i could ski alot at was a huge factor in deciding as well, u can get a good education at alot of places, but only ski amazing stuff at a select few uni's, for mix of academics and skiing its hard to find a better school than u of c
Feb 14 2008 3:47PM
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Nine_Milla_Killa
Posts: 6783 - Karma: 23
Nice location, close to mountains, and Calgary is a nice city, but unless you are in Kenesiology or business, its a poor school. Even the business school isn't as good as most universities though, it just doesn't really suck like the rest of the U of C's programs.
Feb 20 2008 2:04AM
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[_KyLe_]
Posts: 263 - Karma: 15
I'm going to the U of C this fall and maybe this is just me trying to convince myself that I'm going to a good school but I'd like to know where people got the info from to support their claims that the U of C is a bad school academically. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing, I just want to know your sources so I'm better informed. I question this because of the many rankings boards I've seen rank the school pretty well.

The Times Higher Education Supplement ranks the school 166th in the world.

Webometrics University Rankings ranks the University of Calgary 59th in the USA and Canada category and 71st in the world. It is ranked 5th in Canada.

Research Infosource ranks the top 50 research universities in Canada each year. Calgary is currently ranked 7th.

I also have a friend whose daughter is going into medicine and studying at the UBC and she's told me taht if she had the choice (she's not a Canadian citizen) she would study at U of C because it's one of the best schools (at least for the sciences and medicine) around.
Feb 25 2008 12:45AM
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Nine_Milla_Killa
Posts: 6783 - Karma: 23
I think more than anything the UofC suffers from its proximity to the UofA and UBC. Its not really that its a bad university, its just that when compared to some of the bigger and well-known Canadian universities, it usually ranks between 7th and 11th. I guess that's not bad, but can you name 10 Canadian universities off the top of your head? Even if you could name 15 Canadian universities, the UofC would be near the bottom of the pack.
Its still a decent place to study, and you can't beat the location, but like I said it suffers from the quality of universities that are above it, and there is quite a drop off between the top 4 or 5 Canadian universities and the rest of them.

Having said all of that, the UofC will be a fine choice, I'd even say one of the top three if you are looking for some skiing during your university career as well as a decent undergraduate program.

Feb 25 2008 9:36PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23
U of C
U of A
U of Lethbridge
UBC
U of Athabasca
Royal Roads
U of Manitoba
U of Sask
Lakehead
Nippissing
York
Western
U of T
Rye High (Ryerson)
Queens
U of Guelph
U of Waterloo
Wilfred Laurier
U of Windsor
Brock

That's 20..and I won't even touch the east coast or PQ.
In my opinion, proximity has nothing to do with Calgary's ranking.  Alberta, in general is a shitty place for anyone that's not working for the big (oil) man.  School's, hospitals, etc. get crappy public funding (even though they need it badly), thus the system is a hurtin'.
U of A's got a better rep, but realistically, it's not even Top 5 in Canada for much.
Having had some significant experience at 3 different universities, know that there is a difference, but in the end, it depends on what you want to do with your swank piece of paper afterwards.
Feb 28 2008 6:55PM
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edmonton_skier
Posts: 3210 - Karma: 110
lets all not forget that I go to the u of a boosting its rank into # 2
Feb 28 2008 10:37PM
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Nine_Milla_Killa
Posts: 6783 - Karma: 23
U of Athabasca
Royal Roads
Lakehead
Nippissing
York
Rye High (Ryerson)
U of Waterloo
Wilfred Laurier
U of Windsor

I knew someone would go out and find a bunch of schools to prove me wrong, but I seriously doubt that the  majority of people have even heard of some of these school let alone know them off the top of their head.

Feb 29 2008 4:22AM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23

Omni, just wondering what program you're in?
I'm deciding between Western (Ontario) and U of C....gotta make a decision ultra soon.
I'm doing a Masters though....business, but I've heard your gripe before...I think that it's a school-wide issue.
I was talking to prof about the program today and he said the funding of some events that they ALWAYS go to is getting to be even more of an issue.

Basically, unless industry (read: Oil & Gas) is funding some particular research there, their madd profits and funding basically stays out of other streams. 

The same thing goes with bloody scholarships.  If you're O&G, you have access to 10 different $10K scholarships.  If you're not, you don't.  that's ballz if you ask me.

Anybody here know anyone at the Haskayne School of B at U of C?

I need some advice 'bout it. 
Spanx.

Mar 31 2008 7:28PM
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Verno
Posts: 542 - Karma: 23

Education Funding The Issue
http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Issues+In+Education/Ongoing+Issues/Education+Funding.htm

ICiting a recent Statistics Canada report, the Alberta government has claimed that Alberta leads all provinces in its support of public education. According to the government:
  • Alberta spent $8,775 per student in 2002/03, highest among all provinces and more than $800 above the national average of $7,946.
  • Alberta increased per-student spending on basic education by 40 percent between 1996/97 and 2002/03, more than twice the national average of 19 percent. The only other provinces with higher per-student spending increases were Prince Edward Island (46 percent) and New Brunswick (62 percent).
The Reality
  • The same Statistics Canada report being cited by the government also reveals that Alberta spends less on public education as a percentage of its total wealth (provincial GDP) than any other province. Furthermore, support for basic education, a core provincial responsibility, has remained fairly constant or actually declined as a percentage of both total Alberta government revenues and expenditures.
Mar 31 2008 7:31PM
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skibunnie
Posts: 1756 - Karma: 14
I know people who have done their undergrads at haskayne at u of c. it's a great program, but western is definitely better. its one of the top schools in the country. i know this because my sister researched this to death when she was deciding where to go (she got in everywhere). But mcgill and western are the top schools. she picked mcgill. thats all for undergrad though, not sure if it's any different for graduate programs.
Mar 31 2008 11:53PM
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jay111
Posts: 163 - Karma: 10
I grew up half in Ottawa, half in BC, and have now lived in Calgary for 8 years.  I went to Carleton, Universite de Geneve in Switzerland, and U of C.  My undergad is from U of C, Economics AND Business, with a minor is Law and Society.  

U of C has a very cold, almost distant feel as a school, it always felt more like going to work than it did gonig to "school", in comparison with the other tow unis I attended.  The people are great, though, and the girls...well there's a reason Calgary was voted hottest city in N. America by Maxim magazine. 

U of C also has made strategic decisions to fund their Engineering, Kinesiology, Business, and Medicine programs, while allowing the geneal Sciences and Social sciences to flounder.  This is not a bad thing; Unis of the future will all have specific competencies.  Decide what program you're gonig to take, then make your decision. 

If skiing is a factor, then Calgary or Van are your options.  Calgary has weather over Van, but Van has Whistler, Baker, and the Local hills, which are all good times.  WHis is about as far away as Louise realistically.

Hope this helps...I've tried to be unbiased and I'm not qualified to speak on UBC's or SFUs competencies.
Apr 1 2008 10:17AM
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