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What is the main reason people choose SFU rather than UFV? I need help and advise.
I have tough time deciding should i choose SFU for B. SC or a smaller univeristy like UFV. What SFU would offer me which is better than UFV? Better
what and worse what? I live in Abbotsford. Something has to justify the commute to SFU with train and bus every morning at 7.00, an hour and a half commute.
what and worse what? I live in Abbotsford. Something has to justify the commute to SFU with train and bus every morning at 7.00, an hour and a half commute.
Comments
The main advantage of a large university is "prestige" and the fact that there are more diverse classes/majors/etc. If you want to be a marine biologist, you are probably stuck going to a larger University.
Worse: 100 and 200 level classes have 300 students in them; you will have no contact with the professor at all. Smaller University is usually also cheaper (in Canada). Plus, that whole commute time thing sounds important to you.
That said, there's no reason why you have to commit and stick with your choice in your first year or two. Under the Western Dean's Agreement you can take courses at any western Canadian public university while enrolled in another. You could be enrolled at UFC and take a class at SFU or UBC or the University of Calgary. You could take a semester at each of them before deciding which one you liked the best. Then, and this is the secret few students consider, you can transfer. You'll waste more credits transferring between specialties (Political Science to Economics or Science to Arts) than between western universities. It helps to confirm that courses will transfer before you enroll, but it's not really that big a deal.
Yes, it's true that UBC and SFU are more prestigious than UFV, but so are UofT and McGill. In the scheme of things, does prestige really matter? No. You're not going to Harvard, Yale or LSE, so nobody outside of Canada (or maybe even western Canada) will know the difference. If you're not going to grad school (or even don't have ambitions to be an academic), the prestige is even less important. You'll get way more props for putting your education to work in a start-up while a student than for attending a slightly more prestigious university.
Here's what I would suggest that you do: come up with some ideas about what you'd like to do with your life (don't worry, you'll get it wrong), then look for programs that might match those goals. Visit the schools, meet the profs, collect the course calendars and mark up the courses you'd like to take. Then budget your university career with columns for tuition, fees, books & materials, and on-campus rent. Then look at the differences between your choices. Assume that at the end of four years, one way or another, the money is all gone. Now ask yourself "what would be a better use of this money?" If you save money by living at home, you must spend it on something else. What's that gonna be? If you come up with a project that's better than on-campus housing, do it.
If your answer is "booze, a car and the latest Apple products", go to a trade school like BCIT instead. You'll get out faster and are guaranteed to make money immediately.