I'm not really big on either one but I'm from the left coast eh?
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I'm not really big on either one but I'm from the left coast eh?
I know very little about UCL but McGill has some real benefits.
Montreal is a fun city but expensive (maybe not as expensive as London). The women are outrageously beautiful and I'm saying that from Southern California. The city is full of fantastic food and bars. Great cycling community if he is into the outdoors.
Academics at McGill vs UCL/LBS (I'm not sure how much they coordinate at the undergrad level):
If he wants to study strategy, one of the (formerly) top scholars in the world (Mintzberg) is at McGill but I'm not sure how much if any he teaches or influences the undergrad BA. McGill has name recognition in the US and with decent grades will likely set him up for a good choice of top 50 (globally) grad schools.
LBS is one of the absolute best business schools in the world. Right up there with Harvard, Wharton, Booth, Stanford, INSEAD, Columbia, MIT. If he does well there, he begins to write his ticket. Again I don't know exactly how much UCL ties in with LBS but I know they are fairly tight.
Given that they are both top schools with good name recognition and in very metropolitan areas, I'd tell him to choose based on the best atmosphere for HIM to excel.
Dryden was at McGill Law in the early 70s when I was an undergrad there. I saw him playing shinny hockey one time but like Ice says fuck him et les Habitants aussi.
McGill for $5000 is a true steal indeed. That's about what I paid back in the day. Despite the fact that they gave me a degree their reputation has held up remarkably well and the Poli-Sci department probably still has enough commies in it to keep a left leaning young French man entertained.
I believe he's shooting for President of the french republic.
So, what did your lad decide in the end?
McGill. BA. He will, most probably, major in Econ. Still weighting the countless combinations of classes, honors programs and so on.
He did turn down UCL and Kings College. Oh, well... Some stoked young man just got an offer to ESPS.
Thank you all for your insight.
My son graduated last May from William & Mary, with a double in Econ and Government. He's currently living in Washington DC working at a think tank and is considering a job offer on Capital Hill.
He tells me you pretty much need a graduate degree to get much higher and is looking for an employer that will pay for his advance degree.
I used my Econ degree as a springboard into ski bumming, but it all worked out in the end.
Congrats Phillippe, I'm sure he'll excel at McGill. Sounds like he'd be able to write his ticket regardless of whichever school he chose. Although UCL has a well-deserved international reputation, recognizable as exemplary at most any top graduate program, IMO a McGill degree carries significant weight as well, especially if he decides to continue on in North America.
We 'Murricans are as parochial as people are anywhere else, and often don't know much about topflight programs outside of the Ivies, but it seems McGill is held in similar esteem to an Ivy degree, at least here in the States. As great as UCL is, fewer people know about it here outside of its reputation, which deservedly or not is inferior to OxBridge for name recognition alone. Also, it's further away, but I suspect more of its graduates stay in the UK or the continent for further career and/or training.
You should take advantage of him being there for some ski holidays in North America.
If he wants to be President isn't the staying in-country and going to one of the top grandes ecoles pretty much a requirement?
Sounds as if he will have a great time and come out of it with a useful education. Hope it all works out well.
I’m gonna bump this one
The kid is a junior this year so we’re talking about college
for clarity, it’s me & mrs ::: ::: mostly, not the kid…he’s somewhat ambivalent for the moment…he is somewhat of a procrastinator so it’s not yet risen to the front of his preparation/research radar. Mrs ::: ::: is a total nerd & academic go-getter so she keeps bringing up the rigorous programs. I keep leaning into where can he have a life in addition to good academic programs. He has the intellectual chops to go to a big name, but, as a white male from a comfortable family who doesn’t do any extracurricular stuff, he’s not necessarily that competitive as a recruit beyond academics.
He is likely looking at a math major, also physics; MAYBE engineering but he always seems to list it as a concession option when we talk about this. He’s doing Calc BC as a junior and seems to be the class curve-wrecker for now.
OR State is the easy answer, esp as he doesn’t yet seem to be super ambitious. In-state. Cheap. Solid but not epic programs. Let him go graduate somewhere name-brand when he gets his direction nailed.
He will say Cal Tech if you ask his preference. I think that opinion hinges on there being a climbing gym there, coupled with the math/physics reputation, but it’s a semi-serious opinion at best. And his chances seem slim TBH.
So, asking the collective…what western schools with reasonable proximity to the mountains for skiing/climbing offer reputable math/physics programs?
Or, if you are in or came out of a math heavy program, what is on your radar for solid programs irrespective of mtn access?
I went to med school at Michigan. No climbing gym there (or anywhere else in 1972) but the building had stone walls so we brought our shoes and worked out traverses between classes.
What's the community college situation in Oregon? In CA CC's are a good gateway to the UC campuses including Cal and UCLA. Might be an option for someone who's not sure. Assuming he can go farther in math at a CC than he has already gone in HS. Nobody (grad and professional schools) cares much about where you do your first 2 years of college.
Kind of out of the box and it isn't for everyone, but the US Air Force Academy checks a lot of your boxes (mountains, strong STEM, free tuition). I didn't go to a military academy but I have worked with a lot of smart math/engineering/physics types that did go to USAFA and they all speak glowingly about it. Most do their few years of service after graduation and move on to the private sector to make money with no student debt.
Might be worth looking at Utah's physics program.
UC Davis checks a lot of boxes. So do Washington and Reed.
this actually came up last night
he kind of winced at military...not sure it isn't a good idea tho...it checks some boxes
[tho doesn't hit my "have a life" segment much if I'm understanding academy life at all. Waay back in my own college search, I did a week at the naval academy as a pre-college visit for students thinking about the academy]
will put those on the night reading list
thank you!
i put it in the OR thread, but we discovered OSU has a campus in Bend, 15mins from Bachelor. He lit up at that one, but, on further reflection, it doesn't really hit the math/physics directly.
Cal State Pomona and Cal State San Luis Obispo are both solid in the (real) sciences. Both skiing and climbing are nearby- Joshua Tree is maybe two to three hours away (four to five if your son drives like Danno) and Mammoth five to six hours, depending on weather and traffic. Dunno how bad out-of-state tuition is, though.
Occidental College could prove an interesting choice. That institution has articulations with Caltech, allowing it's students to attend Caltech courses for credit. There was also another program allowing Occidental students to transfer over to Caltech in order to earn a degree in engineering after first getting a liberal arts degree. Dunno if that program's still active, but I knew a couple folks who were doing this thirty years ago.
If Cal Tech is on his radar already, take a look at Harvey Mudd. Claremont is a great college environment and better social life than cal tech for sure. And HM will def load him up w any crazy digit oriented class he desires and top notch stem stuff. The Claremont schools in gen are pretty good doling out the fin aide as far as I know as well
Reed, duh.
Arguably best undergrad math program in the country. My son is there for math/physics and loves it because he's not bored anymore.
https://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html
On the other hand, look what it did to me.
Or Harvey Mudd.
I was always under the impression that California public colleges were pricey for students from out of state.
I went to UCSD and lived/worked at a mountaineering shop in Berkeley for several year who employeed a lot of students. UCSD has good access to climbing and so-so access to skiing. I lived and played with skiers, so we made it happen, but it was a well planned and high motivation effort with minimal sleep to make quality skiing regularly happen. Bay Area is pretty far from good climbing and good skiing, though there are several gyms and some famous small outdoor crags. It always felt like a full day outing to enjoy some time with the good stuff, but the climbing and skiing communities there are strong.
University of Utah has a strong math/physics/engineering program, at least at graduate level. Plenty of those professors and grad students get after it in the outdoors in the wasatch and Colorado plateau.
What about university of ak in anchorage?
My now junior is likely not going to a 4-yr university after graduating. Last year was super rough for him and he’s only doing so-so with the transition back to being in-class. He is extremely gifted but motivation only comes in fits and starts.
Coming from a dad with a senior in college at an expensive private school and a recent grad from UO unless your kid is a serious climber I would say go BEAVS. It's virtually impossible to get into a tier one school without a resume showing something extraordinary these days and if your kid has great numbers you might receive some money at OSU to retain local talent. My second kid passed up a OSU presidential scholarship to attend a second/third tier NE liberal carts college and the experience has been awesome but as a guy who looks at things with economic the $150K plus delta is tough to justify. If you were to ask my wife she would tell you it's worth every penny FWIW.
She was VERY interested in physics starting school and after a couple semesters knew it wasn't for her and switched to Econ.
Keep in mind that my kid was a national merit scholar semifinalist with 99 percentile test scores with shitload of extra curricular activities and she was wait listed at all the top tiers.
If you look at private options find a place that will lock in rates for 4 tears and offer merit aide. My kid is at a place that is "financial need" aide only. After my oldest finished school her rates doubled and I'm in the process of selling a kidney to pay for her last year.
I will second Utah as an out of state option. I have talked to a parent of a graduate there and they offered easy ways to obtain instate status for their recruits and are in a arms race to increase thier national status by making it more desirable for out of state students.
our impression thus far is that out-of-state is about as expensive as going private, depending on the private...sort of in the same order of magnitude anyway
and rumor has it that small privates are more likely to try to provide financial incentives to balance it out more...
He's doing EE/Comp Sci there.
I think their math program is good, but again. look at the links via that Reed link regarding graduate success. That says a lot, more than US Spews and World Report.
See table 4: https://www.reed.edu/ir/NSF-PhD-STEM2011.pdf Princeton and Hahvahd have better results than Yale or Columbia.
MIT was the only other place I went to that had a comparable math program to Reed.