All Posts Tagged With: "Canada’s best professional schools 2010"

The FT’s E.M.B.A. evaluation looks at a variety of performance measures for each school

Similar to the Financial Times’ regular M.B.A. rankings, the FT’s E.M.B.A. evaluation looks at a variety of performance measures for each school: the career progress of students, faculty quality and the diversity (female and international) of both faculty and students.

Source: FT.com

Canadian schools didn’t crack the top 20 in either of the Financial Times’ rankings, but York (Schulich) placed first on the alternative Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey

Beyond Grey Pinstripes M.B.A.
Ranking 2009-2010
Beyond Grey Pinstripes is an alternative ranking of business schools, conducted every two years by the Aspen Institute’s Center for Business Education. The ranking assesses the degree to which leading M.B.A. programs integrate issues concerning social and environmental stewardship into the curriculum.

Source: Beyondgreypinstripes.org

First-year tuition for academic year 2010-2011

Gaining acceptance to medical school is the first hurdle. The next challenge is paying for it. The figures listed below show first-year tuition for academic year 2010-2011.

Two Canadian tuition figures are listed for schools in Quebec: the first applies for residents of Quebec; the higher figure is charged for students from outside the province. *Tuition for residents of Quebec or New Brunswick.

Undergraduate enrolment for women is less than 25 per cent almost across the board

Undergraduate enrolment at Canadian engineering schools ranges from a few dozen students to more than 4,000 at Waterloo and Toronto. As these 2009 figures show, the number of female students remains low: less than 25 per cent at all but a handful of institutions.

Source: Engineers Canada     *2007 figures

EXCLUSIVE RANKINGS. Plus: where to go, how to get in, the hottest programs, and the biggest pitfalls

Coast to coast, getting into professional schools has never been more competitive than it is this year

ENGINEERING

From building bridges to running Bay Street
Technical geeks? Hardly. Today’s new breed of financial engineers take the lead as global innovators.

If you build it . . .
Robots, stem cells and green scenes: what engineers are making now

Aim for 80-plus
Average final-year high school grades of first-year undergrads starting engineering school in fall 2009

Engineering’s hot fields
Across 13 disciplines, mechanical, electrical and civil continue to be the top draws, but other fields have grown significantly over the past four years. Environmental and software numbers are up by roughly half, while mining or mineral enrolment has nearly tripled.

Sizing up engineering enrolment across the country
The number of female Undergraduate enrolment at Canadian engineering schools remains low

MEDICINE

Want degree, will travel
‘Think of the passion that comes from people willing to go halfway around the world to study’

No science? No worries
Getting a C in chemistry may not be a barrier to that white coat, as med schools reassess their admissions

How many get in
2009 figures show enrolment continues to increase with women outnumbering men at most institutions

How much they pay for it
Medical school first-year tuition for academic year 2010-2011

Applications high, success rates low: the stats tell the story
The medical college admission test (MCAT) is a standardized test required for admission at many faculties

M.B.A.

Northern exposure
‘The fact that the Canadian economy gets a lot of attention can only be good for Canadian business schools’

These doctors mean business
Fuelled by late-blooming entrepreneurs, business schools see doctoral enrolment double

McGill and Quebec Play chicken
A tuition hike is opposed by the province; so far neither side has blinked

Coffee, donut and an M.B.A
Slated to start in January 2011, a new morning M.B.A. class will run three mornings a week at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

RANKINGS: How do Canada’s business schools stack up internationally?
Canadian schools didn’t crack the top 20 in either of the Financial Times’ rankings, but York (Schulich) placed first on the alternative Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey

Canada’s M.B.A. programs: a variety of options at 35 institutions
The traditional M.B.A.—two years, full-time—is no longer the only way to go, with many schools offering part-time studies

Canada’s E.M.B.A. Programs: for the working professional
Executive M.B.A. programs normally allow their participants to remain at their jobs, pursuing the degree part-time

RANKINGS: Financial Times Executive M.B.A. ranking 2009
The FT’s E.M.B.A. evaluation looks at a variety of performance measures for each school

Law

Ranking Canada’s law schools
How do faculty measure up? How do grads fare? Maclean’s fourth annual survey reveals all

Last year, maybe. This year, no way.
Getting in has never been easy. But now, it’s nearly impossible.

The letter of the Law
J.D. vs. LL.B degree

RANKINGS: Toronto and McGill law schools top the list
How successful are grads in landing top jobs? How often is faculty members’ work recognized by other academics?

Law School: what will it cost?
2010 tuition figures for first-year students

Robots, stem cells and green scenes: what engineers are making now

As University of Toronto dean of engineering Cristina Amon puts it, “Hot engineering careers combine innovation and creativity, and allow engineers to create things that didn’t exist before.” But in addition to dreaming up objects that improve lives—like artificial organs or medical imaging devices—today’s engineers are being enlisted to address global issues, such as warming. Here are other growth areas in the field of engineering.

Sustainability: From teaching students to design and build eco-friendly buildings and infrastructure to implementing green government policy, sustainability has become a dominant theme in engineering education. A master’s of engineering in clean energy at the University of British Columbia is now open for students with undergraduate degrees in engineering who want advanced training in energy-efficient technologies. At the University of Calgary, undergraduates in the engineering B.Sc. can enrol in a specialization in energy and environment. Carleton University offers its bachelor of engineering students a new option in sustainable and renewable energy, and the university has established a master’s program in sustainable energy, which students can finish with either an engineering degree (M.A.Sc. or M.Eng. in sustainable energy) or a public policy degree (M.A. in sustainable energy). Finally, the University of Western Ontario has a new green-process engineering undergraduate program, which teaches the fundamentals of chemical engineering to design commercial products and processes that are both economical and environmentally friendly.

Biomedical: The intersection of biological systems and engineering has led to innovation in medicine that could only be dreamed about a decade ago, and now biomedical engineering is one of the fastest growing areas of the profession. These engineers grow tissue and stem cells, build devices that can be implanted in the body to deliver drugs or detect illnesses, and design substitute body parts like pacemakers and artificial joints. In 2009, École Polytechnique de Montréal launched an undergraduate degree in the subject. The University of Guelph offers its undergraduates a biomedical engineering option. At the University of Calgary, undergraduate students can complete a biomedical specialization in conjunction with their engineering degree. The University of Manitoba will begin offering a new master’s in biomedical engineering in January, and Queen’s University, McMaster University, and the University of Toronto give graduate students the opportunity to take the interdisciplinary approach to biomedical engineering through collaborative programs.

Mechatronics: Mechatronic systems are all around: from industrial robots to the antilock brakes in your car. As society advances technologically, the demand for these computer- controlled electromechanical devices will only grow. As such, universities across the country have established degrees or specializations in this subject. The University of Waterloo, for example, offers an undergraduate program in mechatronics engineering. At McMaster University, students can enrol in mechatronics programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The University of Guelph gives graduate students in the engineering systems and computing program the option to research mechatronics, and the University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, University of Toronto, and University of New Brunswick offer a mechatronics option to mechanical engineering undergraduates.

Photo by Andrew tolson

Getting a C in chemistry may not be a barrier to that white coat, as med schools reassess their admissions

If you ever wanted to be a doctor, but were scared off because of all the science you would have to learn, you may soon be in luck. Canadian medical schools are taking a closer look at their admissions practices, and prerequisites like the much-feared Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) are no longer seen to be as imperative as they once were.

Just how picky medical schools should be about students being well-versed in the scientific foundations of human anatomy is a decades-old debate. But now, lacking a solid grasp of science might not be a barrier to getting that white coat.

For 25 years, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York has reserved around 30 spaces for students who haven’t taken physics, calculus, organic chemistry or the MCAT. A recent study on the Mount Sinai program, co-authored by the school’s dean emeritus Nathan Kase, concluded that students admitted through the humanities and medicine stream “performed at a level equivalent to their premedical classmates.”

In Canada, there are already two medical programs, McMaster University and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, that have no science requirements, either through course prerequisites or the MCAT. Several others are reviewing their core application requirements.

The University of British Columbia is undergoing a curriculum review that could see a revamping of at least one first-year medicine course so that it no longer presumes an extensive science background. According to Joseph Finkler, associate dean of admissions for medicine, that could open the door to revising the selection process. “It is possible that we will end up with multiple admissions streams, including one without the prerequisites and MCAT,” he said. Lewis Tomalty, Queen’s University’s vice-dean, medical education, says that while some science is “necessary,” encouraging students with a range of academic backgrounds to apply is beneficial to the classroom. “We’re looking at how extensive [science prerequisites] have to be and are certainly looking to change the actual admissions requirements,” he said. Similarly, the Université de Montréal has put a committee in place to review whether its list of science requirements creates an unnecessary barrier to pursuing a career in medicine.

But the school that is farthest along in this process is McGill University. In July, McGill announced that it would no longer require prospective students to take the MCAT. The faculty of medicine will also be reserving three spaces for “non-traditional” students, giving great weight to things like work experience. They will also be exempt from having to complete their first degree full-time, a common prerequisite intended to ensure students can handle the workload. Saleem Razack, assistant dean of admissions at McGill, says these policy changes are needed “so that the excellence that students with diverse life experiences can bring to the medical profession can be assessed and valued.”

The key is finding the right balance, says Miki Rifkin, who oversees the humanities and medicine program at Mount Sinai. While her students are exempt from most science prerequisites, they still have to take introductory chemistry and biology, and have an otherwise exemplary academic record. The goal is to encourage students who might otherwise be deterred at the prospect of the MCAT to pursue medicine. “We want to make a difference for students passionate about some non-science area,” she said.

“The older way of thinking is that doctors should be scholars and scientists first,” says Terry Wuerz, who earned his medical degree from the University of Manitoba in 2007. “I think it’s great that med schools are starting to recognize the different roles doctors play.”

There are, of course, hurdles to reform. Using the MCAT and having science prerequisites are very useful for sorting through thousands of applications. “How do you choose the ones you’re going to interview?” asks Tomalty. While Mount Sinai non-science students do well overall, they do struggle during their first two years, and perform less well on medical licensing exams.

This is consistent with the experience at Canadian schools, says Harold Reiter, chair of admissions at McMaster, but that doesn’t detract from the generally high performance of the non-science students, he said. “Once they have caught up, they do every bit as well as their science-background peers.”