really exciting lastpointe! I'm in 2nd year at Brock in St.Catherines and loving this year so it hasn't been long at all since I was looking.

1. Visit all the campuses she's interested in and I mean ALL of them. Sometimes it's just the feel of the place that lets you know it's right.
2. Decide if she likes the "big campus" or "small campus" feel. I liked the smaller campus feel so that helped narrow down my choices.
3. Decide how far away from home she's willing to live.
4. Get all the Undergraduate Calendars from all the schools she's interested in and have her  look through them. She might see a course that she doesn't know anything about that might interest her. I had no idea what I wanted to do and found my major (Medieval and Renaissance Studies) doing this. I had no idea you could major in anything like that.
5. Since she's a dancer make sure you ask what athletics and stuff the school has.
6. Go to the information sessions held at the school. Most of them are just "come to us we have the best profs, classes, campus blah blah blah" but you can get good information out of it and meet a former or curent student.
7. Don't forget you can go to Univeristy with an Undeclared Major and that it's ok to switch you major once your there so don't feel too pressured about that.
8. I was interested in doing an exchange in my 3rd year so I was looking for a school that had an exchange program (most do) but make sure she asks questions about the odd little type things she wants

I think that's about it for now. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

good advice, thanks.  We are off to McGill

Greetings!

Great advice, bethanyk.  Let us known how your McGill tour goes, lastpointe.

Hope, peace, joy, love . . .

Lastpointe, what an exciting, yet possibly daunting time for your daughter and you. I was glad to read Behany's post - from someone at university now. And your story of travelling to check out schools is reminding me of the possibilities when living in Southern Ontario (which I assume you are). So many choices relatively close to home. I went to Queen's for my undergrad -- many years ago (gee it'll be a 25 yr reunion in a few years). I really appreciated the 'smaller' school atmosphere (though not as small as Brock, Trent etc) and it has a really strong school spirit. I also went to U of T, but for grad school so different than experiencing it for first year university. I'm sure a lot has changed over the years -- but if it was me choosing a university for a general program (initially anyway) I would look for a place with smaller classes/programs - although that being said, living in residence can sure help in making connections so the size of the programs might not matter. Hopefully your daughter will be in a situation where she can make connections with others and enjoy what she's taking. Good luck with this process and keep us posted.

I have now toured Queens and McGill.

both great schools but my impression of the tours of both was that they were aimed at parents.

Lots of talk about transitioning, safety, making sure you kids have advisors, safety or yeah and safety.

If I was giving a tour i would talk about work load, picking classes, new things to look for , how to make a varisty team, where to find info about clubs, best places for food, drinks, dancing, best residences, things to be sure to pack, types of course, getting access to profs, types of jobs available, how to juggle a schedule, how to pick a schedule, best places to study, busiest tiems at library.....

My daughter has enjoyed visualy seeing the universities but they didn't really answer her questions

Having gone through this recently with both of my children - my son recently graduated from Lakehead and my daugther is in third year at Western - I know this is an exciting time but also a stressful time.

It's unfortunate that your tours were so geared to parents. I found that at both Lakehead and Western there was a good balance. At Lakehead our tour was personalized as we were unable to attend on one of the mass tours days and so we were able to ask the questions we needed. At one point at Lakehead my husband and I were sent for coffee while my son met with a prof. At Western we were part of a group tour but again there was balance. 

We also attended the "University Fairs" held at a local high school. At these there were reps from various schools and we found that they did answer the questions about teams, work load, etc. My advise is to keep asking questions.  Remember - they want your daughter as a student and so they will  accomodate. Some of the schools have good web-sites that offer advise as well. Both my son and daugher found it helpful to talk to recent graduates or current students.

My son was accepted at larger universities but he appreciated the smaller school atmosphere at Lakehead- and it was the only one in Ontario that offered his program. My daughter chose Western for a variety of reasons. Obviously it would have been easier for us if they had chosen to be in the same geographic region of Ontario but unltimately the choice was up to them.

Good luck. 

A few things to look for would include how many of their faculties offer co-op programs (where students can actually have a work placement during their degree, in the field they end up choosing, and the work counts for credit), and also explore their regulations regarding required courses. Some universities have a requirement that all students take writing courses, or a science course, etc. That doesn't matter to all students but it may matter to some. If she is already thinking about graduate possibilities, you may also want to look into what they offer in that regard as well including what their reputations are for their masters programs in her areas of interest, although Queens and McGill obviously aren't lacking on the reputation front.

I think getting a sense of the campus mentality is also important. The university I went to was downtown, and had a lot of more activist-type, artistic, cutting-edge students and faculty. The other major university was in the suburbs, and had a distinctly more mainstream culture. It all depends where she will feel most comfortable.

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Hi lastpointe,

Sending the youngest off to university felt pretty weird for me...how's that going for you?  Our youngest took a year at U of C in Calgary and his roommate was Goth...slept all day, awake all night and rarely bathed.  Not a very good match for our farmboy and he was home every weekend that year. 

After completing a 2 year Tech course he toured universities that he could transfer to for his degree and picked the one that had the best funding for engineering plus the campus that was most comfortable for him.  He's loving it. 

Cheers to your dancing girl!

I've been to UBC, U of T and Queen's..

I'll assume UBC is a bit far....lol

Like others have mentioned, class size is important...however, there difference b/t  Intro to Psych. having 400 ppl. (Queen's) and 1800 ppl (U of T) is not that much, as after a certain size it's impossible for personal contact with Profs/TAs anyway...

I liked U of T, for all the stuff around it and the fact that it's Toronto and that area has so many different cultural things to partake of..The classes are decent and the teachers seem great, but I found the kids, at least in MY little part of the U of T (Humanities/English) world a bit distant and uninvolved.

I LOOOOOVE Queen's for the fact that it's smaller (7,000v. 75000) and the spirit seems greater (Aberdeen Street Riots not withstanding) however, Kingston is not as great for things to do, at least in my experience...however, I think the students are closer as a result...

My suggestion is to go for a well  balanced University; rather than high cost,  at the Undergrad level - something low key like Trent or somesuch may be very cool . . . but if your daughter is juggling her desire for a professional dance career with trying to get somewhere with post secondary, she may get confused until she is clear with what her own choice is. 

Julliard has produced a lot of big ego academics and business people who didn't make it in the arts and can't focus on their careers, either . . . 'cause they didn't actually make the decision - their parents' expectations  did.  

Perhaps, you might ask if your daughter would rather attend a really great dance school and take p/t night classes at a college?

I am thinking this is a good suggestion, perhaps it could be half a course in each, for the first term.

My children didn't really have much choice.  Finances pretty much dictated that they attend one of the two universities in this city so that they could live close to home.  Also our son was only 17 and socially immature and I was quite sure he wasn't ready be on his own in a strange place.  (Looking back I realize that he might have benefited from a year to mature, to get some work experience, and earn a bit of money on his own beyond his part time job at McDonalds.)   Seelerboy choose the larger unversity which was right for him.  Later he did take a master's degree at Western.  Seelergirl choose to attend the small liberal arts university where she also did well.   At first they lived at home and we provided room and board.  But during the summer months and during their final year they each choose on their own to move into shared accommodation with roommates and support themselves on part time work and student loans.

I'm still second guessing on this - and in a few years granddaughter will be looking at her choices.  What are the benefits and drawbacks of attending university (undergraduate degree) close to home?