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Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 6:43 am
by ellipse23
I am looking to apply to some schools in Canada for the M.Sc. program in HEP theory as a safety option. I have already applied to UBC, McGill and Waterloo (none of which I consider safeties, btw). What do you think about Simon Fraser and U of Saskatchewan? Are their departments good in general and HEP theory in specific? I would ultimately like to do a PhD at the same place or elsewhere.
Thanks

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:55 pm
by Catria
Carleton; I hope that you otherwise like Ottawa... and that you have Canadian permanent residency or citizenship. Alberta may be a better choice for a non-Canadian citizen.

A word of caution about Ontario: the universities are penalized for each excess international graduate student if their international graduate student populations exceed 10% of the total graduate student population. That will make it that much harder to get into an Ontario grad school if you do not have Canadian permanent residency or citizenship.

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 6:25 am
by ellipse23
Catria wrote:Carleton; I hope that you otherwise like Ottawa... and that you have Canadian permanent residency or citizenship. Alberta may be a better choice for a non-Canadian citizen.
@Catria I am an international applicant.

Carleton seems to have a bit more theory going on but I'll take your advice on the citizenship status issue.

At Alberta, there's 1 theorist and 2 phenomenologists in particle theory. Are there more theoretical opportunities to your knowledge here?

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 12:51 pm
by TakeruK
I'm not sure where the 10% limit in Ontario is coming from. I haven't heard that number before. And I know there are programs that exceed it.

But, even if there was a 10% limit in Ontario, I don't think that should affect where you want to apply. International students will cost more pretty much everywhere, so due to practicality, it is already harder. I think even if there was no legal limit, usually, the natural cap of international students will be around 10%-15% anyways. So, I don't think you make it any harder for yourself by applying to Ontario schools.

UBC, McGill and Waterloo are strong Physics schools. SFU (Simon Fraser) is not generally a strong research University in Canada---it's categorized as a "comprehensive" school, while the first three are "Medical/Doctoral" (i.e. schools that have strong graduate programs across the board). A "comprehensive" school is one where there are some graduate programs but it's not the main focus. I would say that SFU is okay. I'm not sure if an international student can really have a "safety" school in Canada, because international admissions is hard. But I think it's worth applying to SFU if you want to have as much chance to study Physics in Canada as possible. Alberta is a good physics school. I don't know much about Saskatchewan.

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 3:18 am
by SoldatOvO
I would say add Perimeter Institute to your list. They have a 1-year MA program (Perimeter Scholars International) on theoretical physics and the courses offered seems really nice for someone who is really serious in theory, and you would get master's degree from U. Waterloo. The only thing that stopped me from applying is having to go through another round of grad school application once finishing the PSI program, which means tons of paperwork plus asking supervisors for reference letters, both of which would drive me crazy. Otherwise, it seems to be a quite interesting program to look into.
I don't know much about HEP theory, but besides universities, national labs might also be something that worth looking into. For example TRIUMF if you are a student at UBC/ U. Victoria/ SFU/ U. Manitoba/... and I think there should be some other universities as well (I was seriously considering TRIUMF two years ago hence did some research). It might be a good idea to write to those places and ask about their application procedures.

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 11:07 am
by ellipse23
Catria wrote:Carleton; I hope that you otherwise like Ottawa... and that you have Canadian permanent residency or citizenship
Any idea why Catria wrote that it was beneficial to have a Canadian citizenship if I wanted to apply to Carleton. Was there something about Carleton in specific that disadvantages an international student in the admissions process?
TakeruK wrote:
Thanks so much for the insight!
SoldatOvO wrote:I would say add Perimeter Institute to your list.
I had considered Perimeter but decided against it because it was extremely competitive.

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 12:13 pm
by TakeruK
ellipse23 wrote:
Catria wrote:Carleton; I hope that you otherwise like Ottawa... and that you have Canadian permanent residency or citizenship
Any idea why Catria wrote that it was beneficial to have a Canadian citizenship if I wanted to apply to Carleton. Was there something about Carleton in specific that disadvantages an international student in the admissions process?
I think the basis of Catria's statement was that they assert there is a 10% quota on international students in Ontario specifically and Carleton is a university in Ottawa, Ontario. However, as I wrote above, I do not think there is such as quota at all, but I would certainly be interested in learning otherwise!

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 1:58 am
by cokeheaven
Surprise you haven't considered/no one has mentioned U of T. Not the strongest HEPT program around but definitely among the top tier in Canada. The thing is that for U of T (like many other Canadian schools) you are pretty much admitted by a particular Professor. So if you have a great match with a prof and he/she are willing to fund you then you get in for sure. I think deadline for it was last December though so it's too late this year. U of T also has a very strong astronomy/cosmology group that has members doing research related to HEP theory.

Re: Schools in Canada for HEP theory

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:53 pm
by SoldatOvO
ellipse23 wrote:
SoldatOvO wrote:I would say add Perimeter Institute to your list.
I had considered Perimeter but decided against it because it was extremely competitive.

I see. Yes it is super competitive -- though it seems that they do not charge application fee? The point is, if it is free to apply, then why not :D
Anyways, good luck!