Major English-speaking countries

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UK USA Canada Australia New Zealand Ireland
Student visas UK USA Canada Australia NZ Ireland
Reviews of universities Times US News Macleans AEN
TV networks BBC CNN CBC ABC TVNZ RTE
Official tourist information UK USA Canada Australia New Zealand Ireland
Wikivoyage article UK USA Canada Australia New_Zealand Ireland

Ratings of world universities

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Information by country

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Information for Chinese students coming to the US; some of it applies to any Western country. There is a lot of material; printed out it makes a whole book.

The US covers about the same range of latitudes as China. States such as Florida or California have a climate much like Southern China while Northern states are as cold as Heilonjiang or Canada.

Hawaii is the closest part of the US to Asia and many of the state's residents are of of Asian ancestry. It is a beautiful area with several universities.

The UK

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The most famous universities in England are Oxford and Cambridge, both several hundred years old. Sometimes they are referred to together as "Oxbridge". Scotland's University of Edinburg is also quite old and has a fine reputation.

The "red brick" universities area group of universities built in the 19th and early 20th centuries, generally considered quite good.

Of course Britain has dozens of other universities as well.

Canada

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City Province Population Universities Climate Chinatown Comment
old, good newer (compared to Harbin)
Victoria BC 80,000 U of Victoria warmest in Canada provincial capital
Vancouver BC 2.1 million UBC Simon Fraser warmest in Canada old, huge Beautiful city, ocean and mountains
Calgary Alberta 1.1 million U of Calgary (same) oil and cowboys
Edmonton Alberta 1.1 million U of Alberta (colder) oil, Canada's most Northern major city
Winnipeg Manitoba 700,000 U of Manitoba (colder)
Toronto Ontario 5.1 million U of T York (warmer) old, huge Largest city, much business
Ottawa Ontario 1.1 million Carleton (same) large Capital city, quite beautiful
Kingston Ontario 150,000 Queens (same) Small, pretty city on lake
Waterloo Ontario 500,000 Waterloo (warmer) good U for computers
London Ontario 460,000 Western (warmer) near Toronto, Niagara falls
Montreal Quebec 3.6 million McGill Concordia (same) mainly French-speaking city
Halifax Nova Scotia 370,000 Dalhousie (warmer) on ocean, good sea food

There are dozens of universities not on this list though the list has the largest and best-known.

If you can get in, University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver or University of Toronto (U of T) would be good places to go. Both are large well-known schools. Both are in cities with large Chinese communities, easier for you to live in. Simon Fraser and York are smaller and less famous but in the same cities.

Queens, Dalhousie and U Vic (University of Victoria) are worth considering. They are all in small cities, cheaper to live in and easier to learn your way around. Dalhousie is in Eastern Canada, an interesting area but far from other cities. Queens is in a small city but close to several larger ones: Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. Victoria is about two hours by ferry from Vancouver and has a warm (for Canada) climate like Vancouver.

Waterloo has a good reputation for Engineering and Computer Science. Their program includes time working in hi-tech companies as part of the course; you have to write reports about your work for the university and your work supervisor gives you a grade. Pay for this is low, but it fairly often leads to good job offers for graduating students.

Queens and Western (University of Western Ontario) have a good reputation for MBA programs. Carleton, being in the capital, has an MPA (Master of Public Administration) program that is good if you want to work in government. McGill has Canada's best-known medical school.

UBC's school of architecture is the best-known in Canada. Unlike other schools, it is mainly a graduate school; get your first degree in civil engineering and then come study design.

There are some online directories of Canadian universities, at 4icu and uc411.

Australia

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There are two associations of universities in Australia. The Group of Eight say they are "Australia's leading universities". There is also a site for all Aussie Universities with a breakdown by city and state.

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