/biz/ - Business & Finance

So I just got early acceptance to Queens University in Canada, for their Bachelor of Commerce program, which is the the most elite Commerce program in Canada, and it's tied with Western's IVEY program. The main difference between the two programs is, once you're accepted to Queens Commerce you're 'in', but at Western you have to do two years of a regular degree first, hold an 80% in university, and then you have to apply into IVEY. So this means at Western you're not 'guaranteed' a spot unless you are really smart and can pull an 80% in University level Maths and Science. For this sole reason, I believe that Queens Commerce is the better program, because you start to learn Commerce from day one, instead of learning something else and then cramming Commerce into 2 years.

The cost of each program is similar, for Queens Commerce you pay $16,000 per year for tuition, plus another $16,000 per year for living expenses, and books. This means, $32,000 a year, or $128,000 over the 4 years of your degree. At Western, it would cost $7,000 a year for the first two years, plus another $14,000 for living expenses and books. Then in the last two years of your IVEY education it will cost $24,000 a year, plus the same $14,000. This means $21,000 x 2 + $38,000 x 2 which is $118,000. So the difference is a mere $10,000 less at Western compared to Queens, but at Queens you're guaranteed to be in the program, and at Western you're not guaranteed unless you get an 80% in your first two years, in whatever program you do.

Again, I am leaning towards Queens because of being guaranteed to stay in the program, and not having to worry about reapplying, or failing even 1 course.