Imperial College London or University of Waterloo?

[chrypton1]

Hi,

I am an IB student in Norway, and I want to go abroad to study mathematics next year. A few months ago I applied to a few British universities and got an offer from Imperial College London to do Mathematics and Computer Science next year, provided I get a 7 in higher level Math and Physics.

I am also soon going to be applying to Waterloo because I've heard its math department is quite impressive, and I really liked the university(From what I've read about it). Now obviously I haven't applied yet and so I don't have an offer from them, but I do fulfill their grade requirements and I'm hopeful about getting an offer from them.

Now my dilemma is that if I get an offer from Waterloo, where should I go?
The thing is that Imperial is a great university, but since Norway is not in the EU, I am an overseas student and will be required to pay over 20K pounds in tuition every year, and living in London is not very cheap either. The Norwegian government is very supportive when it comes to financing students who want to go abroad, but even after the scholarships they give I will have a considerable amount of debt on my hands upon finishing.

Now Waterloo is much cheaper than Imperial, even though a bachelors degree there is 4 years, as opposed to 3 in the UK. They also have the co-op program which I'm applying to. And living in Waterloo will be much cheaper than London.

I should also say that I'm interested in pure mathematics and would probably like apply to a good US grad school after I'm done with my undergraduate studies. I'm guessing Waterloo would be better for that?

So any advice is highly appreciated! :)

 

[Kevin_Axion]

I have nothing to say other then University of Waterloo has the largest Mathematics department in North America. Well, one question, which campus do you like better: http://mur.uwaterloo.ca/virtual_tour/Main%20copy.html?

 

[lurky]

I know someone who did applied math at the University of Waterloo and he absolutely loved it.

The only problem I have with Waterloo (I live in Ontario) is that the town itself is kind of blah. But you're in a good location - close to Toronto and Niagara Falls.

 

[MECHster]

I'm pretty sure with co-op, the Waterloo program will be 5 years. And Waterloo has the top co-op program in North America, and probably the world.

 

[Kevin_Axion]

Yea, the architectural aspect of Waterloo is lacking some High-Tech quality. Although they are beginning to construct some beautiful buildings such as the new math department, the Quantum-Nano Center, Institute for Quantum Computing and the Perimeter Institute.

 

[lurky]

Yes, the co-op program is 5 years long. The basic bachelor's degree is 4 years.

 

[chrypton1]

Thanks, I think Waterloo is the place to go for me :)

 

[lurky]

Good luck and have fun!