I went to McGill. Objectively, UT Austin is a better school in terms of the level of competition present. In terms of what you're going to get for your money, though... damn, American schools are expensive.

For me personally, having looked around the website for the UT Austin bassoon studio quite a lot I was very put off my the teaching style described in the syllabuses-- being told exactly what scales to play when and asked to being a certain number of blanks to a "midterm" lesson to prove you're keeping up with your reedmaking-- honestly, I think that kind of babysitting would really start to chafe and actually hinder progress after a few years. (I don't know if she actually follows the syllabi to the letter, I wouldn't be surprised if in reality it isn't quite what the website makes it seem.) So from that you can probably guess that the teachers at McGill have a more hands-off approach, which is also broadly true of the school-- nobody lives in residence past first year and many people never live in rez at all and go straight to apartment living, the drinking age is 18 and you're expected to be able to behave like an adult w/r/t alcohol, and Canadian schools have very little in the way of "school spirit" compared to the vast majority of American schools. It's just a different environment.

Also, Canada doesn't have as much interest in band music as much of the States, especially Texas, and whereas at a lot of US schools they have a band that people actually want to be in, the McGill wind ensemble is the lowest ensemble placement and the orchestra is the highest, and you have to work your way out of WS and into MGSO. (I learned a lot from my time in WS, don't get me wrong, and the conductor is fantastic, but it's undeniable that it exists partly to motivate people to improve and place better in the next audition. It works, though.)

One thing I have to say of unequivocal praise for McGill: it has the best practice rooms of any music school I have ever been in. (And I have practiced in way too many schools' practice rooms. Yes, including Austin.) They're big, every room has its own huge window and radiator that you can control yourself, and the camaraderie in the practice wing at McGill is honestly the only thing I truly miss about being a student.