<p>I've read that McGill is generally considered the top university in Canada, and as far as I can tell, the GPAs and test scores of the average student there seem to be good. This causes me to wonder--why is the acceptance rate (48%) so high? I can think of a number of American schools with a similar acceptance rate that don't attract nearly as good of an applicant pool.</p>
<p>McGill, and virtually all universities in Canada, is a publicly funded school. McGill’s acceptance rate is comparable to the University of Michigan, UNC Chapel Hill and most other top US public universities.</p>
<p>The acceptance rate is high because most students applying are qualified. As well, in Canada, most students apply to considerably fewer schools than US students do. Over 95% of the students in my city apply to only one university–people here consider it strange to apply to more than one. Because acceptances in Canada are almost always based strictly on the numbers (i.e. no letters of reference, no extra-curr, no interview or other subjective qualitative factors), students usually have a very good idea in advance as to whether they will be accepted or rejected and therefore do not apply to schools that will reject them. With all the subjectivity in US admissions, students need to apply to several schools in order to ensure acceptance at a good fit school.</p>
<p>I live on the other side of the country from McGill (a day’s set of plane trips away) and I have never heard of a student from our city being rejected at McGill and my son’s high school has 10 frosh at McGill this year. Students from most of Canada only apply to McGill if they are of McGill-calibre. We tend not to do the safety/reach thing here in Canada.</p>
<p>So, in Canada, acceptance rates are an even worse measure of the quality of a school than they are in the US–some of the worst schools have the lowest acceptance rates because all the vastly underqualified applicants know they can’t get into decent schools, so they apply to what they know are the worst school and then are rejected.</p>
<p>I should add: Canada is just a more egalitarian country, so you will find a broader range of talent (i.e. from mediocre to extremely good) among the students at McGill than you would normally find at a comparable university in the US. We don’t stratify or segregate to the extent that the US does (and I’m not claiming that this is good or bad–separate discussion).</p>
<p>Much of McGill’s reputation rests on its excellent graduate programs and on the research that it conducts. Canadian universities tend to place a higher priority on research than on teaching relative to most American colleges. While McGill usually ranks among the top 20 universities in the world, many would argue (and I won’t dispute the argument) that McGill is not among the top 20 worldwide for an undergraduate learning experience.</p>
<p>mcgill like other big canadian universities focuses on graduate research, and papers. That is what is driving the rankings.</p>
<p>Undergrad education is not emphasized. You can see it in the classroom, in the career center, and in the admission rate.</p>
<h2>I do agree with violindad that a lot of canadian students “self select” themselves before the admission committee select them.</h2>
<p>Also, if you notice mcgill’s ranking is slowly sliding. So don’t take the glamorous ranking for what is worth.</p>
<p>If you look at the facts, something that econgrad ignores, you will see that the acceptance rate for American applicants is actually lower than for Canadian applicants:
<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/files/scap/Fall_2009_SZRAADS1.pdf[/url]”>http://www.mcgill.ca/files/scap/Fall_2009_SZRAADS1.pdf</a></p>
<p>Yes, McGill is slipping in the rankings. The QS survey had McGill slipping from 18th to 19th place worldwide! McGill remains #1 in Canada for the 6th straight year according to the Maclean’s ranking, which attempts to measure undergraduate education more so than any of the worldwide rankings. </p>
<p>Also, most of the international tuition differential charged reduces McGill’s operating grant from the government. The university gets little financial gain from having international students enrolled.</p>
<p>what is that one ranking McGill is 60 something in? And the other one with mcgill in the 30th or 40th? I forgot which.</p>
<p>The only reason mcgill is #1 in macleans is because UofT doesn’t publish its data to macleans.</p>