<p>I am perspective student just wondering if anyone has any complaints about their studies at McGill? The sheer size? Profs? Residences? Students? Anything? Because if not McGill is turning out to be too good for words!</p>
<p>yes. the students are a tad too competitive. I can study like hell, know the subject inside out and only get an A-. Unless you are absolutely brilliant. I hate it... workin my ass off and getting only a 3.3</p>
<p>And along this line, is anyone in the Science faculty? I know the classes start off large, but do you have adequate guidance/counseling to chart your future course as far as major and career planning, or do you feel lost? In the upper levels are the classes so hard it's difficult to maintain a decent GPA? Do many people transfer to different faculties? Does anyone know where to get more information?</p>
<p>they give you bad grades. Classes are big. Your grades depend on at most 2 exams a semester. French people are very stupid yet think they're smart.</p>
<p>Canadian think they're going to a school on par with Harvard, when resource/prestige wise it's a lot closer to UMass. Also, Canadians can be total idiots but can get in if they went to private school, because they don't take SATs.</p>
<p>I wouldn't go anywhere else in the world though...even if Harvard paid me.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if many students fail their classes first-year, or do most manage to maintain at least a passing grade? I really want to go to mcgill, but am afraid that i won't be able to keep my head above water!</p>
<p>Yeah same...anyone want to tell about the science program? I'd like to go to a good grad school (around Emory's level of prestige). Can A-s be achieved if you study really hard?</p>
<p>Are the grades curved or are they given on an absolute scale?</p>
<p>"French people are very stupid yet think they're smart."
"Canadians can be total idiots but can get in if they went to private school"</p>
<p>These two quotes pretty much sum up the attitude of the average American (and to be fair, most rich Anglophone Canadians, especially those from Toronto) at McGill. If you ever wonder why there's a bit of resentment among the local community towards McGill students, look to people like Wutangfinancial.</p>
<p>"Canadian think they're going to a school on par with Harvard"</p>
<p>I have never heard any Canadian say that, ever. If anything, I hear more Americans comparing McGill to Ivy schools than anyone else. </p>
<p>As for the original topic:</p>
<ol>
<li>Red tape</li>
<li>Most students are really just glorified tourists here, and they fall into the category of Horrible.</li>
<li>Really hard to get good grades. The grade deflation here is rampant. </li>
<li>By the way, A- is the second highest grade you can get here since there's no such thing as an A+ so to the person complaining about a 3.3 GPA, be happy. </li>
<li>Student reps are horrible. They are utterly and completely worthless. I'm talking about SSMU, the Science reps, the Arts reps, just about everyone except for Management reps. </li>
<li>Weather.</li>
</ol>
<p>ICrisis: What exactly do you mean by the students being horrible? By that, do you mean, academically? Like they're all stupid and inept or something? Or is it more their personalities and they're just rude and mean and not at all nice?</p>
<p>By horrible, I mean the way McGill students tend to carry themselves. There are many images of the average McGill student. Lets just say that not many of them are positive.</p>
<p>if you want to stay competitive for graduate school, there are plenty of schools with mcgill's reputation that don't have its horrifying grading scale.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if you want to stay competitive for graduate school, there are plenty of schools with mcgill's reputation that don't have its horrifying grading scale.
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</p>
<p>If your grades don't cut it for grad school, blame yourself, not the university. You can get into any grad school from McGill (that is, any school you'd get into from anywhere else, if you're not cut for Harvard, say, in the first place, doing your undergrad at McGill or anywhere else won't change that), provided you're putting the required effort in the right places.</p>
<p>Yeah...I mean grad schools know McGill's rep. A 3.0 there is equivalent to prob. a 3.5 at a random state school. Besides, there's other stuff like the GRE and research (which McGill is great for) and connections that play a significant role in getting into grad school.</p>
<p>is there a sense of community at mcgill?</p>
<p>
[quote]
do you have adequate guidance/counseling to chart your future course as far as major and career planning, or do you feel lost?
[/quote]
i'd like to know about this as well</p>
<p>The advisers at McGill are COMPLETELY useless. At least the general/freshmen advisers. If you know what you want to do, see a departmental adviser, I've heard much better things about them.
I have a lot of complaints about McGill, but all in all, I've had an amazing freshman year. I wouldn't have gone anywhere else if I had a choice. If I can give you some advice though, just make sure to get out of the "McGill Bubble". You're in Montreal, for God's sake, take advantage of it!!! It's an incredible city, go out and explore. Grade wise, it is completely possible to get As if you study hard enough. You really, really have to study your ass off, especially for the freshman science program, but the point is, I believe it's possible.</p>
<p>^Are you U0? just wait, those A's get harder once the morons get failed out and the curve adjusts....</p>
<p>BTW, do not expect any advising or career help...Quebec is one step from communism...PhD's make less than bartenders here when you figure in taxes, and no that's not hyberbole. There just isn't a private sector other than restaurants and strip clubs.
In fairness, the Canadian school system is the closest thing to a true meritocracy you can find. Problem is, there is no pay off post graduation within Canada. If you go to the states and work the alumni network, you can do quite well. I've gotten notices that an alumni at JP Morgan has openings, or UBS is looking for interns, etc. For whatever reason, a lot of people in New England think McGill is a very elite school, and difficulty wise, it is. So despite some of my negativity, ultimately I feel very proud when I do manage to do well, and it is appreciated by many.</p>
<p>
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do not expect any advising or career help
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wow, this sounds harsh</p>
<p>
[quote]
BTW, do not expect any advising or career help...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah, you have to take the initiative to, say, go to CAPS. Because it won't come to you. Which is true of about anything at McGill. Help isn't given to you, you have to seek it, but it is there, and most often than not, you won't have to look around too much before finding it (and I'll say it for the nth time, most advisors, even departmental ones, aren't that great, go ask your senior peers for advice, you can usually find some in the departmental undergrad societies).</p>
<p>And don't listen to wutangfinancial. If you're thinking about grades in terms of a curve, you're not doing it right.</p>
<p>Wutang - Do I detect a note of optimism in your last post?</p>