<p>I'm really confused when it comes to entering McGill as a sophomore on AP credits.</p>
<p>For one, how many credits do you need to enter as a sophomore? Right now I have 4's/5's in World History, U.S. History, European History, Statistics, and English Language. In the next few weeks I'll be taking tests for Calc BC, both Physics C tests, and English literature. It probably won't happen, but just assuming for the moment that I'll get at least a 4 on the four tests I'm taking this month--this would give me well over the 30 credits needed to get out of first year according to the AP table they have on their site (here</a>). I applied to the Freshman Arts program (and planned on doing the general option), in order to major in linguistics. Does the whole category system matter with AP credits, where you have to have at least 6 credits in three of the four categories? I'm not sure if my AP credits would meet that requirement. For example, on the AP table it says the English language test is worth 6 credits, and that it's equivalent to a ESLN 1XX course, but I don't see that on the list of approved courses. It also says that the English literature test is worth 6 credits and equivalent to ENGL 1XX--on the list of approved courses they have ENGL 199, which is only worth 3 credits. Would my AP tests be subject to these restrictions? What would happen if I'm only a few credits short of being done with my Freshman year? I really don't have a damn clue how I'll be getting credit for my tests.</p>
<p>Assuming that I'm completely exempted from my first year classes and can enter McGill as a sophomore... I've read about other people having issues with too many classes, no chance to take electives, etc. Is it really that bad trying to do everything in three years? Would I have to take classes as a sophomore that I normally would've taken my freshman year? I'm 99% sure I want to major in linguistics, and about 80% sure I want to minor in Spanish (I have no prior knowledge of the language). How would starting college as a sophomore affect my ability to have a normal course load? Would I be able to do it in three years? Would I be able to take electives still? It seems like the classes you take Freshman year are pretty unrelated to my major/minor (except that I maybe would've taken an introductory linguistics and Spanish class).</p>
<p>So, it's pretty obvious that I'm horribly confused on the whole issue. Can anyone help?</p>
<p>You need 30 credits to enter U1 (your sophomore year). If you have less than that, as soon as you complete 30 credits, you’ll be considered U1; for example, say you have 15 credits when you enter McGill, you will be U1 in the Winter term since you’ll have completed the remainder of your first 30 credits in the Fall term. If you only need a few more credits before you’re U1, you’ll complete those in the Fall term, but probably during your Fall term you’ll be considered U1 anyway, so regardless, you will have to declare your major/minors in the Fall. Even if you exceed 30 credits due to APs, you’re only allowed a max. of 30.</p>
<p>There is no ENGL 1XX, but you’ll receive credit anyway. I don’t think you need to worry about AP credits meeting the typically Freshman Arts program requirements unless they fulfill pre-reqs for your program.</p>
<p>The main concern about students entering as U1 is that you take second-year courses, and some people would be more comfortable taking first-year courses given that it’s the first year of university and they haven’t had the opportunity to get an idea of what workload is like. It’s a bit of an academic shock. </p>
<p>You do NOT have to try to finish your undergrad in three years, even if you are entering as U1. You’re welcome to spread out your course load (i.e. 4 courses per term instead of 5) over four years.</p>
<p>The major in Linguistics is 36 credits ([Major</a> concentration in Linguistics](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/linguistics/undergraduate/major/]Major”>http://www.mcgill.ca/linguistics/undergraduate/major/)), the minor in Hispanic Languages is 18 credits, therefore, you will have 36 elective credits (since 30/120 were fulfilled with AP credits). All majors in Arts are 36 credits and minors are 18-24 credits, so you have the option of double-minoring or just taking A LOT of electives.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your reply, it helped to clarify a lot.</p>
<p>I would prefer to finish it in three years if possible (it’s cheaper), but I’m aware that you can extend it to four if you enter directly into U1.</p>
<p>I thought that the typical course load was 4 courses for students entering U0 and doing the typical four years–am I wrong in thinking that? What I’m not understanding is how skipping first year would necessitate me taking 5 courses per term to finish in three years. If I’ve essentially already taken the classes I would’ve taken my Freshman year by doing AP tests, wouldn’t that put me in the same position as everyone else in U1? Or is five courses just the norm? I really don’t want to be screwing myself over by giving myself a bunch of work each semester.</p>
<p>And I suppose I don’t have to worry much about electives, do I? I wonder if it’s possible to double minor in two languages. I tried looking into minoring in French a while back, but, well, everything was in French. I also remember reading something a while back about only being allowed to take one beginner language class at a time–I’m hoping that doesn’t apply to me. I’ll have to look into this more.</p>
<p>Five courses - or the equivalent of 15 credits - is the normal load for a semester, even for freshmen. Skipping first year doesn’t make you take a larger course load in U1; everyone takes that many classes.</p>
<p>The mcgill website has a list of ap exams and the number of credits they accept. If you are a managment student they only take 24 credits instead of 30.</p>
<p>As carly36 said, 5 courses per term is the norm. During my first term, I took 5 courses but it totaled to 18 credits. Many freshmen will take just 4 courses the first term since they’re getting adjusted to university life.</p>