<p>I feel quite down right now. I just found out that my application status was changed to: "Refused-Academic Req't Not Met"
I'm an international applicant from Denmark who applied to Science, and I think I was refused on the grounds that my SAT scores did not meet the admission standards for US HS students (standards for all other international HS students aren't listed). The following are my scores:</p>
<p>01/2011, SAT Subject Test: 600 Mathematics Level 2; 700 Physics
11/2010, SAT Subject Test: 550 Mathematics Level 2; 630 Physics
10/2010, SAT Test: 650 Reading; 560 Math; 570 Writing
10/2009, SAT Test: 630 Reading; 570 Math; 540 Writing</p>
<p>According to McGill, US HS students are subject to the following admission</a> minima:</p>
<p>B+ average in grades 10,
11 and 12; B+ in each
prerequisite math and science; (I assume this is mathematics and physics for me)
each SAT I and II
650 or ACT 29 </p>
<p>Now, I know those scores aren't the best, and I know that many of them do not meet the admission standards, but I do believe that I as a Dane am at a disadvantage compared to North Americans from the public school system. The North American public school system is set up in such a way as to prepare/condition its students for multiple choice testing while this format of testing never is used in the Danish system. I am not trying to excuse myself - I could have chosen to spend more than a few hours preparing for each test, which was incredibly stupid of me - but rather trying to look for system-related differences that would justify an appeal.</p>
<p>I received a sparkling recommendation from my principal - this was sent to McGill together with my other papers. What I haven't sent are equally praising recommendations from my individual teachers and a paper signed by my principal recognizing me as one of the top 1 % of my school and recognizing my academic workload as the toughest that the school can offer.
I cannot believe that my rejection has anything to do with my Danish grades. I received 11 grades on my mid-year report; 7 of those were A's, 3 were B's and one was a C. These were ECTS-grades and they, too, were sent to McGill. I believe this amounts to an average of A- using the US grading scale. I am in my last year of Danish HS which can be said to be equivalent to the freshman year at McGill - at least with regards to the content of science subjects. Could it be that the admission officer did not know enough about the Danish system to make an informed decision?</p>
<p>Anyway, I am just trying to find a reason why McGill should look past those cursed SAT scores. I am so disappointed in myself for not getting in. I really, really wanted to. Montr</p>
<p>Sorry to hear of McGill’s refusal. Generally I have been impressed with McGill’s very specific knowledge of other systems of schooling; McGill gets a higher percentage of international applicants than the vast majority of North American universities, so its admissions office is usually very knowledgeable. </p>
<p>Your SAT scores are very low for someone in the top 1%. Normally at a good high school anyone in the top 1% would have 800’s or very close. Your English is excellent, so I can’t see that as being a factor. Many Canadian schools do not have any multiple-choice evaluation (it is very much despised by many school systems), so don’t tar all North Americans with the same brush; yet many Canadian students who have never written any multiple choice exams before their SAT’s still manage to pull off good scores (i.e. 750+; I work in a large school system and coordinated the SAT’s for the system for years). So I probably wouldn’t attempt to use your lack of experience with multiple choice in any possible appeal.</p>
<p>I don’t think that taking a year off would in any way hurt a future application at McGill, but you would be wise to confirm this with McGill’s admissions. If you do want to reapply there, I would definitely recommend retaking your SAT’s and doing some serious preparation in order to boost your scores substantially–they really are out of line with your class rank. I do know that European math curricula do not align well with North American curricula, so you would have been at a disadvantage on the math subject test (but not at much or any disadvantage on the reasoning test math which is not curriculum-specific). </p>
<p>Definitely call McGill and see if they will give you more details about the basis for the refusal. I don’t know what they do with SAT’s in regards to non-North American students–perhaps they were a huge factor and perhaps they weren’t. Best of luck with your inquiries.</p>
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<p>Thank you for your response. I have decided not to appeal the decision and instead pursue the thought of volunteering, re-applying next year. The SATs do not worry me; I know I’ll get the score that is befit the recommendations of my teachers if I invest more than a couple of hours of preparing for them.
I have to say, though, that I do not appreciate the fact that I’ll be close to 21 when (assuming I’m accepted) I finally start as a freshman. It hurts the ego to be around people of your own age who know a lot more than you. It is because of this that I am still slightly unsure as to whether or not I should just jump into it at the University of Copenhagen. It’s only 3 years to get a bachelor’s in physics here anyway, and one of those years can be spent abroad.</p>
<p>I still have some thinking to do. But again, thank you.</p>
<p>Even if you aren’t going to appeal, I would still encourage you to call McGill. Explain that you are thinking of reapplying next year and you would like to know what would need to improve on your application in order to get an acceptance. I’d hate to see you take a whole year off, spend time preparing for and retaking your SAT’s, reapply and get rejected again if the issue is something other than your SAT’s (like maybe a grade in a single obscure course than didn’t make what McGill considers the minimum for a Danish grade in that particular course for the faculty/school that you’ve applied for). </p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about your age at starting–McGill is less homogenous than most US schools (i.e. McGill has a bigger variety of ages and backgrounds than the typical US 4-year school where you would stick out like a sore thumb if you started as a freshman at age 21). Your European background and education mean that you will know plenty of stuff that the North American 20-year-olds won’t know.</p>
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<p>Yeah, I’ll definitely call McGill first thing Monday. I appreciate the encouraging words.</p>
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<p>emm… Why did you take SAT’s ? Only people coming from US High Schools must take them.</p>
<p>Your grades…If you got C in a prerequisite, then sorry(</p>
<p>No, if you want to apply to a North American university as an international and you come from a regular high school in your own country - not IB or anything else fancy - you usually do have to take either the SATs or the ACT to give the university an idea of your academic level.</p>
<p>I got straight As in both physics and mathematics. The subject I got a C in is a subject called “Construction & Energy” - basically construction engineering. That reminds me: Are all the major science subjects - chemistry, biology and physics - prerequisites for the Science programme at McGill, or is it only one of them?</p>