Ask a McGill Alumnus

<p>@iwtgim
1-Not sure but the admissions office is familiar with many US high schools, especially in the Northeast and I have been told that the competitiveness of these schools is factored in. The website says that the GPA McGill computes may not be the GPA that is shown on the transcript. I’m not sure how that works though.
2-Only one application can be submitted but it allows for you to choose two faculties with a first and second choice designation e.g. Science and Agriculture/Environment
3-I’d say don’t delay submitting but the highest score received will be what is considered.</p>

<p>Don’t know if anyone has asked this yet, but I’m interested in McGill for the french side of montreal. I know that the university in english, but assuming I’ve taken ap french in high school, do you think I could become fluent living in Montreal? I realize that most people speak french and english in montreal. but would it be similar to studying abroad in a french speaking country?</p>

<p>If you want to learn French via a real-life immersion method, Montreal is not the place. Too many people there speak English, and you will not be immersed in the French language.</p>

<p>Instead, go to one of the small towns in Quebec where French-speakers are more common.</p>

<p>It is possible to go from American high school French to near fluency in Montr</p>

<p>Dear Knowledgeable people, I would like to thank all of you for taking so much of your personal time to reply on this board. </p>

<p>I am now going to bombard you with my own questions. </p>

<p>How strong is McGill’s math programme compared to U of Toronto/Waterloo’s?
Are these differences even significant at the undergrad level?
I’m hoping to take Honours applied math with a second major in Econ/Finance, how do-able is this combination?
How does the Honours programme work at Mcgill? (how do you get in to it)
What industries in and around Montreal employ applied math/econ majors?</p>

<p>on my minerva account it said that mcgill recieved my AP test scores (which were abbysmall, 1 and 2s, yikes!) but on the application i didn’t designate that i wanted to submit those tests as part of my application. should i be worried these will hurt my chances?
also my french teacher who grew up in france offered to write a letter of rec in french, will it help my app at all? and is the plateau a good place to live to learn french fluently?
i’m pretty much putting all my eggs in mcgill, 2050 SAT 30 ACT and 4.0 gpa, will i be disapointed beyond belief in january by the science and management programs?
sorry for the llong questions, thank you for your time though.</p>

<p>@brood…
Sorry, not familiar with the math department.</p>

<p>@McGillHopeful
I doubt if AP scores are factored into the admission decision, good or bad scores, either way.
Letters of rec are only required for major scholarships. A letter in French would not help per se, the content would be more important.
I lived in the Plateau my last two years at McGill, it is predominantly francophone with a lot of students moving in from McGill, UdeM and UQAM. The area is French enough that you could immerse yourself but as I mentioned earlier, you have to focus on it. The presence of English in Montr</p>

<p>i keep reading that the addmission rate at McGill is 45%-50%. is this true? if it is such a competitive school, why is this number so incredibly high?</p>

<p>That is the correct acceptance rate range. It varies from 25-30% in Science and Management to I think about 60% in Agriculture/Environment. Keep in mind that McGill is a publicly funded private university. It is more comparable to say the University of Michigan (acceptance rate 50% per USNews) than to the top private universities in the US. </p>

<p>Also, unlike most American schools, McGill publishes minimum SAT/ACT, GPA etc. requirements for applicants:
[Admissions</a> standards for previous years](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/counsellors/us-counsellors/admissionsstandards/]Admissions”>http://www.mcgill.ca/counsellors/us-counsellors/admissionsstandards/)
Similar lists are published for students coming from other jurisdictions. (The Canadian secondary education systems are quite different than the American system, especially in Ontario and Quebec (CEGEP). If a student is below that cutoff, it is likely not worth applying.</p>

<p>broodjebakpao</p>

<p>One of my best friend is in honours math. Waterloo has the best math program; in fact, it is head and shoulders above the rest. It is comparable to MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford. And it is better than all the other Ivies schools. U of T is slightly better than mcgill too, but much lower than Waterloo.</p>

<p>The differences are probably not significant at the undergrad level. But the great math geniuses will be at Waterloo so if you are one of them there will be more opportunities there.</p>

<p>Yes, there is a Joint Honours program Math and Economics (probably one of the hardest thing at mcgill and certainly the most respectable and prestigious). Also a joint honours economics and finance (which i am in). It is definitely doable, but you have to put in a lot of work if you are not a math genius. If you are, then not so much. The hardest class is probably honours analysis and algebra. Take them in your 2nd year and see if you can handle it.</p>

<p>No application is needed to get into honours. You just select it on Minerva.</p>

<p>Finance, insurance (actuaries) and much more.</p>

<p>McGillHopeful,</p>

<p>mcgill is not “that” competitive. It is probably comparable to a good state school.</p>

<p>

[quote=tomofboston]
While Montr</p>

<p>Does McGill super score the ACT? I’m concerned mostly for the scholarships. I have a 32, but if it is super scored than I would have a 33 and meet the minimum requirements.</p>

<p>When is the best time to apply? I know that the fall 2010 undergrad application has been released, but would applying now be “too early”? I heard that American applicants don’t hear back until late January.</p>

<p>ladywillow, mcgill does not superscore.</p>

<p>brighteyes93, just apply whenever you are ready except the last minute.</p>

<p>ok i applied to science and management on my first application, but i also want to apply to arts. Do i start another application altogether, or is there a link or something on minerva to apply to more faculties?</p>

<p>only 2 programs, I am afraid. </p>

<p>What are you trying to do, unless you are doing behavioral finance from a psychology perspective, I am having a hard time seeing how you can straddle three faculties.</p>

<p>well idk what i want to do. and since science and management are more competitive i want something to fall back on, hence wanting to apply to the faculty of arts as well.</p>

<p>Hi everyone! Tom, I wanted to ask if you know anything about how hard or how easy for that matter it is to go to medical school from mcgill whether it’s in canada or the usa. Understandably, US med schools may not appreciate the lower GPAs but is mcgill’s deflation considered when applying to Canadian Medical Schools at least? I’m planning on doing either life sciences or natural sciences (math, chemistry, physics) – how difficult is it to maintain a good GPA at McGill, and I mean through genuine effort. If I were to place out of the general bio/chem/phys and math classes using AP credit, are the upper level class sizes acceptable and anonymous as well or are they more specialized and more personal? How would being in an honours program be different than the regular program in say physiology – other than being more rigorous? Lastly, is it at all possible to become a permanent resident for the purposes of tuition reduction in your 2nd or 3rd year at McGill?</p>

<p>@Osceola
There was a recent premed grad “klmnop” who wrote a lot of posts in this thread. He has not been active for the past three months though. Take a look back on this thread and read his posts. You may also try to private message him. He was planning on entering Tufts University this fall so he may not be looking at CC. I was in Management so I am not familiar with the Science faculty.</p>

<p>I graduated with a high GPA. I worked my tail off but I also managed to have a great time in Montr</p>