<p>tomofboston thanks for answering any queries that I had. I visited the campus and I was sold like a sucker.</p>
<p>I have a question about finances =P</p>
<p>How did you manage to get around with money matters? Did you get a credit card at nearby bank or simply carried cash/checks around? The first thing to do will most probably be opening up an account, but how did your parents send you the money? Or did you finance your studies yourself?</p>
<p>I’m also curious about the clothing. I’m from a tropical country so snow is alien to me heh
I watched a trailer and the business students were mostly in elegant clothing and suits (I guess it’s just marketing for the video?), is informal clothing appropriate?</p>
<p>I was a student at McGill from 1995 to 1999. I opened a checking account at Bank of Montreal to pay regular bills. This was especially useful starting second year when I lived off campus. My parents made deposits into the account. I used an American credit card that my parents paid directly. That would no longer be a good practice as U.S. credit card companies now charge an international conversion fee of $2 to $3 per transaction. You may want to get a Canadian credit card. (I knew not to abuse the credit card by the way.) I received a scholarship that covered virtually all tuition costs so my parents didn’t mind paying most of my living expenses. </p>
<p>As for clothing, McGill students tend to dress stylishly, management students more “formally” if I remember correctly. Maybe because the school is in the middle of downtown Montreal, the typical “collegiate grundge” look (tee shirt and torn jeans) is rarely seen on campus. Desautels students go for the business casual or “preppy” style of clothing. In the winter, it is all covered up with heavy coats, scarves and wool caps though. Also, get at least one pair of WATERPROOF winter boots.</p>
<p>That’s really good info. Thanks!</p>
<p>i can offer some updates on life at McGill, secondhand. my child is a U1 in a hard-science field. Classes in U0 and U1 sciences are very large. Some of the lecturing faculty is excellent, some is pathetically awful (my child had a pretty bad experience with most of the math classes s/he has taken so far, and a mix of so-so and fabulous for the rest). </p>
<p>it’s harder to be accepted to the faculty of sciences than to most of the rest of McGill. It’s also harder to do well. But if you do work hard and keep up with your school work, you end up with a great education. You can choose to aim for a ‘plain old’ bachelor’s degree in your subject, or a degree with honors (which means you took more courses in yr concentration and did well in them) or a degree with high honors (even more courses, etc.) So, there’s plenty of room for demonstrating to grad schools/med schools etc what the quality of your degree is…There is a real problem with advising ESPECIALLY about some important science/math pre-req sequences in U0. Be aware, get as much advice/info as possible from older students in yr faculty, etc. </p>
<p>Student life - yes, there are people who go clubbing and basically live like wealthy entitled prep school graduates. But that is just one available social set/style. My child made friends in Res, now lives in the Plateau w/2 roommates, most of hir friends (all from same year in Res) also live there. They have apartment-parties on the weekends – beer, video games, loud music, stupid stunts. ( I hope they don’t get drunk enough to be sick afterwards. Probably just a parent thing.) S/he and hir roommates don’t have enough money to eat out regularly - they share grocery shopping and cooking.</p>
<p>My kid does not know any french - maybe has learned diff between entre / sortie by now. i certainly think learning french would be a worthwhile thing to do, but not knowing any has not impacted kid’s life.</p>
<p>Student Gov’t is indeed a great activity - lots of ways to get involved. Also, IM sports, departmental clubs, many more.</p>
<p>On-campus jobs and pointers to summer jobs/internships/research have not been easy for my kid - not having Financial Aid means you are not eligible for funding for many on-campus jobs, working off-campus is not legal. S/he says even unpaid research positions in labs are very hard to get before U2. This stuff would be a lot more straightforward and available for hir at a typical comparable US Campus, whether public or private.</p>
<p>In short, my child has loved their time at McGill so far and does not regret for a minute choosing it over some very good (not Ivy, but def. top 50) private and public choices in the States. I personally am not 100% convinced that we always get our money’s worth there, but my kid is making it work and is very happy, so that’s the bottom line.</p>
<p>Oh yeah - one of my child’s roommates is bilingual. The set of friends includes internationals, non-Quebec Canadians and Northeast U.S. The Canadians in general have pretty good French.</p>
<p>memake-</p>
<p>Thanks for the update. In case anyone was wondering, Canadian schools do not use the terms Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior. At McGill it is offically U0, U1, U2 and U3. Quebec students have a three year undergraduate program due to the CEGEP system and do U1, U2 and U3. Virtually all students from outside Quebec, both Canadian and international, have a four year program. U0 is Freshman year for these students. It is often referred to as first year, second year etc. by students.</p>
<p>not everybody! i’m a first-year student from the boston area, and i’m U1 because I took some AP tests and ended up with 28 credits— so now I’m level with quebec students and am skipping the ‘freshman program’, and will (probably) graduate in 3 years. it’s definitely something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Hmmm… I will have 58 credits when I enter McGill… I wonder how many they will actually accept…</p>
<p>30 credits max:</p>
<p>[Advanced</a> Placement Examinations](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/students/transfercredit/prospective/ap/]Advanced”>Advanced Placement Examinations | Transfer Credit & Advanced Standing - McGill University)</p>
<p>Yeah, but I’m sure some of the credits will not transfer because they don’t match up with classes McGill offers.</p>
<p>Unless you have plans for graduate school or professional school immediately after receiving your bachelor’s degree, or unless finances are a major issue, I would recommend not rushing through or compressing your undegrad years. Use the elimination of first year courses through AP to take electives in areas that interest you and maybe even build a second major into your four years. Even if you are planning on grad school, use the freed up course slots to take more courses in your major. If you are invited to take an honors program, there is little room for electives in a three year program. </p>
<p>You will be in the “real world” soon enough, don’t rush it unless you have to.</p>
<p>I totally agree with you. That was the main reason I decided to take college classes in high school, to be able to free up some space to possibly double major or at least minor in another field. I definitely do not want to rush college, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on what to major in (business area), as an international student and based on your work experience?</p>
<p>I had previously thought about accounting, for example, but it seems I can’t be a Chartered Accountant if I’m not Canadian resident and, well, my country does not value accountancy that much (especially if I don’t have a title equivalent to US CPA) since it’s still a country in development.</p>
<p>I would basically like insight on what could open doors for me to work abroad since opportunities in my region (Central America) aren’t that broad. Any insight is appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>Iam a Canadian Citizen but going to school in America.</p>
<p>Does that improve my chances against an American Citizen who wants to go to McGill??</p>
<p>Btw, how good r my chances at 2200 SAT 3.8 Unweighted</p>
<p>750+ 4 subject tests
Thanks!</p>
<p>@AndrewWheat:</p>
<p>When I started at Desautels, I had no idea what field of business to specialize in. I eventually majored in International Business as those courses interested me. I never imagined that my first job would be with a French bank. You should study what interests you, not what might get you your first job. McGill has a strong International Development program in Arts. Some courses in that area may be of interest to you. In Desautels, you are not required, at least when I was there, to declare a major until the end of first year. </p>
<p>I am not familiar with the requirements to become a CA in Canada. But the CA designation is fully equivalent to the American CPA designation. </p>
<p>@JayJay:</p>
<p>I believe that your admissability is judged by the educational syetem you are in, in your case, you will be judged along with American applicants. I am not sure if your Canadian citizenship will give you an extra boost. Except in Medicine, McGill does not have quotas that limit international or out of province admissions.</p>
<p>From your stats, I’d say that you have an excellent chance of admission to all but some fields in Science and Engineering. From what I have read on this forum, Life Sciences for example appears to be approaching Ivy League standards in terms of admission difficulty. Even in those fields, I think you have a good chance of getting in. </p>
<p>Anyone else have opinions?</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight, tombofboston.</p>
<p>I had no idea I could be undeclared until end of first year, that makes me feel a lot better.</p>
<p>Pros and Cons for a US student?</p>
<p>I feel like a Con might be the weather and as a US student, If I go back to the US to find a job Mc.Gill might not be as “known” or “famous” in the united states</p>
<p>and pro and con ideas?</p>
<p>By the way:</p>
<p>I know schools look for more than just one thing, so I am wondering what the average American student needs to get into McGill U in Canada.</p>
<p>I’ve been looking at a few schools and this one has been on my list for a while, I want to learn more about it so that I can know what goals I need to make to get in.</p>
<p>What do I need for SATs? What about ACTs? How many subject tests (and min. scores)? Class rank? GPA (do they care more about weighted or unweighted)?</p>
<p>I heard that Mc.Gill is more into numbers than the activities. So do you think the following would be of less importance?:
Extra curricular activities (volunteer hours)? Class Curriculum? Work or out-of-school experiences? Essays? Recommendations?</p>
<p>Please give me any information about each of those topics I mentioned. I came to College confidential to get more in depth information then what might be found online, so anything extra you can tell me would be great!</p>
<p>I heard Mc.Gill was one of the top Canadian school “Its undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools consistently ranks the top university in national rankings such as those published by Maclean’s, and among the top 50 universities in regional and worldwide rankings, including the Times Higher Education (THE) - QS World University Rankings and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities.” So I was surprised when I found out that the “Percent applicants admitted is 54%”. This is because top American Ivy league schools have a 7% -19% applicants admitted, so I was expecting Mc.gill to have the same low percentage. Why is that?</p>
<p>Thank you for your time, I sincerely appreciate it!</p>
<p>Also, you were talking about certain fields such as Science and Engineering, Life Sciences, and medicine being harder to get into? </p>
<p>I have no Idea about any fields of any sort that they offer really, where can I get more information about the fields and how hard it is to get into Mc.gill with that field?</p>
<p>My ultimate goal is to be in the medical field.</p>
<p>McGill is ENTIRELY into numbers. They don’t care at all about extracurriculars, essays, or recommendations. They have such a high acceptance rate because unlike American universities they have minimum requirements for test scores/GPA, so naturally only people who meet these requirements apply (for the most part), resulting in a higher acceptance rate. That isn’t to say that if you meet the bare requirements you’re automatically accepted though.</p>