Ask a McGill Alumnus

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
101

<p>

</p>

<p>It’s very diverse but not necessarily in terms of skin color, more in cultural background. I met people from (in alphabetical order, hopefully) Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Irak, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuweit, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, US, UK, Venezuela, Viet Nam. I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch, and a lot of “locals” had completely different backgrounds. So, no, diversity does not mean all asians, but from a US point of view a decent amount counts as “white”.</p>

102

<p>Agree with blobof, even local students from Montreal are a very diverse group ethnically.</p>

<p>As for sports:
[Badminton</a> (W)](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/athletics/varsitysports/teamshome/badminton_w/]Badminton”>http://www.mcgill.ca/athletics/varsitysports/teamshome/badminton_w/)
Intercollegiate sports at McGill and other Canadian schools are not big time. The “big game” on campus may not be the McGill-Queen’s football or hockey game but rather the Management Faculty-Engineering Faculty intramural football game (those engineering students can be brutal!)</p>

103

<p>From “The Daily Princetonian”, the student newspaper of Princeton University, thanks to fellow alum klmnop</p>

<p>Sunday, February 21, 2010
Orange and Apples: McGill</p>

<p>With the world focused on Canada for the Olympics, now is a perfect time to look north for a Canadian school for Orange and Apples. Rachel Parsons, a graduate student in Philosophy, attended McGill University and provides a comparison with Princeton.</p>

<p>I’m a Princeton grad student, and I hail from Montreal, where I attended McGill for both my B.A. and my B.C.L./LL.B., an analog to the J.D. here in the United States. If you’re trying to decide between attending Princeton or McGill for your undergraduate years, I hope to be able to offer some helpful information mixed in with an opinion or two.</p>

<p>First of all, it depends on what you are looking for. Do you want to find a sense of independence during your college years? Do you want to live in an interesting and unique city with incredible diversity? Do you want to be part of a rich academic culture that includes professional schools for law, medicine, dentistry and business? Then you should go to McGill.</p>

<p>On the other hand, do you prefer a small, secluded college experience, where you live in a very wealthy town, you are never alone, you have oodles of support, and things are made easier for you? Do you prefer to live on campus, always feel safe and spend every waking moment basking in the life that the university has tailor-made for you? Then you should go to Princeton.</p>

<p>These universities are like night and day. If I had to find some similarities, it would be that both places offer an excellent education and place a primacy on student wellbeing. An important difference, though, is that at Princeton the students are treated more like consumers: The university exists for its undergrads, and all resources are directly or indirectly devoted to them. McGill is highly devoted to its undergraduates and offers them all the same important advantages as Princeton, but one gets the sense that the institution exists primarily for something beyond them: Admitted undergrads are being offered an opportunity to partake in something that would somehow exist without them. </p>

<p>The end result in either case, so long as you work hard and are open-minded, is a second-to-none education, but depending on your personality, you might thrive better in one environment over the other. I think that, in principle anyway, Princeton students generally have more access to professors, partially because it’s such a small place, and partially because professors often lead at least one precept for their class and generally tend to be more involved in student life and development. However, I recall the Arts Dean at McGill saying that her greatest wish for all the new students was that each would build a mentor relationship with at least one professor before they leave. This is certainly what happened for me. Thus perhaps a more stark example of the difference in environment is what happens when a student’s grades are sliding and she or he is in danger of failing a course. At Princeton, all sorts of people will be put on alert, and someone will contact the student. At McGill this won’t happen, at least not as a matter of course, and if the student doesn’t contact her professors she will likely end up on probation. There are committees that she can talk to after the fact to explain, document and rectify the situation — e.g., if there was a death in the family, or the student was suffering from a medical condition, etc. — so fairness is not comprised, but there isn’t the close-knit supervision of students that you will find at Princeton. </p>

<p>As for the social situations at each school, I lived with my family for some of my time at McGill, so I didn’t have the full social experience, but I get the sense that you will encounter less elitism at McGill than at Princeton. There are no elite “eating clubs” at McGill, though there are some small-time sororities and fraternities if you’re into that. Beyond that, there is room to find whatever you are looking for; students make friends in residence during their first year, and after that they live in apartments, cook for themselves and get involved by joining clubs and participating in SSMU activities (SSMU is the Student Society of McGill University, and it is extremely active). I loved my time at McGill, and from what I gather undergraduates love their time here at Princeton. So it’s all about what kind of experience you are looking for and what kind of environment you think you will thrive in.</p>

104

<p>I just checked my application status
and I got “Admitted pending final result”
What does that mean?
Is this a conditional offer that if I got good result in my finals then I will be accepted?
Or I am already accepted?
I feel confused.
If I accept the offer, and I fall in my finals , what will happen?
Do I need to accept the offer as soon as possible to prevent that there s no more quota for me?</p>

105

<p>Admission Decisions</p>

<p>Admitted</p>

<p>You have been accepted to the program specified.</p>

<p>Admitted pending final results</p>

<p>You have been accepted to the program specified. Details are indicated in your letter of acceptance. Please arrange for final academic results to be sent as soon as they are available. You can verify the required documents on your Checklist.</p>

<p>Admitted with condition</p>

<p>You have been conditionally accepted to the program specified. The condition(s) will be indicated in/with your letter of acceptance.</p>

<p>Appeal/Reconsideration Denied</p>

<p>Your request for reconsideration or appeal has been reviewed and the original admission decision has not changed.</p>

<p>Cancelled by applicant</p>

<p>Your application for the program specified has been cancelled at your request.</p>

<p>Cancelled by University</p>

<p>Your application for the program specified has been cancelled as your application was incomplete after the deadline had passed or was submitted after the application deadline.</p>

<p>Deferral request under review</p>

<p>Your request to defer your registration until a later term has been received. A decision will be made shortly.</p>

<p>Further Review Required</p>

<p>Undergraduate students: We are unable to make an admission decision as your file is still incomplete. Please verify your Checklist and submit requirements as soon as possible. Once the missing requirement(s) is received, your file will be reviewed again.</p>

<p>Graduate students: Your file is under review by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Please allow approximately 15 working days for the decision to be rendered.</p>

<p>Name confirmed on waiting list</p>

<p>We have received your confirmation that you wish to remain on the waiting list and will advise you if a space becomes available.</p>

<p>Offer of admission accepted</p>

<p>Your acceptance of the offer of admission for the program specified has been received. Please follow the instructions concerning registration that accompanied your letter of admission.</p>

<p>Offer of admission declined</p>

<p>You have declined our offer of admission for the program specified.</p>

<p>Offer Withdrawn</p>

<p>Your conditional offer of admission has been withdrawn as you did not meet the conditions specified in your decision letter.</p>

<p>Offer withdrawn after deadline</p>

<p>The offer of admission for this program has been withdrawn as you did not accept the offer by the deadline.</p>

<p>Recommended by Department</p>

<p>The department to which you have applied has recommended you for admission. This decision is subject to review and final decision by the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office. You will be advised shortly of the final decision.</p>

<p>Refused</p>

<p>You have not been admitted. See your decision letter for further details or contact the appropriate Admissions Office.</p>

<p>Refused - 2nd review possible</p>

<p>You have not been admitted because your interim academic results fall below our admission requirements. Upon your request, your file can be reconsidered on receipt of final academic results. Requests can only be made AFTER final results are available. See your decision letter for further details.</p>

<p>Refused - academic req’t not met</p>

<p>You have not been admitted because your grades and/or test score results do not meet the minimum requirements for admission to the specified program.</p>

<p>Refused - ineligible</p>

<p>You have not been admitted as you are ineligible for admission based on the academic background shown in the information received.</p>

<p>Refused - ltd space available</p>

<p>While your overall record (and audition/interview, where applicable) meets our requirements, due to the large number of applicants, the extremely competitive nature of our programs, and space limitations, we are unable to offer you admission.</p>

<p>Refused - language req’t not met</p>

<p>You have not been admitted as you did not successfully meet the language requirements for this program.</p>

<p>Refused - missing prerequisite</p>

<p>You have not been admitted as you are missing prerequisites for your specified program. See your decision letter for further details.</p>

<p>Refused - missing requirement</p>

<p>You have not been admitted as you did not complete a required admissions examination/interview/audition.</p>

<p>Refused - requirement not met</p>

<p>You have not been admitted as your audition/portfolio/interview did not meet the level for a degree or diploma program. For applicants to Composition, this could include your sample of works.</p>

<p>Request for deferral granted</p>

<p>Your request to defer your registration until a later term has been granted. A new letter of admission will be sent to you.</p>

<p>Reviewed - decision pending</p>

<p>All necessary documents have been received and your application has been reviewed but a decision cannot be made at this time. Most decisions will be made by the decision release deadline posted on our website. For CEGEP students only: We are unable to make a decision until courses in progress have been completed. Please see your decision letter for further details.</p>

<p>Under Appeal/Reconsideration</p>

<p>We have received your request for reconsideration or appeal and your file is currently under review.</p>

<p>Under Review</p>

<p>We have not yet made a decision on your application. Please check the Requirements section to ensure that all your documents have been received.</p>

<p>Waiting list</p>

<p>You have been placed on a waiting list for your specified program. In order to ensure further consideration of your file, please confirm your intention to remain on the waiting list.</p>

106

<p>Would you guys recommend inter faculty or the faculty of science bio/bio-med. I would to pursue pharmacy in the future. As of now however, I have only been accepted into inter faculty and not the faculty of science which is still shown as Reviewed decision pending. Is this typical? I heard that inter faculty is supposed to be alot harder. Thanks for your advice in advance!</p>

107

<p>What exactly is the interfaculty, I’m not familiar with the term.</p>

108

<p>It’s a mixed program where you get both bachelor of art/ science</p>

109

<p>Do you mean the “Bachelor of Arts & Science” program?</p>

110

<p>Yes sir xp</p>

111

<p>the interfaculty is generally considered more difficult because they accept fewer applicants… science being the second largest behind arts. however, it is possible that science is stricter about the individual course/grade requirements.</p>

<p>If you already got into one of them, congrats, you can pursue bio courses within art/sci very easily. Its likely you will get into both, but i have no idea, stranger things have happened at mcgill.</p>

112

<p>Does anyone know how selective their nursing program is?</p>

113

<p>Hello everybody !</p>

<p>I am not sure if I am posting in the right section, so feel free to remove it.
Well, I have just been accepted to the Faculty of Arts, and my question is : how good/known/respected are the Political Sciences at McGill ? :)</p>

<p>Thank you for your help. :D</p>

114

<p>I am not really familiar with the political science department per se. However, you will have the opportunity to study and experience the parliamentary system in Canada, if you choose. Canadian, and especially Quebec, politics is quite different from American politics. For one thing, it is quite raucous! The poli sci department offers courses on Canadian, American, and international politics, especially developing countries. You should take their course on Quebec politics! One year it is offered in English, the next year it is offered in French. It is an eyeopener.</p>

<p>Anyone else have specfiic knowledge of poli sci?</p>

115

<p>Three (hopefully) quick questions:</p>

<ol>
<li>Did you [anyone who might know] pay the application fee with a US credit card and just swallow the extra exhange fee?</li>
<li>I recall a poster mentioning buying a CAD ETF to hedge against swings in the exchange rate. Has anyone done this?</li>
<li>What do you know about the math department?</li>
</ol>

116

<p>Im definitely (most probably?) going into the poli sci major too. While of course I dont know first hand about the course, from what Ive gathered it seems to have decent courses. Im comparing it to Georgetowns SFS, which I believe to have superior classes in all things politial science and international studies. At McGill there are minors in Political Science of Political Theory, International realtions, Comparative governmentand politics, and Canadian Politics. <a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/politicalscience/research/”>http://www.mcgill.ca/politicalscience/research/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The class that is first yea english, second yr french sounds really cool!
And again I know nothing of the strength of the courses but at least the description sounds interesting…</p>

117

<p>So how selective is McGill’s nursing program?</p>

118

<p>Well thanks. :slight_smile:
I hope the 2nd year is not only in French (or I hope i’ll be able to switch) as I am French myself. ^^</p>

<p>I guess that what’s important when undergraduating is the name of the Uni. What do you want to do next ?</p>

<p>And anyone else knows something about Pol Science ?</p>

119

<p>Oh another question… following research into McGill… I read that grade deflation is a big issue that people are concerned about. Do you guys know exactly how severe is the issue compared with other schools like UoT or UBC? Because I want to enter medicine or pharmacy, both of which requires relatively high undergrad GPAs</p>

120

<p>I can only speak for Management 10 years ago. Grade deflation was not an issue then in that faculty. For what it’s worth, my final GPA at McGill was .20 higher than my brother’s GPA at Boston University and we both were in management. </p>

<p>klmnop would have a more up to date opinion for life sciences.</p>