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<p>@qcmaudelemaire</p>
<p>That’s just it. People ARE leaving the province. In droves. That’s why the “brain drain” is a particular problem in Quebec.</p>
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<p>??? The McGill Daily is an independent student run newspaper that is not owned by the university. Where did you get this seemingly bizarre information? </p>
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<p>This is the case with all public medical schools in North America. Out of province or out of state applicants need higher stats if they are allowed to apply at all.</p>
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<p>Maybe the Harvard and Johns Hopkins faculty know something that you failed to learn.</p>
<p>@tomofboston</p>
<p>Well, I may have misinterpreted the article, however the article states:</p>
<p>“The legality of this transaction has been under scrutiny due to the fact that the previous owner was a student society. However, the McGill administration happily accepted the money on behalf of McGill students.” -Page 22 of the Monday, February 7, 2011 edition of the McGill Daily</p>
<p>@violindad</p>
<p>The feeling I get of “unfriendly-ness” from the University comes from the administration as well as the students. Sure, I have met some wonderful people here; possibly some of my best friends now are students I met at McGill. But I still feel that the students here are generally unfriendly. I am not the most outgoing person ever, but I find it hard to make friends here. It could just be me. However, the students here definitely form cliques very quickly. And it is very apparent. I am not sure if it is because of the large international population, but I think that could be a reason. Even during frosh week, when I suspected there were many people like myself who came to McGill not knowing anyone, I noticed that people were already hanging out with their cliques, and seemed very closed off to others. But maybe this was simply because of the level of intoxication everyone was at…</p>
<p>Anyways, I don’t seem to find McGill a friendly place.</p>
<p>My sister will be applying to mcgill next year and I am a first year student in new rez.</p>
<p>Pros:
I have had an outstanding math teacher this year. Probably one top two teachers in my life.
So many opportunities for social science research
Gym/sports facilities are great
Great social atmosphere
You become an adult by dealing with a lot of mature decisions (at least as a US student)
still cheaper than Ivies</p>
<p>DIVERSITY i have friends from Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, Trinidad, Moldova, and the UK just to name a few. no american school minus maybe harvard can tout that! half the time i will sit down for dinner and i am the only person from north america</p>
<p>Montreal is the chillest city ever weed and alcohol wise. </p>
<p>cons:
health care system is slowq and overloaded
bureacracy but its not as bad as it is made out to be
a lot of canadians / mostly quebecois are dumb they think CEGEP is the **** and that they know it all
admissions standards for internationals is so much higher so non-Canadians really run the school</p>
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True, you learned as I did not to trusy Ted Kennedy, michael Moore and other Americans who recmmend that the perfect Canadian health care system be adopted in the US. Bost systems are deeply flawed.</p>
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Most students who complain about McGill’s bureaucracy heve never attended other huge institutions. Bureaucracy exists.</p>
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A very harsh term. Admission standards for Qu</p>
<p>^Lot of typos, sorry!</p>
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<p>Relax. Harvard and Johns Hopkins faculty know McGill’s reputation, e.g. from rankings, and probably some of McGill’s more prominent researchers. Nonetheless, McGill has many faults and I acknowledge that.</p>
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<p>Most of my friends are internationals and out-of-province students. The clique-ishness seems to be more of a Quebec thing. They’re (mostly) from the Montreal area, knew each other from CEGEP (or CEGEP rivalry), and many don’t seem to care about making new friends.</p>
<p>There does seem to be less ra-ra school spirit at McGill though, so I kind of understand where you’re coming from. But Redmen & Martlet games are still fun!</p>
<p>Well, colleges all have their cons. But do the pros at McGill outweigh the cons? I feel like there are too many negative points about McGill on here. What are the positive aspects??</p>
<p>Econgrad seems to hate McGill yet he doesn’t transfer. Have you visited Montreal? CC tends to attract people with extreme views. Either they loved it (me) or they hate it (econgrad). brown14 listed some of the pros.</p>
<p>Well, what I’m really worried about is the professors and the classes. I would like school spirit, and from my point of view, I find it hard to believe that a college with so many people can have little school spirit.</p>
<p>I’m also worried about what friends I will make. I don’t really like alcohol much probably because I haven’t grown on it.</p>
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Don’t take it so personally. Quebec is pretty corrupt and it’s unfortunate that McGill, as an English school, has to suffer because of politics.</p>
<p>But I agree with the second part.</p>
<p>For people coming to CC to figure out whether to attend a particular college or not, I think it should be all taken with a grain of salt. CC is informative, but as one person stated it has some extreme opinions. The right fit in a college for one person may not be the right fit for another. McGill’s different departments and campuses also have different cultures. As with any experience, it is in part what you make of it. To go to McGill (downtown campus), a person should want to go to a large university in a very busy city with a different cultural flavor. Montreal, I read somewhere, was rated the third top college city in North America. If you go to McGill, you should ask yourself if you want to go to Montreal…</p>
<p>Like: The science programs are great, many things to do in and around Montreal, very relaxed community.</p>
<p>Dislike: The bureaucracy ensures that you won’t get anything done, the freshman program (for science) is not structured well at all, mostly apathetic students, no real writing experience for science students (at least not first year).
Also, an A is an 85+. This may be a plus for some people, but when you realize there’s nothing to distinguish your 95% work over someone who barely gets an 85% in a class, it doesn’t help your motivation to do well.</p>
<p>To add a bit more, I’m a first-year student from the U.S. and am planning to transfer back to the U.S. next year. It seems very easy to “fall through the cracks” at McGill: unlike a private U.S. university that will take the time to make sure you’re heading in the right direction depending on your interests, you’re basically on your own at McGill. This can be nice for independent-minded students, but you shouldn’t expect much help from the advisors or faculty in this regard.</p>
<p>After I decided to transfer, I realized that most students from the U.S. that I talked to had this thought at least once, like something was wrong for all of them at McGill. I’m not saying this to bad-mouth the university, but it doesn’t seem like this should happen at a normal school.</p>
<p>Tsubaki,</p>
<p>Transferring out could well be the best decision for you. As has been stated many times previously, McGill is not the best place if you need your hand held.</p>
<p>Both my children, in the early stages of their time at McGill wondered whether they had made the right choice. But both (with a little encouragement from me) decided that having made their own bed so to speak they would work through their issues.</p>
<p>One of my children, one year in, did a 180 degree career switch deciding to get into investment banking. It meant changing courses, adding in a heap of summer school, scrambling to get some relevant internships etc. During this process I asked about getting help from advisors/profs and the answer I got was: Theyre academics, what would they know! </p>
<p>The challenges were worked through and the goal was accomplished nine months after graduating from McGill. </p>
<p>So as a student you are not on your own at McGill, its just you need to be the prime mover in working things out and making things happen. Really its just like real life only it comes four years earlier at McGill than some other colleges.</p>
<p>This is not to say that it should be this way, but given the politics and the funding its the way it is now.</p>
<p>I agree with singers. Hand holding is definitely not available at McGill, but that does not mean opportunity isn’t. My son is a recent graduate of McGill (Faculty of Science) and currently working at a top U.S. research hospital. I have four other children who are attending or graduated from reputable US universities. While they are all happy with their choices, I would trade the US handholding for the McGill education any day. As singers indicated, you may need to be the ‘prime mover’ at McGill, but it is well worth it and has certainly better prepared my son for the real world.</p>
<p>I can’t help but chime in here.</p>
<p>There is an incessant obsession with prestige and perception - one thing that people have to realize is that with the exception of a few (US) schools, these effects are largely regional. Companies tend to recruit from local pool + a few tier 1 institutions. If you have a particular market, career, or region in mind you’ll be best served by getting as close to it as possible, as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Insofar as McGill’s admission “double” standards - I personally see no issue with it. McGill is a public university located in the province of Quebec, its primary (educational) mandate is not to teach all the international / out of province students in the world, but rather to cater to the local populace whose taxes will pay for its existence in the future (since they are more likely to stay long term).</p>
<p>My first hand experience regarding domestic vs. foreign students has been that both categories can excel or flounder academically. I think the strength of McGill is not in keeping people out, but keeping people honest. I know a few folks who got through it, but did not put in the requisite effort and finished with GPAs in the 2.0 range. If you find your classmates are not your intellectual equals, look into an Honors program or a more quantitative curriculum. Without wanting to ruffle any feathers, the analytical rigor of a program will generally play more of a role in how “smart” its students are than the university they are at.</p>
<p>One of the things that always puzzles me a bit is the comments about lack of “hand holding”. I don’t quite know what people expect - personally I went through a program and faculty change simply by filling in the requisite online applications and managed to finish my degree without ever talking to an advisor. Which was great - because the academic advisors can’t have first hand recent/relevant experience with all the programs and can do little more than recite the academic calendar and some vague platitudes. Good riddance. </p>
<p>As far as people’s friendliness and socializing - the reality is that at McGill (or anywhere else) it is UP TO YOU. If you were never a social butterfly, you will likely find it difficult to form these relationships through college too, be it at McGill or otherwise. Montreal does pretty much offer an A+ college social scene (i.e. the usual parties, clubs, substance abuse, and every other stereotype you can think of). If you want to have fun, you can.</p>
<p>There is obviously a culture shock going from high school to a large university with an international character - but in many ways it is good for you, because let me tell you, it is NOTHING like the culture shock you will get if you enter the corporate world in a mere few years.</p>
<p>So stop bickering and enjoy your student time… while you have it 
Carpe diem!</p>
<p>I love you Perpetual Student…</p>
<p>I have input.</p>
<p>It seems like a lot of the replies say that if you don’t enjoy drinking and smoking excessively, you won’t have a good time. I highly disagree with this. I don’t do either that much, just once a week (IF THAT) and I’m still having an amazing time here. The friends I’ve met are great, I love the classes I’m taking (I’m a Middle East Studies major) and most of the professors I’ve had have been driven and excited to teach. I’m also involved in a few clubs here, Cinema Politica and the McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peacebuilding being my main focuses. I was also on the Quidditch team last semester. I have a prety active social life, but still manage to balance school work fairly well. I got a 3.4 last semester, which I blame on a B- in philosophy (I realized that field is NOT my strong suit). Other than that I got all As and B+s though. There is so much to do in Montreal, whether you party or prefer quieter activities. It’s a beautiful city that has a lot to offer, from festivals to concerts to fundraiser dinners at awesome restaurants.</p>
<p>That being said, the bureaucratic red tape sucks. I’m an international student and I find that it’s difficult to do things sometimes because I’m not a Canadian citizen.
Also, because McGill is a huge school, it’s kind of impersonal. I don’t mind that much though. </p>
<p>All in all though, I love this school.</p>
<p>My cons about McGill are similar to those above - yeah there can be a lot of bureaucracy and it can take awhile for administrative stuff to get done. Still I think it is a marvellous place and I don’t regret coming here at all.</p>
<p>Americans coming to McGill need to be openminded and have a sense of adventure. Yes, you are moving to a predominantly French city in another country. If you see that as scary instead of as a really cool opportunity, McGill might not be for you.</p>
<p>You’re going to meet well-travelled, multilingual and passionate people from every corner of the globe. 20% of the students speak French as a first language and a lot of them have lived abroad. It’s not unusual to meet people who are from France but studied in Saudi Arabia with one Canadian parent…If you’d rather be friends with people who look like you, act like you and are from your hometown, McGill might not be for you. </p>
<p>You’re going to save a lot of cash. Tuition fees for international students are relatively cheap compared to most private US universities. When you move off campus in 2nd year, you’re going to find a room to rent in one of the hippest neighbourhoods in North America, living with your friends, and you can pay under $500 Canadian per month. If you want to live further away, you can buy a bus pass for under $40 canadian per month. You will spend a lot of money on a good winter coat and boots.</p>
<p>You’re going to live in Montreal. It’s amazing. If you like art, culture, theatre, bars, drinking, politics, fashion, poutine (you’ll learn), DJs, live music, sidewalk caf</p>