<p>I was accepted to McGill early in February, and although I really like McGill (nice campus and location), I'm wondering if engineering at McGill is good, as in is it well known and will prepare me for graduate school. I was accepted to chemical engineering btw.
Also is it true that the schedules for engineering is really hard? From what I'm reading on CC, it appears that it is but I just want confirmation from any students studying at mcgill.</p>
<p>also is it possible for me to transfer to sciences, I'm stuck between graduating in medical sciences or engineering.</p>
<p>I have no idea if engineering at McGill is good in the sense of how well known it is compared to other engineering schools, but McGill is huge on theory and its research/internship programs for engineering will definitely prepare you for grad school. I personally think that how well known a school is in a particular field is, while important, not as important as personal aspects such as your GPA or your research or other exciting things grad schools care about that you’ve done.</p>
<p>As a current engineering student at McGill (electrical, although I know some chemical students too), the engineering schedule is definitely more packed than what you might hear from other majors, simply because of the number of credits you’ll need to graduate. As a chemical engineer you’ll need 141 credits, while your typical science major requires 60-70 credits, and the program requires you to have 120 credits (so the rest can be for a minor, electives, etc.).</p>
<p>This might mean unpalatable schedules, summer classes, six classes a semester (highly not recommended, but allowed without special requirements as an engineering student), or taking an extra semester. This is especially true if you wish to minor in anything, or take any electives that are not part of your requirements. What you choose is entirely up to your personal preference, how many credits you will have going into university, and what your plans are for the summer.</p>
<p>For example, I’m taking a summer class right now, and next semester I will be taking 8:30 classes (the earliest class time slot at McGill) every day of the week. But it’s not unmanageable, because I have lots of afternoons off as well as time in the middle.</p>
<p>Transferring between faculties is possible depending on your GPA by the end of your first year and how much space there is left in the faculty. Life sciences is one of the hardest one to get into because so many people apply, so I can’t say what your chances of succeeding are, but if you absolutely hate your current major or you really want another one, it’s definitely possible.</p>
<p>Wow, after reading through CC I found out that so many people highly recommend me to not follow chemical engineering if I plan to pursue medical school after. The main reason is because of the drop in my GPA and the amount and difficulty of the workload mainly due to the amount of physics I’m expected to learn.
The problem is that I was rejected from Life Sciences today because my percent was not high enough. I had 91% average, but early in May I had sent in by mail my updated interim grades (had 95% average after the updated grades). It seems that McGill did not receive my mail, hence my rejection. Right now I have one of two choices: go to McGill and study chemical engineering for a year and then transfering to Life Sciences OR go to Waterloo for a year with a president scholarship and then transfer to McGill Life Sciences. Is that possible? Can anyone verify this for me please?
Which do you guys think is a better option? Although the final decision is mine, I’d really appreciate comments from other CC members :)</p>
<p>In addition, Fahrenheit, do you find engineering a difficult course? What courses are you studying that you have the most difficulty in? Is there really a strong focus on understanding physics? (I’m really poor in physics although I managed to pull off high Bs and low As in AP)</p>
<p>Ofcourse there’s a strong focus on physics in engineering, but as for chemical engineering, well there’s obviously a strong focus on chemistry as well.</p>
<p>Do you know if it is possible for me to change majors or has the deadline passed? I’m trying to change chemical engineering to biomedical engineering but I can’t seem to find information on the mcgill websites</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s possible to change major but I’m pretty sure Biomedical engineering is not being offered this year(probably it will start Fall 2013 not sure tough).</p>
<p>Im a student from the USA and I am planning on applying to McGill next year. I had similar questions to yours, but mine had to do with Chemistry major. If you call them they will answer any question. and they are very nice people. Hope this helps</p>
<p>@johnny: Each term (fall, winter) is approximately four months long. That means that you have four months for summer, where you can take summer classes, go on an internship, or just enjoy a very long vacation. Most of the summer classes are in either May or June though (with the majority in May).</p>
<p>I can’t say for software engineering or computer engineering or the two together, but I’m sure people have done it. You could ask people in those majors once you get to McGill, and ECSE is structured so that you take pretty much the same classes your first semester or so.</p>
<p>@VeryFat: I actually haven’t taken a single physics course at McGill yet (I took AP Physics C in high school), so I can’t vouch for it, although I do know a lot of people who took physics classes at McGill and thought they were hard. For me math was more difficult, but that was mostly because I couldn’t wake up for the early classes. </p>
<p>I would say that engineering at McGill isn’t difficult if you’re willing to think critically and work hard, especially in the first year, but keep in mind that finals for many of the math and physical science classes (I haven’t taken a lot of other classes) are around 60-70% of your final grade, so if you’re looking for a good GPA (whether to transfer or for med school or in general) it largely depends on the finals, which definitely can be stressful if you have several in a short time span. I don’t know how Waterloo grades or how the classes are like, so which one would be better I honestly have no idea.</p>
<p>Thanks Fahrenheit, I have another question though. Even though I am accepted for a Chemical Engineering major, is it possible that all my first year courses be Sciences based (as in I take all the Life Sciences courses even though I was accepted for chemical engineering) or no?
And do you have any advice. I plan to take as many science courses first year and try avoiding physics courses if possible and then transferring to sciences in my second year. What do you think?</p>
<p>That depends on the number of APs/IB classes you’ve taken. First years coming in with no credits at all take the engineering version of all the basic math and science courses (plus a few humanities electives). The engineering version is basically the same as the science version, with maybe your profs inserting “engineering” in their lectures every now and then. </p>
<p>However, you won’t be taking biology as part of chemical engineering. If you’re intent on switching and you’re afraid of your physics marks you could potentially switch physics for biology, although keep in mind that you might not be accepted into the faculty of science and at that point you would need your physics for a lot of other classes. (I don’t know if physics is also a prerequisite for life science majors, and if it is that is also a concern.)</p>
<p>If you do have transfer credits though you could try to fit in all the classes you’d need for a first year chemical engineering degree and a first year science degree, as there are definitely overlaps.</p>
<p>I do have AP credits that I’m not sure whether I should use or not. In total, I will have about 17 potential ap credits, so that if I do use them, i’m able to skip half of the u0 year. should I use my credits (the credits are from AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, and AP Biology) and then make use of the extra half year to take science courses?
I also may have AP credits from AP Physics, I think I might get a 4 at most, but I’m not sure if I should use the credit. retaking physics in university may help me improve though.
also what do you mean that I can switch physics for biology? do you mean that I can NOT take any physics at all and take biology courses if I plan on transfering to life sciences for u1 or are there any mandatory introductory chemical engineering physics courses that I have to take? I also heard that there are more overlaps between biomedical engineering and electrical engineering with the sciences.</p>
<p>If you have AP credits you should probably use them, as you can always fill up your schedule with electives if you had to. Since you have at least chem and calc, you will only need to take physics (if you so choose), linear algebra, and a few humanities classes. Because you’ve been accepted to chemical engineering they will most likely not count your AP Bio credits (I had them too and I didn’t get credit for it, although I don’t know if they will recount them after you switch into a major that requires bio), so you will need to take biology regardless. When I said you could switch physics for biology I meant that if you didn’t have any AP credits and you really didn’t want to take physics because you’re afraid it might mess up your GPA, then you could take biology instead of physics, but that could affect how you take your classes in future years, so it shouldn’t be your top option.</p>
<p>The only thing I can see that electrical engineering might have more in common is an intro computer science class. Everything else is either the same or definitely electrical engineering classes. I don’t know about biomedical engineering though.</p>
<p>Thank you very much Fahrenheit for your help!
I managed to get hold of an administrative official who may (hopefully) change my decision for life sciences. He told me that this year’s life sciences faculty cut off was 93.5%. Based on the courses he used to evaluate my top five average, I had about 92.4%. But then there was the mistake that he included my ap calculus mark instead of my math 12 mark. If he had used my math 12 mark (I think he was supposed to because it clearly said on the website that the top five academic courses average is used), then I would have 94.2% so that I should have been admitted.
I really hope that he can reconsider my application. The last thing I want is to be rejected from Life Sciences because it is now full.</p>
<p>How did you manage to get a hold of an administrative official? I was refused from Desautels this year with a 91.4%, but my average should actually be 93% (they didn’t receive the marks in time). I’m hoping I can get in! :(</p>
they changed their decisions</p>