freshman program structure? confused foreigner!

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
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<p>'ello! i'm a brit who just got a place at the lovely mcgill's faculty of arts which im thrilled about since i've totally fallen for the uni and the city. but im completely perplexed about the whole canadian degree structure. in england the uni courses are all very specific and i was really attracted to the broader scope of a candian degee. but i really dont understand how the freshman year works. do freshers have to do general option, arts legacy, or french option? is specifying a 'departmental program' strictly for sophmore+? also, i see one of the areas of the general option freshman year involves language courses. i am absolutely bollocks at languages but i'm willing to give french a try in hopes of being inspired by the sexy french canadian surroundings, does a begginers level french count? have you guys found it helpful to have a broader degree?</p>

<p>thanks,
sarah</p>

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<p>I am guessing you've already seen this: <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/freshman/selection/artstudents/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/freshman/selection/artstudents/&lt;/a>. That link discusses the B. A. Freshman Program. I am not currently attending McGill University, but I researched both McGill and UK universities, so I understand your confusion. </p>

<p>In UK, the course structure is much more focused. In McGill, however, the school gives you time to figure out what you would like to do. So, this is why they have designed the Freshman Program so that you can take whatever courses you want (within limitations). They give you three options: The General Option (the most common one), Arts Legacy, and French option. </p>

<p>Arts Legacy is a unique option; from my understanding, you end up focusing on culture, etc., and the classes are a lot smaller b/c not as many people take the Arts Legacy option. It's a nice choice if you don't mind the courses you are required to take. Keep in mind, though, if you are interested in applying as an "Honours" student for a subject instead of a "Major" student, some subjects might require you to have taken a certain # of courses in their field before applying. I don't know this for all, I only know this for English.</p>

<p>The French option is, well, if you want to take courses in French. You said you were weak in French, so I suggest not approaching this option at all, unless you are really, really interested. The website mentioned placement tests, though, so you might not be able to fulfill the requirements for the French option if you don't place high enough. You don't have to take ALL the courses in French, but enough that you might want to think twice before heading that way.</p>

<p>And the general option: In this option, you have to take courses from FOUR different categories. These catgories are: Languages, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Math & Science. You DON'T have to take courses in all 4 categories. You said you were worried about French - you don't even have to approach the 'Language' if you don't want to. Though, FYI, you can take French As a Second Language (FRSL) - this falls under the Language category, and won't be as difficult, obviously, as regular French. </p>

<p>McGill only requires that you take courses from at LEAST 3 categories. They expect you to do about 30 credits your freshman year, which equates to (approximately) 10 classes. That's not always true because FRSL classes are 6 credits each. You can only do a max of 18 credits in EACH category. That means you can't take over 6 classes in Humanities, if those 6 classes add up to 18 credits. Then, you can only take 12 credits in each DEPARTMENT. A department is something like: "English", "Political Science", "History" -- pretty much the subject you might major in. So you can only take about 4 courses in English (the coursename itself will indicate what department the course belongs to; for example, a course might be called ENG 201; ENG = English), if those 4 courses are 3 credits each. </p>

<p>They show the way courses can be divided up here: <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/freshman/selection/artstudents/examples/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/freshman/selection/artstudents/examples/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Finally, I'd just like to mention, since you studied in UK, you might want to check if you are eligible for the Freshman Program. If you took the IB and if your scores are high enough, you might be able to skip the Freshman Program entirely, and head straight into your U1 year (Freshman year is called U0). You were right to say only sophomores get to declare their major (Sophomore = U1). This would mean you would have to declare your major right away. If you don't know if you are eligible to skip, call admissions, etc., at McGill. </p>

<p>I hope this helped, and if I have confused you in some parts, please feel free to ask.</p>

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<p>I'd just like to add: the FRSL courses do offer a beginner's french course; you can only take that course if you have NEVER taken a french class in your life; if you have, then you might have to take Elementary French; it's only one step above beginner's french, so I am sure it should be fine.</p>

<p>Also, you talked about the broader degree. I can't discuss whether that's particularly helpful b/c I haven't done it, but it also depends on what you intend to do after. For example, for Law School a broad degree is helpful. </p>

<p>There are many things you can decide to do in the designing of your degree at McGill. You can do a MAJOR + MAJOR + Electives. Meaning you major in two subjects, like English or Political Science, and take whatever other courses you want. You can also do a MAJOR + Minor + Minor + electives. Or you can do a MAJOR + Electives. Then there's also the option to do Honours. Honours involves taking a lot more courses in your chosen subject - Honours is something like what they do in UK, except you will still do electives. Along with the Honours, you have to do a Minor in another subject. Finally, you can do Joint Honours if you are really ambitions; that involves doing Honours in two different subjects, and taking very few electives. Beware, though, the regulations for Honours and Joint Honours are very strict; you have to maintain a certain GPA in your degree and a certain cumulative GPA (CGPA). </p>

<p>I don't know if you've received it yet, but a lot of this information was in the book McGill sent me discussing the Undergraduate Programs for 2006-2007. You can even start looking at courses you might want to take. The thing about a broad degree is that it's really helpful if you aren't sure where you are going; this way you can pick different things that you know you like, focus on them, and just see where they take you.</p>

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<p>"In this option, you have to take courses from FOUR different categories. These catgories are: Languages, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Math & Science. You DON'T have to take courses in all 4 categories."</p>

<p>sorry but..what do you mean?</p>

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<p>thank you! that's really useful! i'm actually beggining to get my head around this now. and yeah, i had visited mcgill in the summer and they'd mentioned to me that since i'm doing GCE A Level's right now that i may be eligible to skip my first year of studies but i hadn't seen anything about it since so i thought he'd just given me dodgy information. so thanks for that link, really useful. only i'm a little concerned that, especially being unfamiliar with canadian styled education, i don't want to just throw myself onto really advanced courses and have my grades suffer as a result. any thoughts on how easy is it to adjust? the other thing is i was hoping to do an honours program, does anybody know if you can go straight into one from A Level? i'm predicted to get AAB so i should have the GPA. i'm thinking i'd probably major in sociology, which is one of my a levels that i'm predicted an A in. if not, i think i can actually grasp that whole freshman program which is not sounding quite so daunting anymore. the only problem is, in one of the posts i see it says i can NEVER have taken french before. i did actually take french when i was in middle school but i quite genuinely remember nothing as i was a little rebel slacker kid and that's like four years ago. i'll probably call mcgill later on today and figure out this whole skipping a year business. but yeah thanks again, totally helped clear my head.
xsarah</p>

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<p>In response to combatbaby: </p>

<p>I can see how that's confusing. In the next paragraph I said: "McGill only requires that you take courses from at LEAST 3 categories". If you want, you can take courses from all 4 categories, but that's not necessary. For example, I am not really keen on Math & Science, so I might want to skip that altogether (maybe I'll take one course). I can do that as long as I take courses in Language, Humanities, and Social Science. In the end, you HAVE to have taken courses in at least 3 of the categories. That's a must. You can do all 4 if you want, but you don't have to. It gives you a little more leeway, I think, that they let you do that. I hope I cleared that up.</p>

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<p>^ yes it did, thank you!</p>

<p>if i get IB HL chemistry credits, can i use those and just take humanities and social sciences?</p>

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<p>In response to clutter: </p>

<p>Students have mentioned before that going into their major right away isn't the best way to go, because like you said, you don't get the adjusting period which freshman year offers. While that may be true, try not to be dismayed. Many students enter school as U1s, so I am sure they have experience with helping you guys adjust. U1s are also offered the First-Year classes, like "Literature and Democracy" which help new students adjust to university-level classes. To lighten up your load, you might want to look into that. These classes only have 25 students, so that's also nice considering most of your classes your U1 year will be big. </p>

<p>As for whether you can enter in your major right away: I am assuming yes. For U0s they just look @ our GPA and see if we are eligible, but that isn't the case for you. Your best bet (to get the correct answer) is to call McGill and find out. But also, note that you can't apply for Honours (well, this is for English; it might not be true for Sociology) until usually the end of the Fall semester (there are exceptions). So, maybe they'll have you take your first semester courses, and then they'll decide whether you can apply for Honours. Also note that they might just have you sign up as a "Major" student and as long as you still qualify, they'll move you to "Honours". They do that for Political Science b/c you can't apply for Honours Political Science until the U3 year unless you are doing Joint Honours.</p>

<p>This is all guessing on my part and it may or may not be true. You should definitely call. </p>

<p>As for adjusting: to my knowledge, Brit schools are a lot tougher than North American schools. From people I've heard who've taken the IB and come to Canada, they found the education a lot easier. This isn't necessarily true, but even so, as long as you stay on top of your game, I don't see you falling behind. </p>

<p>As for the French: I think you might still be eligible for French Beginner's b/c you haven't taken it for a while. You'll have to take a placement test either way so I am sure they won't put you in Elementary French when you don't know a thing. That would be horribly mean >:o. </p>

<p>I hope this helped! Btw, I am coming to McGill from the US to the Faculty of Arts. So maybe we can meet up! (But I'll be U0).</p>

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<p>In response to combatbaby:</p>

<p>You still need to have done 3 out of the 4 categories. As long as the credits you get from IB are equal to 6 credits (because you must take a minimum of 6 credits in 3 out of the 4 categories), yes, Math is eliminated. That means you really only have to worry about getting 6 credits minimum in 2 other categories. After that, you can pick whatever courses you want because you have fulfilled the Freshman Program. See this link for more info: <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/freshman/selection/artstudents/examples/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/freshman/selection/artstudents/examples/&lt;/a> Read closely Example 2 under Option 1. It discusses what to do with Advanced Credits. It may seem a bit confusing at first, but it'll start making sense. </p>

<p>Look here to see how many credits you receive for your advanced standing courses: <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/new/standing/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/new/standing/&lt;/a>. If not credits, it'll tell you what courses you are exempt from.</p>

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<p>Thanks again for posting!
if i get a 5 on IB HL chem.. mcgill will give me 8 credits! :) no math/science for me! :D</p>

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<p>Btw, including the advanced credits you receive, I think you still need to have taken 30 credits worth of classes to fulfill the Freshman program. Suppose you had advanced credits worth 9 credits from before, so you took 21 (about 7 classes) credits worth of classes: that's 30 credits in total so you finished the Freshman program. The normal workload for Arts students, though, is 5 classes per sem. If you do that, you'll finish 39 credits by your freshman year.</p>