<p>mcfranz, Mac has an renowned plant science department. I was in that department for a year. I think one of the profs developed through breeding the wheat that is grown throughout the prairies. For plants, they have greenhouses, a seed farm, an apple orchard, and a lovely arboretum. I worked at the seed farm one summer. Mac is much more laid back than downtown and more personal and easier to get A’s and even hang out in the labs with the grad students. I recommend having a car out in Ste Anne.</p>
<p>Downtown Bio is more competitive since you are in large classes with all the premed students. But downtown campus sciences attracts the brightest profs and students. If you look at the admission standards, Bio, biomedical science faculty is one of the hardest to get into; Agr and Env at Mac is one of the easiest to get into. Downtown is much stronger in molecular biology in general, which even in plants is where the cutting edge research is. I think they at least have one greenhouse on top of the bio building. If you want to take a range of courses (philosophy, history of science, economics etc then downtown can be a plus).</p>
<p>Hey, I’m not sure if this has already been asked, but I was wondering how difficult it is to switch faculties. I made a huge mistake in the application process… I plan to pursue secondary education and would like to teach Literature. I didn’t look into the job market aspect until after I applied everywhere and apparently it’s easier to get a job if you have a degree in the subject area you’d like to teach and a masters in teaching. I applied and was accepted into the faculty of education and was looking to switch to the faculty of arts and sciences… is that even a possibility at this point?</p>
<p>emh438-- I don’t think you can switch. You’d have to apply for arts and science independently for January I think. Arts and Science is much much harder to get into than education which is one of the easiest to get into.</p>
<p>Just wanted to bring up something which wasn’t mentioned much before… Could anyone here PLEASE paint a picture of how difficult it is to secure the Major Undergraduate Scholarship ? I’ve applied for it, and I really do need it or any other entrance award (apart from the entrance bursary) to make McGill a reality… Umm… I’ve got an okay-ish academic background (SAT Subject = 2400, SAT Reasoning = 2270, and a 94% + throughout school ) and some decent extra-curriculars which I could manage while living on this tiny island of Bahrain … </p>
<p>McGill is extremely stingy with scholarship money and has always gotten a lot of flak for it. I can’t really quantify the difficulty of getting a major scholarship since I am not familiar with the statistics. However, I can say without a doubt that it’s one of the hardest things to achieve academically at McGill. The other two being: keeping the scholarship successfully all 4 years and obtaining an in-course scholarship. In my year, there were kids who were getting bucket loads of money from other Canadian schools but got nothing from McGill, and I suspect it’ll be that way in your year too.</p>
<p>From my experience, it’s the very cream of the crop in each entering class that get the major scholarships , and these are likely the same people who are going to get into fantastic grad programs later on. But, many kids who get a major scholarship end up losing it after the first year. Maintaining a 3.7, to renew the scholarship, is no easy feat.</p>
<p>That being said, your credentials are in the ballpark of those getting a major award. You should be notified around the same time as your admit status, which should be soon since you’re an international student. Sorry, I am not more helpful. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hi,
I’m an applicant waiting a decision from McGill. (From CEGEP)
For my status, it turned ‘Reviewed- Decision pending’ what does it exactly mean?
have any ideas?</p>
<p>Hey dldpwl819,
That status means that all the needed documents have been received and the decision has been made but they can’t inform you of it until the decision release deadline or in your case (CEGEP student) until you finish your courses in progress.
Hope that helped.</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer some of our questions! It’s much appreciated.</p>
<p>I plan on doing a double major in Political Science and Economics and was just wondering whether it would be more appropriate for me to take Honours Economics or simply a Major in Economics. </p>
<p>I want to go to Law School, or do at least a Masters at an Ivy League school and work for an international organization (i.e. The U.N, IMF or The World Bank) tackling global economic inequalities and poverty. </p>
<p>I am not thrilled with the possibility of doing a very theoretically math-intensive degree, but I am good at math (receiving 90s in Calculus and Stats in high school). My question for you is a) how much of an advantage would I have if I took Honours Economics as apposed to a Major when going to Law or Grad School and b) how applicable would the Honours Economics degree be as apposed to a Major when I actually get out into the workforce.</p>
<p>As well, would taking an Honours Economics degree along with a Major in Political Science be a very heavy workload and subsequently, cause my GPA to suffer and thus, hampering my chances at an Ivy League post-grad?</p>
<p>Lastly, if possible, could you describe what you know about the differences between an Honours and Major in Political Science with respects to difficulty?</p>
<p>I’ve been accepted to the science faculty for the biology and math major, and right now I’m not really sure what that would mean in terms of what I would learn and generally what the next four years of my life would be like. I applied thinking that I might want to go to med school, but I didn’t want to bank it all on biology or something similar in case I change my mind, and math is something I would enjoy as a major.</p>
<p>But what I want to know is, what kind of math is involved in this major? Is it going to be (after the basics, such as calculus) mostly going to revolve around biological computations, or is it going to be decent as a math major as well? I know it most likely won’t involve everything a math major would learn, but if I were to go down the biomath major to the end and, say, didn’t get into med school, would I be able to go to grad school or find a job that would be something I’d traditionally find with a pure math major?</p>
<p>I have another question - hope someone will be able to answer it. My son was admitted to Science with advanced standing due to IB. Does this mean he will have to finish his degree earlier and have less chance to take electives and also not have the full 4-year college experience?</p>
<p>Hey
I am a US student from Chicago. I am so excited to have been accepted, but my mom is not sold, she says that she has heard that their administration can be hard/different to handle. a lot of ppl have had a hard time getting their questions answered and such. I was wondering if you have any personal experiences either negative or positive to share. Also, i am used to being in a class of 25, what is it like having lecture classes, will they ever get smaller. Do the TA classroom meetings help at all? what do you do if you get confused/have problems?</p>
<p>@clewe1992: Large freshman lecture classes are the norm at any large university. At McGill, UIUC, Michigan, Berkeley, UCLA etc. you can expect lectures of 300 to 600 students freshman year. The larger ones are usually in science. At large private schools like BU, NYU, USC etc. the lectures will be in the 250 to 400 student range. Even Harvard has freshman lectures with around 200 students. It is a part of university life. If you are looking to avoid large classes, you should be looking at liberal arts colleges or small universities like Brown. </p>
<p>Later year classes will have 25 to 50 students each for the most part. </p>
<p>As for the constant whines about McGill’s bureaucracy, the complaints come from students who for the first time in their lives are dealing with a huge organization. Unlike high school, you have to do everything for yourself. No one is there to walk you through the forms and procedures. Is McGill worse than UIUC, U of Toronto or UCLA? I don’t know and none of the other McGill students who complain know either because they never attended another large university. If you familiarize yourself with the administrative rules and procedures, you will have few problems. </p>
<p>Someone was quoted in a guidebook saying that “McGilll requires its students to grow up fast. For some it is terrifying, for others it is just what they are looking for.” </p>
<p>I came from a small private high school with less than 400 students. I found the “anonymity” of larger classes refreshing. I could do my thing and not worry what everyone else was doing or thinking. Faculty and TA’s have office hours scheduled for you to seek help if needed. Many times though, students only go to see the instructor to complain about a grade.</p>
<p>cllewe1992: my son email a question to the Science advisors - while it’s true it took 5 days to receive a response, the response was very friendly and helpful.</p>
<p>I agree with tomofboston: all large institutions (whether educational or not) have bureaucracies. Within all these bureaucracies, there are invariably some very kind, friendly and helpful people and a few cranky people. </p>
<p>My son has loved McGill. Most of his instructors have been very supportive and helpful (one exception, but that still puts McGill far ahead of our local university). Office staff have mostly been good, but there are a couple of people that he has found difficult to deal with (again McGill is batting better than the local university which our oldest son attends and of which my wife and I are alumni–at the local university difficult, unhappy, unhelpful, and often unknowledgable secretaries, petty bureaucrats and advisors seem to be the norm).</p>
<p>Don’t go to McGill to have your hand held. Canadian universities just do not do that. Of the many students that I have known that have attended both US and Canadian universities, almost all remark on how much US universities are like high school in their atmosphere (regardless of the size of the US university).</p>
<p>Alright, here’s a question: how big is the drinking culture? I’ve heard that McGill is a big party school, which is my one reservation about attending. I’m attending a college in the South that has a huge drinking scene (as in, the vast majority of people go drinking at least 3 times a week), which I really don’t like. Are most weekends at McGill spent at bars and such? Obviously, I know there are obviously going to be people I can find who won’t be drinking at any college. I’d just like to know whether a significant portion of the school drinks often or not.</p>