<p>Hi econgrad, first THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS. I think it’s really great you’re taking the time to do this for us. Especially being an American student at McGill, you’re really easy to relate to :)</p>
<p>I noticed on McGills website they have a list of admission standards and requirements:
[Admissions</a> standards (US)](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/standards/unitedstates/]Admissions”>http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/standards/unitedstates/)
and the prerequisites for Computer Science is a B+ in math and science classes. Even though my GPA is a 3.54, which I heard is good enough to get into Mcgill, I got a B in Honours Precalc and a C+ in AP Chemistry. Does this totally kill my chances of getting in? D:</p>
<p>Also, I got a 4 on the AP Chem test. Does that help to redeem me?</p>
<p>Hi, I have a question about registration…
I’m going into Civil engineering U0, it requires two electives chosen from an approved list for the winter semester. I didn’t makeup my mind until today only to find out all of the approved courses are FULL.
I’m currently wailisted on the 13th position of the only course that has a waitlist(the rest are simply closed), what are my chances of getting in? It’s really important for me because without this elective I won’t have enough credits to be considered a full-time student and I won’t be able to get my scholarships/loans.</p>
<p>Hey
I am an American with a 3.8 gpa, (4.3 weighted) and ACT score is a 31. My only issue is from the Management Department it says i have to have a A- average for pre-req math which is Pre-calculus and i recieved a B in that class as a sophomore, because i was a year ahead. Besides that i also scored a B- in calculus last year but recieved a 5 on the AP test. Will mcgill recognize that the teachers at my school are just insanly hard graders. Also im in the 11th percentile of my class and have recieved AP Test scores of 5 in AP European History, AP United States History, AP Calculus, and AP English Language. What are my chances, does that B in pre calc really matter so much to them thanks for anyone who is knowledgable or have an opinion</p>
<p>1) Do Canadians view University of Toronto and McGill as roughly equal in terms of prestige?</p>
<p>2) When you apply to McGill, are you applying to study in a particular major, such as to study Economics, which apparently is the case at Oxford, for example?</p>
<p>3) Is it easy to change your major?</p>
<p>4) Is it harder to get into McGill if you are an American, or easier?.</p>
<p>5) Does the typical smart Canadian kid apply to McGill and Toronto, or do they typically also apply to top US schools?</p>
<p>6) Is it true that if you apply to major in English, for example, that they don’t care about your grades in math and science? </p>
<p>7) Could you chance my son please? My son has some very got stats:</p>
<p>ACT 34</p>
<p>SAT:</p>
<p>math 700
CR 800
writing 800</p>
<p>unweighted gpa: about a 3.7, but that includes 8 AP courses he has taken so far.
(he has received four 5’s, two 4’s, and two 3’s (the 3’s being in Calculus and Physics)</p>
<p>In liberal arts courses, he probably has a 3.8 or 3.9 unweighted.</p>
<p>Florida: 1. Canadians are not nearly as concerned with overall university prestige as Americans are. This would be, at least in part, because historically Canadian universities have not varied nearly as widely in quality as American ones do. The Canadians that I know that compare universities, tend to compare programs that a student might enroll in (e.g. U of T is much better for grad economics, McGill is better for neuropsych . . .). Overall, both U of T and McGill are highly regarded.
2. When applying to McGill ones applies to a faculty or school, but one generally do not apply for a particular major within that school (exceptions exist).<br>
4. Some claim that McGill makes it easier for Americans to get in because it wants their money (international tuition fees); I have heard that others claim that McGill makes it tougher. From what I have seen, McGill tries to keep fairly uniform standards of admission regardless of an applicant’s origins. McGill wants good students and it is quite willing to award many failing marks to students that can’t cut it, so it gains no advantage by admitting students who end up leaving after a few months.
5. In much of Canada, the typical smart Canadian kid applies only to the local university because almost all of the Canadian universities are good. In my province, over 95% of the students that go to university apply to only one university; for example, a majority of the top students in Calgary would apply to either the University of Calgary or University of Alberta and would not apply elsewhere. The majority of bright Winnipeg students apply only to U of M or U of W. Canadians that crave the exclusivity factor often apply only to US schools because no Canadian school is nearly as exclusive as many, many US schools are. In the US, exclusivity and quality are closely correlated; in Canada they are not. In my experience, those western Canadian students that apply to HYPS typically would not apply to both U of T and McGill or to either (instead they tend to use a western university as their safety); in eastern Canadan, I believe that it is more common for some of the HYPS-bound to apply to both U of T and McGill as their safeties.<br>
6. I’m not sure what the antecedent for the “they” is in your question (U of T admissions, McGill admissions, or Canadian admissions in general). Most Canadian universities base admissions on a much narrower range of factors than US universities. Most consider only a student’s final marks in 5 to 7 grade 12 courses; normally these courses must include at least one English (many Canadian students take two separate 120-hour courses in English in grade 12), one math, and one science regardless of one’s intended major. I believe that McGill does cast a wider net than most Canadian universities, and its requirements vary according to the faculty to which one applies (so those intending to study sciences need minimum marks in certain science courses, but will have more leeway in regards to English or History).
7. For admissions purposes most Canadian universities consider only a student’s transcipt (and for US applicants sometimes the SAT or ACT because of the wide variability of marking standards among US high schools). Whether or not your son is admitted will depend on what program he applies to and whether he meets the specific requirements for that program. Certainly his SAT/ACT scores would be among the best of any applicants to McGill or U of T and should help him. As long as he does not have a bad mark in an individual course which has a certain requisite minimum mark for a particular program to which he applies, he should get in. I would be surprised if he were not admitted.</p>
<p>Essays: no essays are required for admission. If one wants to be considered for a major scholarship at McGill, then usually an essay is required.</p>
<p>violin: You seem very knowledgable about McGill and Canadian universities… I’m a high school student from NJ applying to McGill and U of T right now, looking mainly at McGill’s Faculty of Arts. I have a 90 GPA, a 1300/2000 SAT, 730 CR 700 W and a 570 M, which is my biggest concern. Although I won’t be doing much math there and I’ve heard that for arts McGill just looks at humanities grades, how badly would that math SAT affect my application?</p>
<p>Both websites make it clear that the SAT minimum can vary from year to year. while it is quite possible that you could get in to McGill with your present scores (your CR and W are very good), you might want to consider doing some serious math prep and retaking the SAT.</p>
<p>McGill can be strict about the minimum cutoffs. At McGill, as at many American universities in recent years, admission standards have been rising. Having been following CC for the past two years, I’ve seen postings where applicants with very high GPA’s and test scores have been denied or at least waitlisted because one grade or test component was below the minimum. Since McGill does not look at EC’s etc. in admission decisions, there is no chance to counterbalance a bad component of the application.</p>
<p>As violindad said, a retake of the SAT would be advisable.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of applying to mcgill for engineering. i still have to select branch of engineering that i would like to pursue. Im stuck between Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical.
So, how’s the engineering at Mcgill? Its ranked 29 worldwide in top Engineering uni list.
I am an international student so how is the city, and is it easy for an international student to settle in?
Also, after graduating, what are the job prospects? Like is it possible to move to US to work or is that too hard with only an undergrad degree? </p>
<p>soldier16: Montreal is unique among North American cities–it has a much more European feel than any other major city in NA and it is by far the most bilingual city in North American. The city and McGill have very high percentages of non-Canadians, so an international student will probably find it easier to settle in there than at almost any other post-secondary institution in NA. McGill has a higher percentage of international students than any of the Ivies, I believe, despite the fact that the Ivies actively try very hard to increase their diversity factor–McGill does not have to work at diversity and does not lower admission standards for internationals (despite what some people claim about McGill wanting the extra tuition dollars); diversity just happens there.</p>
<p>Engineering is not McGill’s forte, but 29th worldwide out of thousands of programs, indicates that the program is still excellent. Certainly there are better engineering programs in Canada (and in the US), but you could also do much, much worse. </p>
<p>The conventional wisdom is that your job prospects will be greater in the US if you graduate from a US college.</p>
<p>I don’t think that McGill has had any grade deflation–it just hasn’t had quite as much grade inflation over the last few decades as many US schools have had.</p>
<p>soldier16, violindad: Applying to Engineering is very special because it depends greatly on what you want to do after graduation.
If you want to do grad school in Canada, apply to the likes of Waterloo.
If you want to do grad school outside Canada, apply to McGill.
If you want to work as an engineer in Canada, apply to Waterloo.
If you want to work as an engineer outside Canada, apply to McGill.
If you want to have the option to get into, let’s say, better-paid careers like investment banking or management consulting, GO TO MCGILL! It gives you a much much better networking opportunity than other engineering universities in Canada.</p>
<p>Still, I think UofT is the best choice for engineering students.</p>
<p>The difference between the BA and BCom is that the BCom degree requires additional core courses while the BA places no restrictions on which courses can be taken. To see these differences, you should look at the McGill Calendar under BA and BCom."</p>
<p>IS there anything else I ought to know before applying for one or the other?
I’d appreciate prompt replies because I have to make a choice soon.
Thanks in advance guys.</p>
<p>@spasticity: So far I have not known anyone from Arts going to MC; I’ve also found none through LinkedIn. Your safest bet is to go to finance with a double major/minor in Math,Econs or Engineering.</p>
<p>@soldier16: It depends on the faculties. But McGill engineering (esp. electrical and mechanical) is known to brutalize its students in term of grades. Classes with a C average is the norm (it means that half the class failed). However, it’s actually a selling point if your grades are good.</p>