Honest Q/A with Current McGill student!!

<p>I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about how McGill is going downhill, any opinions on this? If I want to go internationally in a business (management or marketing) degree, which would be better --McGill, UofT, or Western Ontario?</p>

<p>Well, McGill slipped from 18th to 21st place in the QS worldwide rankings this year if that’s what you mean.</p>

<p>Actually, Canadians from outside Quebec have been saying that McGill is in decline for the past 40 years. Many find it galling that Canada’s #1 English university is in French speaking Quebec. </p>

<p>Hi, I am very much interested by the Joint Honours Economics/Finance for the Arts Faculty. I was wondering how it works to complete you 90 credits. Do you minor in an other discipline? Do you get your other credits from electives? </p>

<p>Hey, I am really keen on McGill’s Bachelor of Arts program and would love to attend. However, I’ve been hearing a lot about how McGill is underfunded and having to cut down many of its programs…could anyone clarify on this? Does this mean the quality of education and teaching is changing? Thanks!</p>

<p>Hi guys I’m an international student and I need some help,</p>

<p>I’m one of those people who are completing IB, and they force you to go straight to 2nd year. I want to major in economics but I didn’t take economics for both gcse and IB. So would Mcgill literally kill my gpa or at worse force me to dropout by introducing advanced economics theories? Or would they be considerate and just teach economics at an intermediate level allowing people with no prior experience to catch up the material? In terms of maths, is it difficult? (I’m okay with calculus, so maths side should be okay) </p>

<p>As of this next year, you <em>will not</em> be forced to go straight to 2nd year. that rule has now changed. You will have the option to do so, but you don’t have to. So it won’t be as bad.
By that I mean that you can still do 4 years here. You may still be put into the econ stuff, but i have friends who are in that place and have fared pretty well. (unless its joint honours- thats very hard the first year, many drop out)</p>

<p>-current student</p>

<p>BalladerLife: As someone about to graduate from the Arts program, yes, the cuts are affecting it. The teachers/researchers are still excellent but I feel like McGill (at least in the undergrad level) is just riding on its hype. Most of my classes have been large and a few courses have been cancelled because of the underfunding. I came from another Canadian university before this and I would have to say that in terms of academics, both schools were probably on par (with a slight edge on my former school since the classes were smaller, less bureaucracy and a more supportive nature in general). </p>

<p>Having said that, the researchers here are top notch and that’s the one thing that doesn’t make me regret transferring. If you’re at all interested in that area, there’s a lot of cool stuff being worked on here and if you’re willing and motivated, the mentors you’ll find here are invaluable. </p>

<p>Hello, as a newly admitted undergraduate, I have several questions.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I did my course registrations yesterday. There’s only 10 mins between my physics lecture (leacock building) and biology lab (stewart bio building). Do you think I can make it? (esp in the snowing winter months)</p></li>
<li><p>For rez, I was placed in Douglas Hall and I read quite a few reviews saying how far it was from the campus. Are those reviews true? </p></li>
<li><p>I am thinking of getting a locker at mcgill to put my stuff during winter months. Is it easy to get a locker?</p></li>
<li><p>For the mid-terms and finals (for science courses), are there questions not covered on lectures, homework, textbooks. Like questions that seem to come out of no-where? I’m really scared about that.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Haha hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to get some answers. : P</p>

<p>@Simplylu Can’t answer all your questions but here are the answers to some of them. </p>

<h1>1 Yes, it’s doable. The two buildings are basically just a block apart (so you won’t be crossing across campus). If you get lucky (especially if the lecture is in LEA 132), some courses have recorded lectures so you might actually get to watch online if you really need to leave early.</h1>

<h1>3 Yes, it’s easy. For more information about lockers, check out McGill’s First-Year site:</h1>

<p><a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/firstyear/mcgillessentials/lockers”>http://www.mcgill.ca/firstyear/mcgillessentials/lockers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>When does the fall 2015 application open. Is it Sept 1st?</p>

Hi there, I am a newly admitted student to McGill. If I choose to attend, my major would be food science, and I really want to be a nursing major if possible. I read students can do inter-faculty transfer, so how hard it would be to transfer to busing after freshman year? And would it more harder for international students to do so? Thanks

when do the course registration begin for new students?

I know this is a cheeky question, but this really troubled me.
I’ve heard that drinking (and related stuff :P) is a common thing at McGill. But I don’t drink and would not like to change that. Will this be a problem at McGill especially if I want to socialize and make many new friends?

The legal drinking age in Quebec is 18. Unlike at American colleges McGill students are not breaking any rules or laws by drinking. It is a totally different social environment. There are over 20,000 undergrad students so you will be able to find your crowd.

You may want to read this:
https://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/38/01/drinking/

Also Quebec is planning on legalizing some of the “related stuff”.

Thank you @TomSrOfBoston ! That really changed my perspective.

Can someone tell me how long I have to wait for an admissions decision? I posted my first semester grades a week ago, and some people said they heard almost immediately. McGill is my top choice and Im really anxious!
I applied to the Faculty of Science and I feel like my numbers are more than adequate, according to their minimum requirements, but I’m still super nervous and I don’t want to keep waiting!

What country are you in?

Im from the United States. I sent my initial application (without my first semester grades) back in December, and I finally just completed everything last week.

@TheDarkKnight19 Hey, I wouldn’t be too worried about the drinking thing. I was initially intimidated as well but it’s really not as crazy as some people make it out to be. As long as you don’t choose to live in Molson, you can avoid the party scene if you choose to. Sometimes I go out and drink, but sometimes I don’t, and I haven’t had any issues.

@Bisweptual I believe I heard about two weeks after uploading my first semester grades, but it varies, and as far as i can tell, waiting time doesn’t correlate to the competitiveness of your application. If you have the grades, you should be fine.

@yebhip I’m a very shy person. Would that affect my education, social life etc in any way?

Also, how do we join a sports team, or clubs during the freshmen year?
I’m moving to Montreal this April, and as far as I know, the session starts in August-September. This gives me about 4 months of free time. Is there anything I can do at McGill (or Montreal in general) during these 4 months that will help me when the session starts?