<p>This is such a garbage school. I don't get how it is ranked so highly in world rankings.</p>
<p>The classes are extremely overcrowded (I just left class because there wasn't standing room, and I'm a junior!), registration is impossible, advising is non-existant, graduating salaries are lower than almost any U.S. school, selectivity for Quebecers is zero, endowment per student is nothing, and despite all this....stupid hippies want to make the school free!</p>
<p>I know, Canada should just print degrees and hand them out to all their citizens! Hey, they already turned their best school into a giant, crap diploma mill, why not just get rid of classes and give everyone a degree!</p>
<p>And the irony? Quebec has a 55% marginal tax rate! Yet everything is underfunded and the province is in debt. Socialism doesn't work. End of story.</p>
<p>Too late. I only have 50 odd credits to go...and the year has already started.
I already transfered once. My line of reason: save for my MBA at a top 30 program. </p>
<p>The one good thing about McGill is the thing most people hate: it's hard, and in the highest GPA quotient for grad school, meaning a good GPA at McGill does a very good job of signaling to future employers/admissions departments. So, I figured I'd turn down more prestigous, more expensive schools in the U.S. as I figured McGill would represent a better return on ivestment.</p>
<p>Problems with my analysis: McGill offers very little insurance; w/o a top GPA, you leave with next to nothing in terms of opportunity. McGill is not a good environment for learning. Attending class is basically discouraged because of overcrowding. McGill is also in Montreal, and a top 10 party school for a reason. Getting internships and talking to professors simply isn't an option.</p>
<p>My Goal: I'm giving up on trying to gain any opportunity from McGill itself. Instead, I'm self-studying for my CFA, and auditing accounting classes.</p>
<p>As far as getting in to a top U.S. school, define "top." If you consider that the average McGill student has a 3.7 GPA and 1360 SAT, according to the 2006 admissions stats, you start to realize that you get what you pay for. In other words, less selective schools in the states that charge 40+k/year offer far better post-grad placement. So, yeah, if you don't come from money, then your choices are severely limited. I almost went to Georgetown....</p>
<p>Where are you from, wutang? As in where did you grow up?</p>
<p>If you are American, choosing McGill over Georgetown would seem a strange decision unless it was purely for financial reasons.</p>
<p>Anyway dude, keep your chin up. Try to channel that anger/frustration into doing so well in your classes that you make the quebeckers and less motivated folks look mentally deficient. So long as you keep your focus, you will beat the others to the best opportunities. As for the crowding issue, just arrive 20 minutes early and take the time to read a good book. Then take the best seat in the house.</p>
<p>I'm from Boston...I live in Point St. Charles, Montreal </p>
<p>Honestly, I sometimes see these young guys slinging at the metro station, and I remember doing the same. When I did my time, I came out and counseled at risk kids. I told them how I was going to school, and how they could do the same and become a doctor, etc.</p>
<p>Honestly, that was a bunch of B.S. Those kids slinging have better career options than I do.</p>
<p>University in Canada is what you make of it. </p>
<p>A lot of the schools at the "top" in Canada (U of T, McGill, UBC), have the same issues - big class sizes, bureaucratic administration, etc. They definetly don't hand anything over on a silver platter, but it really isnt impossible to get a lot out of your uni experience... you just have to put some effort in. Don't want to be in general ed classes with 500+ people? Fine, then get permission to take higher level (ie.smaller) classes earlier in your degree - or make a point look out for smaller programs or specialized classes. </p>
<p>I'm also not so sure about the lack of internships/talking to profs thing... that is pretty much up to you to research, go to office hours, make appointments with advisors, etc. If you aren't getting anywhere, you might not be doing enough. Doesn't McGill have the most Rhodes winners in Canada? </p>
<p>I hate to say it (okay, maybe I don't), but a negative attitude can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>
<p>^yeah, I hear you (UBC is an underrated school, by the way...people in the states only know McGill, but y'all have a better econ department). Also, you can attest to the fact that our schools aren't easy, as it's a lot easier to get in than to get out.</p>
<p>That's why I'm connecting with MBA proffesors and the like, trying to get their advice. I know a prof. who use to teach at Columbia business school, and he says that McGill, U of T and UBC are the only Canadian schools that really put people into top 10 MBA programs down the road, IF you work for it. He said to keep my GPA up, but not to kill myself as getting work experience is more important.</p>
<p>I'm pretty bipolar when it comes to success, but when I'm on, I'm on. I think getting my CFA through self study should be a proxy for my ability/work ethic.</p>
<p>I still don't get how Canada's #1 ranked uni is so shoddy; don't they want at least 1 institution that can compete with the very best in the world? Or at least close to the best?</p>
<p>^Sidra, McGill is a huge party school (ranked #10 in Playboy, or so I've heard). As long as you're cool with that, well... it's university. Everyone fits in somewhere. </p>
<p>wutang-
The world rankings, I think, are based on graduate programs (research output and etc). Undergrad definetly isn't the priority when universities can be pumping money into research that will get them recognized. I think that's especially the case with McGill as they get a bit screwed over by the QC gov't for not being francophone. Canadian schools are also all public, so it's difficult to compare them with top selective private US schools (HYPS etc). </p>
<p>UBC Econ is pretty rad though (yes, rad). I'm taking four econ courses this year and thinking I might double major in it... I'm IR right now. </p>
<p>I kind of heard a little different. I mean i heard lots of people go out to bars, or go clubbing, but not like crazy keg parties n stuff. But i dont go there so idk</p>
<p>I just transferred to McGill from UBC and am now in my sophomore year. So far, I'm pretty happy with McGill. Of course, that's not to say that there aren't major problems, but at least just not ones major enough for me to notice just yet.</p>
<p>Yes, class sizes and registration problems are a huge issue for McGill. Then again, that's at least partly due to the school's underfunding and its nature as a public school.</p>
<p>No tests or assignments yet, but I'm looking forward to challenging academics at McGill. Meanwhile, while I sympathize with you on some points, be sure to make the most of what's left. Get a good GPA, and hope for the best.</p>
<p>For now, let me get back to microeconomics with Paul Dickinson, and later, statistics with Kenneth MacKenzie. The same econ profs you had, if I recall ;).</p>
<p>McCleans is brutal. My school (U of Alberta) wouldn't even allow them information because they didn't want that shlt magazine rating them. Same as a lot of other Canadian unis. McCleans stil took the liberty to rank the schools, though.</p>
<p>part of the reason a lot of Canadian uni's won't submit info is because Macleans basically exposed the deteriorating state of higher education in Canada.</p>
<p>One of my friends went there and he had a great time. The weather sucks, but the girls are incredibly hot (and easy to hookup with), they have an awesome club/bar scene, and the drinking age is 18. Only U Wisconsin Madison and UC Santa Barbara can compare with McGill’s party scene while also maintaining a top notch academic reputation.</p>
<p>I also know a girl who went to UBC and loved it. By the way, I’m American.</p>
<p>Never said I didn't like Montreal, I love Montreal, and yes, I party. </p>
<p>My best academic memories are hooking up with an extremely hot girl dressed in a catholic school girl outfit on halloween in the middle of a crowded party, drinking an entire bottle of grey goose during a paint party at a nightclub, and I could go on...</p>
<p>But I still hate McGill as an academic institution.</p>