International Student Transfer to McGill... Help would be greatly appreciated.

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hello,
I'm currently enrolled as a sophomore Economics Major in a University in Pakistan. My family is moving out of the country and it seems that life would be a lot easier if I manage to transfer to a University in Canada.</p>

<p>I've already missed the deadline for transfer applications for Fall, 2014. I'm wondering if it's possible to transfer into McGill (Or other Canadian Universities) for Spring 2015. I read somewhere that transfer applicants can't be juniors? Or have to put in an extra semester or something? Is this true?</p>

<p>I'm stuck in a sticky situation and would really appreciate any guidance I could receive. The McGill website is terribly difficult to navigate and I have no idea how credits are transferred. Any help would really be appreciated. </p>

2

<p>Here is the link for requirements to transfer to McGill for international students. <a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/admissionsguide/2014-15/other#admission”>http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/admissionsguide/2014-15/other#admission&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you are accepted, they will then look at what credits will transfer. I would not count on any credits other than the minimum requirements being transferred. You would be lucky if you did not have to do at least 3 more years after a transfer. </p>

<p>Please note that they are looking for “well-qualified” applicants. Your GPA will be used to qualify you. The qualifying GPA will vary year to year depending on how many transfer applicants there are. </p>

<p>Other Canadian universities will have similar requirements. You may wish to apply to several to increase your chances. Even the “worst” Canadian university is very good. Good luck. </p>

3

<p>@halalmeat</p>

<p>Unfortunately they do not do transfers during the Spring semester. One school you can look at though is York U (<a href=“Deadlines for Undergraduate Study | Future Students | York University”>Deadlines for Undergraduate Study | Future Students | York University), it looks like they might still be open for Spring admittance. </p>

<p>McGill (like other schools) have a residency requirement. You need to have completed half of your program’s requirement at McGill (meaning you can’t transfer them in). So, for a 4-year 120-credit program, 60 credits must have been taken at McGill. </p>

<p>In terms of how McGill handles transfer credits, basically it boils down to the following (this was what I did in 2011 so it is possible that things may have changed):

  • After you are admitted, you submit a list of all the courses you have taken and their course descriptions
  • They grant you a block of credits, this will show up as TRANSXX in your transcript (I was granted 48 credits)
  • TRANSXX credits count as elective credits
  • If don’t want them to count as electives but rather actual course credits (course equivalency at McGill), you have to go to each department (i.e. Philosophy department) and give them a copy of the course(s) syllabus
  • If they think the course is similar to one from McGill, they’ll fill out a form that approves your course equivalency
  • You then take this to Service Point to be processed</p>

<p>I wish it was streamlined but that’s what you have to deal with. It was frustrating just getting things in order to get things credited. Equally frustrating was the lack of information so if you ever go through with the transfer, if you need any help at all with how to navigate all these transfer credit business, ask away.</p>