Brings up a host of issues for both current and prospective students, among them;
S1 just re-upped on his new lease in the ghetto. It's bad enough paying for the summer months when it is empty, but the fall, too? McGill typically offers housing only to 1st years, and students are on their own getting housing after that. Montreal rentals re-up on May 1, so renters have already signed leases, and are financially committed. We are talking about tens of thousands of students paying tens of thousands of dollars for nothing, at this point.
If McGill deems the Fall semester too dangerous for students to attend in person, the winter semester would be just as much, if not more so, barring some miraculous developments in a vaccine. Winter is flu season, with January and February being the worst. It's highly likely that C-19 will have a similar incidence. Are we now looking at a full academic year online?
a large part of the worth of an excellent school like McGill is experiencing it in person, where you are exposed to a smart student body and living on a historic campus in the middle of an interesting, sophisticated city. Paying full tuition for S1 to be staring at a computer in our suburban basement 1000 mi. away is less than appealing.
S1's first two years at McGill have gone really well, but next year looks to be a near complete waste of time. He was not impressed with the uneven quality of the online courses this spring. Some profs did a great job, others...were pretty bad. Appeared to be clueless about technology.
It has to, but the question for them would be whether or not McGill is merely the first of the dominos to fall. If the international student transfers to another school , will they find out later in the summer that their new school is also going online?
As the parent of an admitted high school senior I’m a little relieved only because I’m worried about her getting her student visa in time. I was told by Quebec immigration last week that everything is delayed because of the virus.
I called to ask why her portal wasn’t showing that they received her paperwork and was told not to worry because it doesn’t normally show up in the portal until 2 weeks after they receive it, but I should expect it to take around 6 weeks because of the virus.
Obviously not starting college on the campus is a big bummer, but I’m glad the school is being proactive in making plans for students to pursue their educational goals regardless of the situation with Covid19.
It sounds as though McGill will open up throughout the fall semester. My U3 daughter thinks small seminars/classes and labs will be open. She plans to return to her empty ghetto apartment mid-June to comply with Canada’s two week quarantine requirement.
I wonder if McGill will lease/buy another hotel such as New Rez and Citadelle… There are still more questions than answers, for sure! I am also wondering if McGill will still charge tiered tuition fees (Quebec/Canadian/International).
I know @TomSrOfBoston . My hope is that McGill would match tuition rates for those tens of thousands who are still paying rent for unoccupied apartments while remote learning, though I know how unlikely that is.
Exactly! The Freshman will be the group struggling more. They are not familiar with the university system. If going online how they can comfortably communicate with all the professors who they never met.
Well, it turns out that S1 will be going back to MTL, and staying in his apartment that he shares with roommates. They are all also coming back. Most are from the hard hit NE USA, so, I think the parents are fine with them getting away. One of them is in ENG, so he might be having labs in person, also.
It is certainly a half a loaf solution, but at this point i can’t see having S1 take a gap year.
My daughter had accepted at a small liberal arts college in the US since she hadn’t heard back from McGill by May 1. Today she got her acceptance to McGill. We could easily forefeit the deposit and she could accept at McGill but now with it online and not much info on what will happen for freshman, it’s a difficult decision. If they would let students live in dorms but do online, it would be more alluring, but that’s seems counterintuitive to what they are proposing. My concern is that if she does her first semester online from home, and then they go ahead with online in spring, she will do her entire freshman year from home and online–probably not worth switching to McGill in this case… Any thoughts?
@Noirette Tough decision. How long did they give you to decide?
I just read that Harvard’s medical and dental schools will be online for the fall semester. I think that an online fall semester will be more common than people think.
@TomsrOfBoston Mcgill gave her until June 1st. She has double nationality with France so tuition would be about $5K a year, compared to a SLAC here…I also read that the residencies will be open for freshman at McGill in the fall so if that doesn’t change it wouldn’t be too bad. Agree that lots of colleges are going online–all Cal States are online for fall.
Yes, some residences will be open, and you can still apply to live in residence. The residence application deadline for undergraduate students is July 7th, 2020. Application for residences are accepted and accommodation is assigned based on the understanding that students are making a commitment for the full academic year. See the cancellation policies here.
Please see visit the Student Housing website for more information.
@Noirette at this point, I think it might be better for you and your daughter to go to the place that is a better fit, and not place too much emphasis on C-19 when making your choice. You never know when and where it is going to pop up and be a factor.
Two of my son’s roommates are French. Not uncommon at McGill.
My understanding is that Montreal has significantly more cases than other cities in Canada. I think that this is a sensible decision and that telling people early is better than telling people later.
This CBC article (from today if I hit “post comment” before midnight) says that the majority of cases in Canada up to now have been in Quebec.
I do wonder what will happen in other parts of Canada and the US, and for that matter the rest of the world. The maritime provinces (anything east of Quebec) have not been hit very hard by the coronavirus. I do not know whether this means that they can open up, or if this means that they should avoid allowing students to arrive on campus from all around the world at the beginning of September.
Logistically, with 30% of McGill’s students coming from overseas (including USA) it may have been logistically impossible to get enough students back, given border and quarantine issues, and the closure of the government department that processes visas.