<p>Hi, I'm an American high school student and I was wondering if I could used McGill as my only safety school?
I want to apply for the Bachelors of Arts and Sciences</p>
<p>GPA UW: 3.94</p>
<p>SAT 1: 2210 (CR:760, W:730, M:720) </p>
<p>SAT II: Bio: 720, Lit: 740, Math 2: 660 </p>
<p>Also I have passed AP Bio, US Gov, Lit and Calc with three 5's and a 4 (respectively) </p>
<p>I don't know many people who know much about McGill and from the website it seems that these scores would get me in, but is it wise to use this as a safety? </p>
<p>Also, from the website it seemed that the only required documents you need to submit are your school transcripts and have your SAT + AP scores mailed in from College Board. Is that it? Should I be submitting anything else in terms of supplemental material? </p>
<p>No supplemental material is necessary (Canadian schools are too poor to hire the extensive admissions staff that American schools have to wade through tens of thousands of documents! Consequently, Canadian schools keep the admissions process very simple and lean).</p>
<p>I think McGill is a pretty safe choice for you in general, but I’m not sure you can count on getting into the Bach. Arts & Sciences program. Would you be happy if you were ‘stuck’ in the Hum/SocSci Faculty? Also, have you visited? Last, if you were my kid, I’d probably want you to apply to an in-state safety too. Among other reasons, an in-state public will probably be cheaper than McGill, and I’d hate to take that option away so soon.</p>
<p>I don’t know what I want to go into, and I’m really math and science even though I’m not sure I want to dedicate myself to that just yet. So getting into the arts and sciences is pretty important.
I haven’t visited the school at all, but I have talked to people who have gone there. </p>
<p>I don’t understand… If I fall well into the score range and have all the necessary classes and grades for the school. Why would I not get it? I mean its not as if the school looks at ECs or essays…</p>
<p>Admission to a college is very subjective. You have to realize that these are actual people making the decisions, not computers. What might be good for them one day, might not be enough the next day, so even though you have an excellent chance of admission, I wouldn’t use McGill as your only safety school. I’d much rather do the extra work needed to apply to another safety school so that even if I were rejected from McGill, it wouldn’t matter.
Better safe than sorry, right?</p>
<p>The only reason you are basing this assumption is b/c Mcgill only distinguishes ppl by numbers. They probably have many high scoring individuals that can match and exceed your stats. So I would agree with Schrodingers in that the admissions ppl’s mood can change depending on the type of applicants they are viewing each day. If they get a bunch of 1800s and they pick your app, most likely you may be choosen. However, you must realize that Mcgill is one of Canada’s best unis (and the world’s top 20), and so you cannot look at it as if it were your safety school…I just don’t see where you get the logic from. Plus, before you act so hastily on this matter, you must note the price for Internationals (muy grande, no?). I’m also assuming that you haven’t visited its campus, so please don’t just act overconfident of your future when you don’t have any personal experience. All of the advices you’ve heard are from ppl that live outside of Canada…but they give excellent advices as to the matter that you should place state school as safety. You are more likely to get more scholarship, and a higher admission chance. Even though your scores may be stellar, you shouldn’t just throw the state school out of your options b/c you never know what curve ball to anticipate. My two cents :)</p>
<p>I am from Canada and I would also advise having at least one other safety. Most US schools that are as good or better than McGill will be much cheaper to attend either because tuition is lower or because they give considerably more need-based and merit-based aid. You will not get need-based aid from McGill itself.</p>
<p>OP is correct that admissions at McGill is much less subjective than most US schools, but it is possible that OP doesn’t meet McGill’s baseline requirements. Certain minimum marks are required in certain subjects. The OP’s GPA was not 4.0 and without knowing marks in specific courses, it is possible that OP had a B in something that McGill requires a B+ in. I have never heard how much flexibility (if any) McGill has for people who are clearly talented but had a bad semester in a required course.</p>
<p>The reason that I am considering McGill as a safety though it is a top college is because my scores fall well above that of the ones posted on the website, I have taken the most rigorous curriculum my high school offers, (all honors courses plus 8 APs), and have basically straight A’s in 9, 10, 11, and 12 grade (one B+ in 9th grade). I am just trying to figure out why I might be rejected if they base admissions only on scores. </p>
<p>However, I do appreciate your’s and other people’s posted advice and I will look into some state schools.</p>
<p>FYI, not true about no need-based aid for international students. Son received a bursary for 3 years (need based aid that does not have to be repaid.)</p>
<p>^^^ Very surprising. I thought the admission was purely numbers based. If so how can they reject someone with higher numbers with someone for lower?</p>
<p>Admission to McGill is Faculty based. The least selective program is Agriculture/Environment, the most selective is Life Sciences. Applicants are frequently denied admission to the most selective programs with stats that would get them admitted to the less selective programs. </p>
<p>The published minima are cut off points for the competition. If you are below those minima, you should not bother to apply. Those who meet the minima then compete for admission.</p>
<p>^^ But what do they compete based on? If it is just scores (which is all adcoms have) how can someone with higher scores be rejected or waitlisted while someone with lower scores is accepted to same faculty?</p>
<p>^ They might look at course rigor, geography, high school prestige and recommendations (if the student chooses to send them in)</p>
<p>To be fair to the OP, though, it would be an exception for the OP to get rejected; not the expected norm. Still, I would have more safeties. What if you do get accepted to McGill but decide later on that you aren’t ready for the big move to Canada?</p>
<p>How can a person with better stats get rejected? Even though a person has a higher GPA and higher SAT than a second person, if the high-scores person has a B+ in a required course (and the second person has straight A’s in the required courses but lower marks in non-required), then the high-score person gets rejected while the second person gets admitted. So more than just an average is considered: you need certain baseline scores in certain prerequisite subjects.</p>
<p>I have one other question… The high school I attend has rather low academic standards, does anyone know if that would hurt me when I go up against students that have attended more prestigious and rigorous high school schools? or since I have high test scores to back up my grades will that not matter?
Also, someone in this thread said they may look at teacher recommendations. Should I send those in as well even though they are not mandatory?</p>
<p>I don’t think that your high school’s reputation would hurt you at McGill as McGill is unlikely to have much if any data on the performance of students at your school (but I could be wrong). In Canada high schools (and universities) are much less varied as to their standards than are US high schools, so high school reputation is not a factor at most (if not all) Canadian schools.</p>