McGill Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
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<p>GPA: 3.9/4.0 (.35 points away with my percentage grade from a 4.0)
Class Rank: 45/514</p>

<p>I expect both the GPA and class rank to go up slightly this year, as they haven't been calculated after second semester Junior Year, and that has been my strongest semester thus far.</p>

<p>ACT: 32 (28 Eng, 29 Rdg, 34 Sci, 36 Mth)
SAT: 700 Math, 600 Reading, 640 Writing I will be taking again this fall, and I'm expecting improvement over last fall when I got these scores.</p>

<p>SAT 2: 740 Math 2, 700 Chemistry, 640 Literature
AP Tests:
World History- 3
Chemistry- 3
Physics B- 3
Computer Science A- 4
English Language/Composition- 4</p>

<p>My Senior Schedule:
AP Biology
AP Calculus AB
Dual Credit English 4
Student Council Officer
Professional Internship Program (20+ hr/wk internship at a local hospital)
AP Psychology</p>

<p>EC's
Boy Scouts- Eagle Scout
Baseball- School and EC
Work: Little League Baseball Umpire since '05, PetSmart Cashier (about 25-30 hrs/wk, slightly less during school year)
Student Council- I will be the Secretary this year
National Honor Society
Mu Alpha Theta
Senior Interact
Computer Club
Chess Club
I attended a summer program called NNAYI, 65 natives from across the US who are interested in health professions, and it was basically 9 days of seminar from 6 AM to 8 PM
Hospital Internship this Fall</p>

<p>Basically, I've taken all of the hardest courses offerred at my school, all of them are PreAP/Honors/AP if possible. I'm a registered Native American, Cherokee tribe, yay minority status. I'm planning on being a Cognitive Neuroscience major, PreMed as well. I suppose it will probably have to be Neuroscience with a minor in cognitive sciences, but close enough. I'm also working very very hard on my applications, I already have almost all of it done, and I'm going to refine my essays for the next couple months.</p>

2

<p>See my recent post on the other thread about how applying works. </p>

<p>My 2 cents are these: did you just write this list up in general for all the schools you're applying to and copied it into every school's forum here? The listing of the EC's, as well as the minority status are major indicators that you know very little about McGill/Canada. </p>

<p>Unlike in the U.S., affirmative action doesn't really happen, except for aboriginals (which even though you are part cherokee, you aren't a Canadian aboriginal) and even then. </p>

<p>I wouldn't be surprised to find this same thread copied at every ivy league board here. Nothing wrong with that, I just think you should keep some perspective: this isn't Harvard (though I think with your aboriginal status, you have a good shot there, but you probably already knew that). When was the last time you've heard of a kid with a 3.9/4.0 GPA (after taking a rigorous curriculum) get rejected or wait-listed from a school with 26,000+ kids? </p>

<p>It's nice that you're "worried" or whatever about your chances, but give it a rest. You don't need to post that kind of sh1t here (on the McGill board).</p>

3

<p>I actually C&P this in all the schools I'm interested in, not all of them (and only two are Ivies, Dartmouth because I'm a Native and that'll give me a good shot, and Brown, because it's another place I'm interested in). I honestly didn't know that McGill didn't look at EC, and that's some good info. Thanks for the hints, honestly, not being a smart alec. I'm just trying to get a feel for what schools I've got a good chance of getting into. I visited McGill last fall and fell in love with it, and it is by far my first choice school, and I've been dead set on it, and I don't want to get my hopes up if I don't have an excellent shot at getting in.</p>

4

<p>Well drmambo his GPA has very little weight, McGill almost exclusively looks @ test scores. And it depends on the pool of applicants for this year, there's always a quota for US students because they generate plenty of income for the university it really depends on the year, and premed (there's actually a pre-med program there) for a non-Canadian @ McGill is impossible, and for that you need to have perfect marks, at least 400 hours of volunteer work and passing the interview. From my knowledge there are very few Americans in other life/health sciences (even natural) programs @ McGill either. So I'd agree if its Arts for Americans, for programs like Law, actual premed, arch etc... (for mostly Quebec students) they look @ ECs, essays, everything.</p>

5

<p>I thought I read somewhere that PreMed was mostly just that you were given an advisor and whatnot, and they make sure that you take all the required courses for med school and whatnot? I"m not going to be going to med school in Canada either, coming back to the US for that.</p>

6

<p>No... Premed in McGill is different. What you'd call premed as an American, they'd call a Science major. It's almost exclusively reserved for CEGEP Science students, top of their class, with lots of ECs, 400+ hours of volunteer work, and then you have to pass the interview. I only know of one student who got in (I'm a Montrealer). Enrollment is very limited, I didn't get in and I'm attending a pretty good American school. A Science major shouldn't be that much of a problem, tbh I don't know much about McGill's requirements for Americans but I am pretty damn sure you're in. Best to find an American science or eng. student to answer all your questions, if you plan to go into those faculties (outside Arts which is considered a really laid back program/faculty compared to that of top American univ.s) most people here won't be able to provide you with a good answer.</p>

7

<p>flyzeggs, I'm gonna take a few shots in the dark here (in terms of assumptions about you). I'm gonna assume that since you attend an American school, you don't work in admissions at McGill. I'm also gonna assume that since you don't goto McGill you don't know much about the American contingent here, or its high school metrics. </p>

<p>Fortunately, I DO attend McGill (entering U1 as a Chem. Eng.), and I have interacted with plenty of Americans (not to mention I am American). </p>

<p>I don't claim to know for sure what goes on in admissions, but I once saw a chart (it was linked in one of these threads a while back) that listed the mark requirements for Americans who want to enter specific faculties. While marks aren't the end all be all, they can off-the-bat stop you from being considered. I also know a girl who wasn't granted admission to McGill, and she was told specifically because her grades weren't up to snuff. So with grades directly affecting GPA, I'd say GPA has plenty of weight in the admissions process. </p>

<p>When the OP was talking about Premed, I knew he was talking about a science major (or something comparable that will let him get his med school req's out of the way). Most Americans don't know about McGill pre-medicine program.</p>

<p>So to ZFanatic: flyzeggs is spot on about the CEGEP pre-medicine program (it's like our American 6/7 year medschool programs), however he couldn't be further misinformed about the american presence, admissions process, or comparable experience at mcgill. The arts program isn't "laid back" compared to top american universities. Enter anecdote:</p>

<p>I have a friend at harvard who had an essay due. He wrote the essay the night before, got an A- (my brother read the paper, he said it was just alright). Talk to any arts students at McGill and they'll tell you that very few people here can write papers the night before they're due, and get A-'s, let alone A's. Competition for the A is fierce here (and arts classes have quotas dictating how many A's may be handed out). </p>

<p>There are plenty of americans in all programs. Like I said, I'm in the faculty of engineering. I have an american friend who's in the faculty of the arts, another in science (american pre-med), another in the management school. Basically, there are americans in EVERY program. </p>

<p>Following flyzeggs: if you have any questions regarding what your first year would be like, or anything about the faculty of engineering don't hesitate to PM me.</p>

8

<p>Alright dr.mambo, I have learned quite a bit from your post. But all the Americans I know in McGill (and I know plenty) are in Arts, (about your anecdote) one of which took a few courses @ Harvard and will probably do grad there tells me otherwise. Whether it's true or not, I know that the general impression is that American students go there to study Arts because it could take a year less, I'm not at all saying that they're bad students. I guess difficulty depends on the department, I happen to know people mostly in the ME and religious studies (?) dept.s, with very high GPAs. About the HS GPA vs. SAT thing, fair enough, I get most my info from forums like this one but not directly from any staff member or any member of the admissions committee outside of McGill med, exp. med and neuro & neurosurgery (grad) which is a completely different story. </p>

<p>BTW, both my parents hold PhDs from McGill's Chem Eng. program (my father taught there for a short while), with the decline of the P&P research institute it's not exactly what it used to be but they're working on other areas. I should add, I spent much of my childhood where you are studying now because my parents were too cheap to send me to daycamp, the memories... :) They no doubt have an amazing Chem department and for life and health sciences I would recommend it over almost any other university. </p>

<p>Thanks for your informative post!</p>

9

<p>Zfanatic:</p>

<p>I'm an international science student at McGill (from Turkey), entering this year, and from what I know about the admissions process, you're more or less sure to get in the science program. (I had a lower gpa than yours, little higher SATs, but just one AP -- still got in).</p>

<p>I don't know about the CEGEP pre-med, but for international students like you and me, the only thing you have to do about med school is keep track of your requirements and make sure you fulfill them. (i.e. take all the core sciences for your first year, even if you have exemptions due to APs -- then there are more intense courses for you, but you still have to take them). you'll have advisors to help you with your course selections.</p>

<p>another specific info about cognitive science and neuroscience at Mcgill; maybe you already know, but the neuroscience major isn't yet available (still pending approval from some ministry). I'm also hoping to go for it if it does get approved, but yea, no one really knows when that's going to happen. and if it does become available when you are to choose a major, it's probably going to be a selective program, so keep that in mind. as for cognitive science, that's available as a major only in the bachelor of arts & science (which is a different program than the Bachelor of science), but I'm not sure if you'd be able to get all your med-school requirements done with that program since the arts requirements might get in the way.</p>

<p>You have several options about that;</p>

<p>1) you can do a Biology major with a neuroscience concentration (which means choosing the neuroscience-related courses whenever you have a choice) and/or minor (which involves some required courses related to neuroscience). you can also upgrade your major to an Honours Biology (a more intense program with some research and seminars involved), which is, I was told, more or less a sure ticket to any grad school you want if you maintain a high enough gpa (in case you give up on med school)</p>

<p>2) you can do a Psychology major, which will keep you away from some rather dull biology subjects (that translates to plants, classification etc. for me) and keep you concentrated on your interests. you should keep an eye on your med-school requirements though, and make sure you're learning your MCAT stuff if you're not taking related courses.</p>

10

<p>I thought that even with a BA you could get all your reqs done? Because a lot of people who go to med school have like music, languages, history degrees and such, and still complete the prereqs. I'd think it would just take a little more careful planning? As far as Neuroscience, I had read that it was still in progress. I'm planning on taking some French courses anyways (maybe minoring in French language if I can and it's not too much of a pain) and have that as well.</p>

11

<p>well, I didn't know about the arts students going pre-med, but I just thought otherwise after seeing pre-med people registering for all core sciences for their first year (which makes 4 courses per term and a total of 30 credits anyway, which is all you need, which doesn't leave you any time to take art courses). but I'm not 100% sure on that (I'm not planning to go on to med school), just check carefully before you choose which faculty to apply to. the most selective program is BA&Sc, then BSc, than BA, as far as I know. And you can also try and change your program once you get in (easier down the scale of course). so yea, just check your options and know what you're getting into before applying. McGill has its strange ways about requirements, my scheduling efforts have been hectic. oh well, it's a great school nonetheless. hope to see you next year =)</p>