You make completely unfounded and classist assumptions about IB programs. As stated early, there are many public schools which offer the IB in America.
Hi! Sorry I didn’t see this. I was valedictorian in a competitive public NJ high school, and I had a 4.9 weighted gpa (my school doesn’t calculate unweighted). I only took the SAT once and got a 1490. I plan on majoring in English, so I took Honors English freshman and sophomore year and then AP Lang (5 on the exam) junior year. I’m in AP Lit currently. Hope that helps!
WOW, that is the first time someone from the IB program told someone from a public school that he’s classist… My claims are not unfounded, as my counselor worked in an IB program before working in my school. As time taking as it is, the IB program is not as hard as other diplomas that do not allow students to choose what they want to study. There is no point in debating further since it is probably more a matter of opinion than facts, so let’s agree to disagree.
For the same program in the same admissions year? There’s a huge difference in cutoffs for various programs.
“Reviewed decision pending” is so frustrating. Best of luck to your child!
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If a student applies to two programs it is common to be admitted say to Arts in January but be “reviewed decision pending” in Desautels until April.
That makes sense. Do you have a sense of what would happen if a student committed to Arts, then gained admission to another faculty in April/May? Would it be as difficult to switch then as it would be to do an inter-faculty transfer later down the line?
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From the McGill website:
Should I accept my offer if I am waiting on a decision for another program?
If you are decided on McGill, you can accept your first offer now. Accepting your first offer will not influence the review of your other program choices. If you are later admitted to a second program and you wish to accept that offer, you must contact Service Point to request a change.
How to accept your offer | I’ve Been Accepted - McGill University
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You also get predicted scores for the Extended Essay and TOK, which provide up to 3 additional points in total (IB provides a matrix for this). No school is predicting above a 7, as 7 is the highest score you can get anywhere, not just in the US. Those with 43-45 therefore necessarily got at least one point from their combined predicted scores for EE and TOK.
As a Canadian IB student I think it’s a bit inaccurate to say our predicted grades are that inflated, as my experience and that of most international IB students has been the opposite. Our American counterparts do less IB-style exams and assignments in the classroom (for example I know many HL Psych students from the States who had not done a single practice ERQ or SAQ until their official mock exams, which occur after predicted grades are issued), and these are the most accurate metrics, so I’m not sure that US predicted grades are would be that much harsher. Of course this is anecdotal and not universally true, but American high schools in general (both their curriculum and other aspects) tend to march to their own drumbeat compared to schools abroad, which tend to be more similar to each other. From what I have noticed and heard from my American friends, this makes them seem a little bit less aligned with IB as a whole than international schools. Since most people in the States opt for AP over IB, they are sometimes (obviously not always) less equipped to implement it with the effectiveness of some of the European countries where IB is almost ubiquitous, which may account for the discrepancy in predicted grades by causing lower achievement overall. I think it’s also important to note that the US is not ranked anywhere near the top in terms of average official IB diploma points, so lower predicted might very well just be a reflection of lower official scores. Teachers in any country have specific guidelines set by IB to adhere to for predicted grades and are sanctioned if there is too much of a discrepancy between the two, which in many cases makes IB predicted grades far less prone to inflation than GPA, which has little to no standardized guidelines between schools, especially not internationally. Obviously I don’t know your student’s particular situation and of course they might very well attend a school that is overly conservative with predicted grades, but it is a bit frustrating to see blanket statements being made about international students’ grades when American high schools are notorious internationally for inflating GPA, which makes applying to the US at least as hard for us as you claim it is for you applying to McGill. Nothing against American students though, I have dual citizenship myself and, at the end of the day, we are all in this together and McGill applications are difficult for all of us.
Thanks for doing this. Honestly.
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I am kind of unsure about what to do. It’s been four months and still no answer. I am honestly kind of annoyed to wait this long. Has it been the same for people here who did NOT get decision pending?
I applied in November and status changed to Further review required in early February but since then no news. I already contacted admissions and they said my app was complete now, but it’s been so long…
They only asked for the TOEFL, so why does it take so, so long to get a decision.
I’m almost going to call them to ask
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@HigherTruth’s application included Environmental Science, with 36/42 IB expected grade. Isn’t McGill reasonably clear (certainly compared to US Universities) about the expected IB score that historically received admission?
if a student has a 39-42 out of 42 Predicted IB score (excluding TOK), he/she could be pretty assured of a rapid admission. with a 35-38, there is no guarantee as McGill wants to admit all the 39-42 and gives them time to accept before accepting 35-38 candidates in which your son belongs. it’s a torturing wait, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a chance, since they set their historical line at 30 and above?
Thanks for the reply. I have top grades in my country so I do not know why it takes this long. I am not part of the IB. French bac conversion of 19.5
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FINALLY ! I was just checking my portal randomly and saw I received an UNCONDITIONAL offer from DeSautel for a bachelor of commerce. Super exciting.
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Congratulations! What was the status of your application before?
Since 7th February it was « further review required » because I needed to send in English proficiency.
Do you guys know how good is McGill for investment banking or finance? What is the reputation? Pros and cons in general.
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My son’s status is Ready for Review since November 
@Ausername321
Congrats on the admission and good journey!
For investment banking, key is to start early and lock summer internships in the industry, even after freshman year.
Could you clarify your stats vs their historical range? thanks
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I’m sorry for you. I just sent a message the day before saying how long it was and I got my decision afterwards. I think you’ll get it soon, though. I heard that if you don’t get decision pending, it’s good.