<p>I was wondering if anyone on these threads has recent experience with McGill. The application and audition process looks a bit different from that of US schools (for US residents), and they don't make an audition repertoire list readily accessible on their website or even on their "McGillinmind" site, which I signed up for. It is interesting on paper, and within an easy driving distance from our location in northern New England (as close as Boston and closer than NYC, for example). The tuition rates are so much lower than US, even for non Canadian residents, and it seems they offer merit and financial aid to qualified students even from the US... or perhaps I am dreaming? </p>
<p>At any rate, I was wondering about violin specifically, and would appreciate any BTDT info you might have.</p>
<p>@listenmissy, the McGill program for violin is excellent. In fact it is generally the top choice for Canadian violinists who do not go to the US. Montreal is an amazing city and the music scene is arguably the best in Canada. </p>
<p>The audition material is posted at <a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/music/future-students/undergraduate/audition-requirements”>http://www.mcgill.ca/music/future-students/undergraduate/audition-requirements</a>. There is a special scholarship for strings applicants and that involves staying for the final day of auditions (after the normal audition) and having an hour of material prepared.</p>
<p>My S (violin) played in the national youth orchestra last year with a number of the violinists and they all spoke very highly of the program in general and the violin faculty. It is certainly the largest music program in Canada - they have 2 orchestras each year.</p>
<p>In Canada we do not have in-province and out-of-province tuition fees like you have in the US, with the exception of Quebec. As such, the tuition at McGill is a bit higher than other Canadian universities. However, as you note, even for international students it is considerably cheaper than US schools. I would think the merit awards are also given to international students (but you would need to double-check), As for financial aid, we do not have that here in Canada. You do not fill out any financial aid forms when you apply to a Canadian institution. Canadian students can apply for student loans (and yes they are loans, not grants) but that is about it. As an international student you would not be eligible for these loans just like Canadian students are not eligible for US-government financial aid.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for this, @BCVIOLINMOM - especially the clarification re in-and-out-of-province fees.</p>
<p>I had read that about having an hour of material prepared for taping auditions; I hadn’t realized it was specifically for the scholarship (it’s a heavy music-school-info reading day, my head and eyes are swimming). We love Montreal and used to travel there regularly for quick jaunts (it’s a long day trip or an easy weekend visit from where we are). It did look like they award merit scholarships to international students, and the other requirements for U.S. students do not seem all that different from U.S. schools (though I must say, getting used to a more British nomenclature is a process… I thought I was looking up strings faculty but realized that “faculty” meant “school” – and that what I needed were the “staff”…). </p>
<p>I will delve more into McGill’s website. And thank you for the quick link to audition requirements!</p>
<p>Oh, one more question (for the moment). That hour of repertoire… not concerned about having an hour of repertoire to play, but…does the student have to play for an hour straight? No breaks? Or just play an hour’s worth of repertoire with the occasional pause to breathe 
?</p>
<p>Hi. The other thing I forgot to mention that there is no pre-screening for violin at McGill (unless it changes for next year). </p>
<p>I am not sure how the hour of material works as my S never did end up applying to McGill. My guess is that you have to have an hour ready but you don’t actually play for an hour. With the number of people that would audition for the scholarship there is no way they can have each play for an hour. Perhaps you have to have it ready and they can pick and choose what they want to hear. You also need to arrange to have an accompanist for this portion of the audition.</p>
<p>I had to laugh about your comment about British nomenclature. Quebec would be the last province to say that they use British nomenclature as they are predominantly French. We typically do refer to professors as faculty members so you were on the right track. Staff is used to refer to those who are non-faculty.</p>
<p>There was a person on here whose son I believe went to mcgill, violindad, you may want to try seeing if he is still on here and PM him to see what their experience has been. McGill is supposed to have a good program on violin, but beyond that I know little myself. </p>
<p>Thank you all, and, @BCVIOLINMOM – thank you especially for the bit on the repertoire (of course that makes sense). I’d read about the accompanist issue, but that’s a level of detail I need to know about but not deal with for some time to come.</p>
<p>I will ask @violindad about McGill as well.</p>
<p>The repertoire for the admissions audition is not extensive (i.e. much less than a hour) and the length of the admissions audition would be similar to that of most US schools (i.e. 15 to 20 minutes) . The hour of audition material is required if you wish to be considered for the evening scholarship audition which is done in front of the entire strings faculty. At both the admissions audition and the scholarship audition, you would play just selections from your required repertoire. </p>
<p>When my son auditioned, you needed an accompanist for the admissions audition, as well as for the scholarship audition. The Schulich School will provide you with a list of suggested accompanists (if you can get Philip Chu, take him since he has played everything in the string rep many, many times; plays very well; and is easy to work with). Some US schools also require an accompanist for the admissions audition.</p>
<p>When my son auditioned, the string faculty selected a few auditioners to play on the evening of the last day of auditions at the scholarship audition; I can’t recall the exact number selected, but I believe it was about 4 to 6 and included grad students. The single scholarship (I believe it was called the Lloyd Carr Harris) was $10 000 per year (back then tuition for an out-of-province Canadian was around $5000 and for non-Canadians was about $20 000 and for Quebec students was about $1800–two years later there were nightly protests of thousands of students when the Quebec gov’t planned to raise Quebec tuitions to over $2000 per year). My son also received smaller academic scholarships; some of these are automatically awarded based on your high school performance and others must be applied for.</p>
<p>McGill has much more academic strength, breadth and rigour than most conservatories (so be prepared for challenging music theory, history, and aural musicianship classes and for considerable intellectual stimulation in courses outside of music). McGill would not have the same depth in string teaching as places like Juilliard, CIM, and Rice that have an abundance of strong teachers, but it does have some excellent instructors and string students have gone on for graduate studies in some of the best string studios at places like Juilliard, NEC, Yale, etc…</p>
<p>My son loved both McGill and Montreal. Given your proximity to Montreal, I would strongly encourage you to arrange for a lesson with a couple of the violin instructors. My son’s instructor Jonathan Crow was excellent and a very good fit for my son, but Jonathan is now concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony and no longer teaches at McGill. Finding an instructor that fits you well is very important. You will have many different professors over your 8 semesters, but you will not spend nearly as much time with any of them as you do with your studio instructor.</p>
<p>McGill’s website can be tough to navigate even for a Canadian! </p>
<p>Feel free to contact me off-list if you have any further questions.</p>
<p>Thanks, Violindad! Just came back from out of town to this insightful message. I PM’d you a lengthier reply.</p>