McGill - humanities and liberal arts?

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
1

<p>Hi, I'm wondering about the McGill faculty of Arts program</p>

<p>Faculty</a> of Arts</p>

<p>I am looking for a liberal arts education, mostly focused on the humanities. Does anyone have experience with McGill's Arts program that requires a core curriculum in Social Sciences, Humanities, Languages, and Math & Science? I've been looking at expensive Ivies and expensive liberal arts colleges in the United States and I was wondering if I could get a similar education in McGill's Arts program (it is much less expensive tuition and I could possibly get a scholarship). Thank You!</p>

2

<p>yes mcgill’s freshman arts program has the same basic core requirements like any institution of its type: top public school,s ivies, etc</p>

3

<p>is the program respected and good? have you done it?</p>

4

<p>Twenty five years ago I was an English major at a small, selective liberal arts college in the US. I spent my junior year at McGill as a “visiting student”. </p>

<p>Although I loved McGill and had a great time there, my experience was that the academic program for liberal arts majors at McGill was much inferior to the program at my home school. At McGill, the classes were large and I almost never talked to the professors, just the TAs who taught the section. I did have a couple of smaller classes (less than 30 students) and I remember one professor who was very good. For the most part, though, the professors did not seem to be very interested in undergraduate teaching. I remember one literature class in particular that was so boring. The teacher just droned on and on (NO class discussion at all!) for an hour and a half twice a week, watching the clock until he could stop. Almost all the students stopped coming to class and we just passed in our papers to get class credit. Also, the “arts students” were considered somewhat second class to the business and science students. </p>

<p>What struck me more than anything, though, was how much easier the academics were at McGill. I was there for two semesters and got an A in every single one of my (upper level) classes, and I would estimate that I put in 50-75% of the effort that I had been putting in at my US LAC. My friends who were in the science and business programs seemed to be working much harder, so I have to assume that those programs were more demanding.</p>

<p>On the other hand, at my US LAC, the classes were small and taught by professors who were, almost without exception, very interested in and commited to undergraduate teaching. Of course the quality of the classes varied and some professors were better than others, but I got much, much more attention and personal interaction with the faculty. I also had to work much, much harder to get good grades! Plus, English was one of the most popular majors at the school and was very well respected.</p>

<p>Of course, this all happened 25 years ago and the liberal arts program at McGill might be much improved now. And, as I said, I loved being at McGill. Montreal is a fascinating city and I made some wonderful friends. Based on my experience way back then, however, I would recommend that if you want a strong liberal arts program, you might want to think twice about whether McGill is the best choice.</p>

5

<p>As they say, mcgill arts faculty is a feeder school to the unemployment rate. Absolutely do not go to mcgill for arts, you will be looked down upon and you will not find a good job, generally speaking.</p>

6

<p>^ why ?</p>

7

<p>^Because econgrad believes that unless you end up on Wall Street or in medical school, you are doomed to a life of failure.</p>

8

<p>What I have heard from students suggests that the quality of teaching at McGill has improved over the last 25 years from what kierans experienced (and 25 years is an entire generation and most of the profs from then will have retired). I hear stories of students that have gone to McGill and other universities and found the profs much more energetic and stimulating at McGill. </p>

<p>Certainly any large university has some profs that are duds at teaching (including the Ivies). Most large universities have at least some large classes. At McGill (and most places) these are most frequent in first year. McGill does have a lot of tutorials/labs which break the large sections into much smaller groups. </p>

<p>As for grading standards, generally McGill is regarded as having much tougher standards than most US schools: Canada is behind the US in the grade inflation game which is driven by competition amongst schools, of which there is relatively little in Canada. A fair number of US students complain about their grades at McGill being too low.</p>

<p>McGill is often ranked among the top 20 universities worldwide (so ahead of some Ivies and among the ranks of Cambridge, Oxford, U de Paris, Harvard et al). Perhaps the ranking of McGill is not an accurate reflection of the experience of an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Arts–the rankings are based on factors such as the publishing and research records which often don’t correlate well with good undergrad instruction.</p>

<p>Bottom line: McGill’s undergrad population is several times as large as the Ivies and most liberal arts colleges (and therefore less selective than the Ivies). Your experience at McGill is likely to be very different from that of a small college. Most undergrads prefer (and benefit more from) the personal interaction with a nice prof whose reputation is regional than the impersonal lecturing of one of the world’s great thinkers.</p>