<p>I am a freshman in college and I know it is a bit early for me to be looking at colleges, however, I curious as to what medical schools were in Canada and stumbled upon McGill. It seems like a very prestigious university but what about the campus life and the curriculum of the medical school make it different than US medical schools?</p>
<p>Unless you’re a Canadian citizen or PR, McGill will be an extreme reach for you. McGill really doesn’t accept international applicants. (Supposedly they are limited to no more than 10 non-Canadian acceptances a year, but in reality, non-Canadians haven’t been accepted in many years.)</p>
<p>Canada exports med school applicants to the US because there are so few seats available in Canada.</p>
As McGill is in Quebec, they do accept French Europeans in the undergrad. It is not that hard to get in for them. (You need about a 14 on the BAC, which is about 95th percentile; Oxbridge demands approx 99.5th percentile scores or 16).
Re McGill, I am only reporting what I’ve heard, so please correct me if I am wrong. I have heard that McGill is similar to the system in the UK, whereby you do 3-4 undergrad in medicine that is very theoretical, then after that you do several more years of clinical specialization, the latter of which which requires a competitive entry.
@alcibiade No, you are wrong. McGill and all Canadian universities follow the American scheme. You study 3 or 4 years and earn a bachelor’s degree and then apply to medical school. (There is an accelerated program for Quebec residents.)
While international students are welcome for the undergraduate programs, only a handful of international students are accepted to McGill’s medical school.
Tom, thanks, I stand corrected. For the med school portion, I understand that if not Canadian you need 3-years of residency? I heard this from a French family friend who is now in undergrad there.
McGill only accepts about 7-8 international students in Medicine each year. You need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in order to be eligible for the other slots. Doing undergrad at McGill or in Canada on a student visa will not get you resident status.
Thanks, Tom. As I understand from our friend, he will have to work 3 years before becoming eligible as a permanent resident.
Things must’ve changed. My wife graduated from McGill medicine in 94-5, as a foreign student. System was similar to what you’d have in a US school. McGill at that time still used cadavers for their anatomy classes, one of the few schools to do so. She was an excellent student before that, but she found McGill to be very challenging…had a bit of the Brit old school vibe. Hopefully that has changed. Some of what they put the students through was unnecessary, IMO. Sleep was a luxury, and asking the near impossible of students was routine.
Once she finished her medical residency in Canada, she had no trouble getting her permanent residence card, and eventually her Citizenship.
oops! Just realized that this is a two yo thread.