Hii,
I am a U.S. student, and these are my top choices among the schools I was accepted to. Posting this on the McGill page, I’m guessing responses will probably be in favor of McGill, but that’s fine… to be honest, I am trying to see the best in McGill because Montreal seems incredible, McGill gave me pretty good financial aid (a 5k scholarship plus a 15k bursary) and I’d love to study outside the U.S., but I’m just worried that the students at McGill might not be as academically focused as they would be at Northwestern or Georgetown because of McGill’s comparably high acceptance rate… Any responses are appreciated I’m really struggling to decide
In case it’s relevant, I’m currently planning to major in linguistics!
McGill publishes minimum requirements for GPA and SAT/ACT scores (or whatever is required based on your country of origin). That is one reason for the higher acceptance rate. If you are below the minimum requirements, EC’s and essays will not get you admitted.
@TomSrOfBoston Thanks for the quick response!!
I also read that about McGill, but I also read somewhere on here that while McGill may be one of the best (if not the best) universities in Canada, the smartest students in Canada just go to top U.S. schools :’( I know that can’t be the case for everyone, but it freaked me out haha
In general, would you say that the type of students who go to McGill are probably academically similar to the kinds of students going to Georgetown and Northwestern? sorry if this sounds pretentious
The top third of students at McGill are, in my opinion, superior to the top third of students at Georgetown or Northwestern. Many top Canadian students choose McGill because of “loyalty” to Canada of because their parents refuse to be full pay at top US schools. The bottom third of McGill students would be academically inferior to the bottom third of students at Northwestern or Georgetown. While the minimum admission standards are high they are not at the level of the topmost US schools.
Overall I would compare McGill to UCLA or Michigan. Remember that virtually all universities in Canada are publicly funded.
That said McGill has produced 144 Rhodes Scholars and 10 alumni have won Nobel Prizes
@pjimin My son is U0 studying economics at McGill. He has found the academics at McGill to be incredibly rigorous (and he comes from a top HS in the Boston area). Exams are tough (McGill is known for this) and there is zero grade inflation going on. He feels that a number of his friends at McGill are nothing short of brilliant. Are there some goofballs? Yes, but every school has them.
He has adored being in Montreal. He goes to clubs with friends, has gone to some great festivals, With friends he has explored other neighborhoods. And yes he has taken advantage of having Mt Royal literally outside his dorm.
You have three great options. Choose the school that you think is the best fit and where you will thrive. When you are dealing with three schools like McGill, Georgetown, and Northwestern, your paths coming out of school are limitless. So it’s more important to be at a school where you will be happy and thrive.
The top quarter of the NU students have SAT score above 1560. I don’t believe the top-quarter of McGill students would achieve that. If what you said is true, McGill would have a very weird distribution. You have to remember Canada’s population is a lot smaller. Canadian top schools are no more concentrated with the best of the best; that’s not accounting for the fact that the best international students tend to choose US schools, not Canadian schools (I was international). By the way, I believe many top scorers in Canada are actually Asians who are more concentrated in schools in Vancouver and Toronto anyway.
That said, I do agree their coursework are just as rigorous with less grade inflation.
https://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/scholarships-aid/future-undergrads/entrance-scholarships/criteria shows the minimum requirements for scholarships. Although these are “minimum”, they tend to be well above the mean of the class and may already represent the 80th percentile of the class, if not higher. Note that the SAT cutoff is below Northwestern’s average while the ACT cutoff is about the same as NU’s average.
McGill has higher acceptance rate because admissions in Canada is quite predictable, and based primarily on grades (with SAT being a cutoff). Students who don’t have the grades mostly don’t apply.
In Canada, the top students get into the top schools. The ones that don’t work hard in university then get weeded out by academic demands of the program. This is a sharp contrast to the US where admissions is based on a bunch of stuff much of which goes beyond academics. The result is that in the US students don’t know where they will get in so they apply widely and hope. A student with an unweighted 4.0 can be turned down while a student from the same school and same classes with a 3.5 gets in. This results in students applying to a lot of places and corresponding low acceptance rates, but does not speak to the academic strength of the students who are accepted.
Definitely, don’t be concerned about the high acceptance rate at McGill.The students at McGill will be very strong and will be academically focused. The academics will be very rigorous. You will need to work hard, and will learn a lot.
First off, I have no clue how linguistics ranks at any of those schools. I would imagine that all three are relatively strong, but you’ve got to do your homework there. NWU is an excellent school, as I’m sure you know…I know less about Georgetown, though it’s obviously very good. I can assure you that McGill is known for it’s rigor. The truism for most Canadian schools such as McGill, UBC, U of T, is that it’s easier to get in, but also easier to flunk out of. S1 is going to McGill this fall and I have been subtly and not so subtly warning him to have fun(French Girls!!, food, clubbing), but not TOO much fun, cause it’ll catch up to you. I wouldn’t worry about a lack of intellectualism or rigor. There are some very bright students going there from all over the world. It is also well regarded among academics, should that matter to you.
I grew up in Montreal, and know quite a few people who have gone there, including my wife. McGill was hard for her, but she was in a notoriously brutal program. It doesn’t have to be that tough.
I don’t think there is a large difference in quality or reputation between these schools. US rankings will often rank US schools higher, but rankings done by non US entities will often rank a school like McGill higher. For S1, it was about fit…he wanted something different than our midwest setting for a change…if he had a choice between NWU and McGill he would’ve been pretty conflicted, and could well have chosen NWU, but there are other factors in play at McGill for him.
I would pour over the Bios of the Linguistics profs at all of the schools, maybe try to contact a couple, and get advice from anyone you know who knows about the programs. Forget the rankings...they are good for broad strokes, and that's about it.
Thank you all for your responses! @57special I think I will take your advice and see if I can talk with some professors or students from the schools’ linguistics departments
Also, @SwimmingDad , do you know if students at McGill have to take a speech class? I know a lot of U.S. universities have that as part of a core requirement, but public speaking is my greatest fear I’m definitely not going to make my college decision based on whether or not a school requires a single speech class, but I was just curious :)) haha
@pjimin Requirements differ from Faculty to Faculty. My son did not. Like you, he does not like public speaking so I’m encouraging him to do things to get over that fear.
Again, I want to emphasize: you have three great options. Go to the school where you think you will thrive. You can and will get a great education at all three.
You can use AP credits to cover some or all of it, if you have them.
It might be a good idea to figure out a sample degree plan for all three of the schools you are considering. You may decide you really like the flexibility one school offers, or a series of courses at another school.
My daughter will start at McGill in the fall, majoring in Cognitive Science, Linguistics stream. She can’t wait.
thanks! I’ll take a look at the courses. I’d already looked a little at Northwestern’s, and they have A LOT of options, which is nice. There also seems to be A LOT of emphasis on having a very interdisciplinary education, though… I went to their admitted students day on Monday, and one student mentioned that they switched majors their senior year and were still going to graduate on time not sure if I like that or not
I’m actually in the Faculty of Arts and Science because I think I’ll be double-majoring (possibly in linguistics and computer science), and I was also considering their Cognitive Science major!
Ahhh, I see! My D is really excited about McGill’s CogSci major. There is only a small handful of required courses, then the rest is very flexible. She likes that you can change the emphasis of your study without changing your major. And as you may know, Montreal is becoming a global hub for AI, so there should be some good opportunities for internships in the Cognitive Science sphere.
Have you joined the Facebook groups for accepted students at the three colleges you are considering? My D is learning a lot about McGill this way.
Good luck to you. It looks like there is no wrong choice here.
Wow, it seems like she and I have a lot in common! I am also interested in AI!! and technology in general. I love traveling and studying languages, so I’ve also recently been dreaming about working at Nintendo in Japan. I’d love to be surrounded by such cute characters all day long
I did join the Facebook groups, although I’m too shy to post, haha. I’m getting a bit of an artsy and international vibe from the McGill page, which I really like.
Interestingly, my youngest (high school junior) has his sights set on McGill. He wants to to into video game marketing and there is a good sized video game industry in Montreal. The great part is that all of this is easily accessible from McGill.
And my apologies if I sound like I’m doing a hard sell on McGill. Not my intent at all.
@SwimmingDad no worries, thank you for the great information! unfortunately, it feels like the more information I get, the harder the decision also gets because I know learn all that I will be missing out on from the each school if I don’t end up choosing them, haha
I’m really struggling to decide 
I’m definitely not going to make my college decision based on whether or not a school requires a single speech class, but I was just curious :)) haha
not sure if I like that or not