Hi! I am making my final decision for college and am stuck between McGill University and University of Oregon Honors. I am born and raised in Portland OR and so u of o is a quick 3 hour drive away. McGill on the other hand is cross continental in Montreal, a city I’ve never visited before. U of o is a decent school where I feel confident I could do decently well, but it is somewhat of a ‘boring’ choice for me geographically. McGill on the other hand attracted me for the city itself as well as their reputation. It is this same reputation though that makes me worried that I couldn’t keep up with potentially difficult coursework. Side note, I’m hoping to go to graduate school so my GPA in college will matter. I wonder if I should go for the safe option in u of o or challenge myself with McGill and risk overdoing it? Any input or info about either school is appreciated! Thanks!
You didn’t mention cost, at all. Is that not a factor?
No, the price ends up being the same for both, give or take a couple hundred dollars
What were your stats and major? McGill is pretty selective. If you got in, you should be able to handle it.
In that case, OP, I can throw out a couple subjective thoughts from my own perspective, of course.
McGill is an extremely well-regarded university. If “prestige” and/or name recognition is important to you, I frankly think this is an easy choice: McGill.
If, however, you end up at Oregon, and any other non-super-famous college, and intend to go to grad school, the process is simple: Do well in college and get good grades! Then do well on your GRE’s or whatever grad test you need to take. Whether your degree is from Oregon, or McGill, or Harvard, or Chico St., if you do extremely well in college, you’ll get into a very good graduate school. Trust me on this.
Lastly, if you want to go away for school (as I did when I was your age), and as money isn’t an issue, again, I would think long and hard about McGill. Going away for school, and going to one’s “hometown” school (I realize you’re a couple of hours away from Eugene but you know what I’m mean) are very different experiences.
I’m looking forward to other opinions and suggestions here. There’s some very sharp folks on CC. Best wishes!
Unweighted GPA: 3.76
Weighted: 3.84
Act: 32
SAT: 1410
SAT II: Literature: 760, Math 1: 660
AP Tests: Psychology, Human Geo, & English Language: 4
(If those aren’t the stats you mean, let me know haha)
I want to major in psychology and go to graduate school for a PhD in clinical psych
Your stats say that you are able to handle difficult coursework. The purpose of higher education is to learn and to be challenged. You won’t be “overdoing it” at McGill.
McGill isn’t like top-flight us schools: plenty of students flunk out. They admit you because they think you can succeed but unlike, say, Harvard, they aren’t going to “make sure” you do. If you don’t, you don’t. Canadian grades are also notoriously more deflated than US grades. You’ll also get a chance to learn French (and you really should).
If you are able to work independently and are self motivated + would love a cosmopolitan city that even beat Boston for college students’quality of life, then McGill.
Honors at Oregon comes with many perks. The environment as you did is totally different, it’ll be a closer knit community, you’ll have instant advantages, and there’s no grade deflation. But no culture change and no big city.
Really there’s no wrong choice here.
@MYOS1634 University of Oregon is a large state flagship and as such is not a “hand holding” type of school either. I don’t know how much being in the Honors program there will affect that. A quick google search showed UofO has an 86% freshman retention rate and a 72% six year graduation rate. Whereas McGill has a 92% retention rate and an 85% graduation rate.
My son is a McGill alumnus and he had a great experience there. McGill and Montreal are both unique. I am concerned that you have never visited Montreal. It is an experience that is not for everyone. You will be at an English university in a French province. You will be part of a large Anglophone minority. It can be a culture shock for someone coming from a smaller west coast city. It is too late to visit. If you have a sense of adventure and are self disciplined such that you can achieve a balance between your academic life and the city life McGill is an incredible opportunity.
Oh, and then there is the issue of Montreal winters. 
@USCWolverine @bouders @MYOS1634 @TomSrOfBoston Thank you all so much for your help, I just committed to McGill tonight! 
mcGill
Congratulations!
You are taking a chance with McGill, but the ceiling on what you can accomplish is IMHO higher by going to McGill. You get to live in an internationally cosmopolitan city, perhaps picking up a foreign language, go to a university with a world wide reputation (esp in the English speaking world), and will meet a slew of people you would never have met going to your own state flagship. Winters will be long, and at times you may feel isolated and lonely, but in the long run you will likely be very glad you took the leap.