<p>Okay guys, McGill is my dream school and I would love to go there so much!! With that said, can you guys chance me? I THINK I'm qualified but I would also like it if yall could point out some weakpoints in my application.</p>
<p>Asian from Texas
SAT: 2220 (680 CR / 780 M / 760 W)
Superscored: 2240 (800 M) Not sure if McGill does superscoring or not.
SAT IIs: 720 US History, plan on taking Math 2 and French in Oct
GPA: 3.65 UW, around 91.5/100
Rank: 83/1180 (top 7%)</p>
<p>Taken 4 AP classes so far (Comp Sci A, Comp Sci AB, US History, English Lang), plan on taking 3-6 next year depending on my scores from this year. All of my other classes have been honors except for stuff like health.</p>
<p>Any things I should work on? Or (hopefully) am I qualified to get in? :D</p>
<p>I would say that you’re qualified.
My SATs and GPAs were very similar to yours (my GPA was slightly lower but my SAT slightly higher) and I got in very soon after they started releasing decisions. My friend who had a similar GPA and slightly lower SATs than you got in about a month after me.
You’d almost definitely get into Arts; I don’t know about the other faculties.</p>
<p>I can’t say without a doubt that you’ll get in but you’re likely a strong applicant. But here’s the stats that I got in with:
I got 2040 on my SATs (740 CR, 670 W, 630 M, then again I only took them once, in my sophomore year)
~3.8 UW GPA, total of 14 AP classes. McGill really likes AP classes because most Quebec students go through a full 2 years of CEGEP classes, they’re the only school I applied to that asked for them in the application process. They also like U.S. and other international students because they add to the “world-class” reputation of the school.</p>
<p>Because of the nature of the application (how simple and quick it is) most of your admission decision is determined by test scores, GPA and classes. There’s not a whole lot of weird ambiguous leeway like with a lot of U.S. schools. I’d suggest you also apply for the Major Scholarship (3-10 grand a year, renewable, with first pick of residence), you’re possibly qualified. The only thing that I’d advise is working on your GPA a little and taking those AP classes you were considering if you can do it and still keep your GPA high. Again I think that you have a fairly reasonable shot, maybe not a safety but I don’t think it’s a reach for you. Best of luck!</p>
<p>sebcartwright - Thanks. I do actually want to go into the Arts, specifically Linguistics. But I’m not 100% sure about that yet
And thanks for the advice Sonicy1. However I heard that if you have enough AP credits, you HAVE to skip to your sophmore year, which I don’t want because I’m still iffy about my major. Did that happen with you?</p>
<p>I’d give you a pretty good shot. Your SAT’s are a smidge higher than my composite ACT score. I did have a 36 and 34 in Science and Math, respectively, so that may have helped me in applying to the chemistry program, but I think your scores are more than above average for McGill. I had more AP’s than you, and just a tiny bit lower UWGPA, so I think you’re pretty much in.</p>
<p>My numbers were similar or only slightly higher, and I easily got in (Arts faculty to major in linguistics, just like you). I agree with everyone else, you’ll probably be accepted.</p>
<p>I’m in the position where I’ll be entering straight into my sophomore year on AP credit. A year is 30 credits, but they’ll put you in U1 your first year if you have at least 24 (use [this</a> chart](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/student-records/transfercredits/ap/]this”>http://www.mcgill.ca/student-records/transfercredits/ap/) to find out how many credits you’d have). The extra 6 credits you could do over the summer at some point, or it’s possible to go another year. I have 24 credits right now and might have 30 once I get my results in July, so I’m definitely entering as a sophomore.</p>
<p>I wouln’t let that stop you from taking AP classes/tests though. It works out fine for me since I’m almost positive I want to major in linguistics, but I don’t think it’s a big deal if you’re still a little unsure on your major. You have to declare one, but you can always change it later (which happens all the time, from what I’ve read). Also, you don’t necessarily have to finish your program in three years, a lot of people will extend it and go four years.</p>
<p>I would actually try to get enough AP credit to skip freshman year–I’m pretty happy that I get to start studying what I’m actually interested right away, instead of wasting a year on freshman classes. Changing your major isn’t much of an issue, so I’d go for it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies guys!
Zfan - Thanks for the comparison, I really really really want to go So hopefully if I have similar stats with everybody, I can go. Just wondering, why did you choose Cornell over McGill?
Askalon - That’s a relief that you got in easily. And right now I have 12 credits and next year I’m definitely taking English Lit (6 more), Calc BC (7), and French (6), which would put me at 31 exactly. But I still am currently signed up for Govt AP, Economics AP, and Physics AP C.
Skipping freshman year does have benefits, you won’t really be in those “500+” classes I’d assume… but then you don’t get as many electives I hear?
And is it true you can just take 4 classes a week instead of 5? Because I’d be interested in that.</p>
<p>I would take as many AP classes as you can handle without getting overloaded to the point that your grades or scores will suffer (unless you’re a math and science type of person, physics is pretty hard, so you’d probably want to drop that before your other classes). Also, it’s worth considering how confident you are that you’ll get a 4 or 5 on everything, and maybe take more than necessary if you don’t do so well on some tests. You might want to check whether your AP Gov’t/Econ classes actually teach the AP material too–at least at my school, those classes weren’t aimed at AP prep and nobody took those tests. I don’t know how common that is though.</p>
<p>As for electives, you’ll have plenty. A BA is 120 credits, minus the 30 AP credits gives you 90. A linguistics major is 36 credits, which gives you 54 left over. Assuming you want a minor, they tend to be 18 credits, which leaves you with 36 credits (or 12 classes if they’re all 3 credits each) of electives. Personally, I’m probably going to do a double minor, which still leaves me with 18 credits in electives.</p>
<p>A typical course load is five classes per term, 12 credits is the minimum you need to be a full-time student. Some classes I know are 4.5 credits (like Asian languages and Arabic), which means you could do five classes one semester and four the next, and still come out to 30 credits for the year. Also, you have the option of going four years despite starting as a sophomore. If you did that you’d be able to do only 12 credits each semester.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ll probably drop Physics for Anatomy or Health Science Tech, I just heard from my counselor that Physics C was a good course to take while taking Calculus. And I’m pretty confident I can get a four in French and Calc BC, which would put me at 25 anyways. But I guess Govt/Ec would still be a safe bet for me.</p>
<p>And I didn’t know that about the credits. What are you planning to double minor in? I’m not sure what I could do for a minor. Computer Science maybe, or some sort of Mathematics. And also, do you plan on finishing in three years?</p>
<p>Yeah, physics is a lot easier if you’re taking calculus simultaneously, and physics did help me in calc sometimes, so they go together well. It takes a lot of work and time though, plus I was lucky to have a really good teacher, and I’m still not sure if I did too well on the AP tests.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of minoring in Hispanic Languages (Spanish) and East Asian Studies (Korean, and focused on language, not culture).</p>
<p>And I’m hoping to finish in three years, yes. I think it might give me a little less flexibility in my schedule and what year I’m taking classes, but hopefully it’ll work out. I’m mainly doing it for financial reasons and also just eagerness to be done with my education for the time being.</p>
<p>While I’m fairly confident that you’ll get in, I’m not sure if you’ll qualify for a major scholarship. I’m not saying not to apply, just don’t be surprised (or worse, upset and angry) if you don’t get one, as one of the minima last time I checked was to be in the top 2% of your class.</p>
<p>Also, ZFanatic chose Cornell over McGill for - and this is rare - the lower price; Cornell’s FA was better than McGill’s and would offer similar if not better research opportunities.</p>
<p>Gotcha Askalon. I would like to stay four years because three just seems too short, but then again my parents are currently paying NYU tuition for my brother so it would be good if I could finish in three years. I don’t know though, I still have a year to decide all that (I might not even be accepted either)</p>
<p>And that sucks, the highest I can get my GPA up to be is 4.6 (weighted, that’s what the school uses to rank) which would only put me at about 70/1180. Oh well. And that makes sense about Cornell… but to me nothing can beat Montr</p>
<p>Trust me, it could be worse.
My school only used unweighted grades to rank students and didn’t even provide us with weighted GPAs, which caused an uproar when the boy who had the highest overall GPA over four years turned out to be someone who didn’t take a single honors class.</p>
<p>I chose it for a few reasons. If everything was equal, McGill would have been my choice by a longshot. The main reasons I picked Cornell was financial aid, because it’s costing me 20k (loans, EFC, etc) to go to Cornell. It would have been 25k+ to go to McGill, and that’s forgetting the fact that tuition will be rising the next couple of years. Also, as good of a school as McGill is, there’s no denying that Cornell has a better academic reputation. Is it a significant difference? Not really, but there is a difference. I also plan on going to medical school, and coming from a US school makes things just a little easier, as some medical schools don’t really like international coursework. I also don’t have to deal with things like visas and immigration- not to mention I can get a job here, where it would be very difficult in Montreal. McGill’s grade deflation is a bit of a deterrent as well. However, if I end up transferring for some reason, McGill will be at the top of my list. I will also be applying to McGill’s medical school one day, which would be a dream to attend. </p>
<p>Going to Cornell was just a smarter choice (for me). I would have been just as happy at McGill, and I’m still really sad that I’m not going, but I had to choose and Cornell just worked out better.</p>
<p>seb- Haha, I think it used to be like that here. One of my sister’s friends about 4 years ago was Valedictorian while taking all the easiest courses. They got rid of it because of him I can only assume…</p>
<p>Z- Is McGill really that expensive? I keep hearing how it’s so much cheaper than other US schools (which I want to go somewhere really cheap as my parents have to pay two college tuitions for two years) And that makes sense about going to medical school, the grade deflation probably doesn’t help McGill students with going to graduate studies… Thanks again for the insight and have fun at Cornell!!</p>
<p>Arts will be much less expensive than Science or Management.
The Arts tuition is frozen for the next year and I believe will go up by ~10% per year after that (my memory’s fuzzy), while Sci and Management are going up by obscene amounts. Management is going from $16,000 to $23,000 (42% increase), while Science and Engineering are both going from $16,500 to $20,000 (20%). (All Canadian dollars, of course.)</p>
<p>Also, while McGill does have grade deflation, it does place well into graduate schools.
(But, if Wutang were around, you’d find out about how it does not have good career placement.)</p>
<p>No problem. Even with the tuition hikes, McGill is still cheaper than most American schools, but it depends on your family’s income level. If you’re dirt poor, McGill won’t care, but most schools here in the US will throw money at you, and you may pay <10k /yr. If you’re making a good amount of money and the schools will expect you to pay the full ride, then saving 15-20k/yr at McGill might be a big incentive to your family.</p>
<p>You just gotta weigh the financial aid packages once all the acceptances (hopefully) come rolling in.</p>
<p>As far as taking only four classes per year:</p>
<p>I’m assuming that because you’re from Texas, you’re not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. You’ll therefore be in Canada on a study permit. One of the requirements for a study permit is that you maintain full-time status. Four courses (assuming they add up to 12 credits) is sufficient. However, this doesn’t give you any breathing room to drop a course if need be. Taking five courses gives you breathing room to drop a class if it’s not going well.</p>
<p>I just checked and it looks like McGill would be around $25,000 total with housing costs which would be the cheapest school I’m looking at, along with the University of Texas (a safety for me, around the same price) So that’s good. That’s without considering any financial aid though…
Take3 - Thanks for the advice. Four courses would be good for me and allow me to be more lax, but I think 5 courses/3 years is a better option assuming my parents don’t all of a sudden get a higher income. (which is a real possibility, my dad wrote a book and it might be sponsored by B&N)</p>
