Hello,
I am currently at a public high school in the US. The head admissions officer for the US at McGill has told me that my school is considered very competitive by the university. I currently have a 31 composite on the ACT with a score of 8 on the writing, I will be retaking it and will get a 32. My GPA is a little more complicated. I did pretty poorly in sophomore year but stepped it up in Junior year. I took primarily honors courses with a few APs.
Sophomore GPA: 2.71
Junior GPA: 3.67
(Predicted) Senior GPA: 3.8
What would my chances be for the Faculty of Arts at McGill? Any input is much appreciated. Thank you.
Pinging @TomSrOfBoston
So McGill should be one of those schools where "chance me"s are straightforward, because they publish their GPA and test score admissions criteria on their web page: https://www.mcgill.ca/applying/requirements/usa#grades
@Chris2002 Are you applying to any specific school at McGill? Your grades may be ok for some schools, but not for others.
Here are the minimum requirements for 219:
https://www.mcgill.ca/applying/requirements/usa
For Arts you appear to be above the minima, depending on your ACT subscores and grades in prerequisite courses. For Desautels, Engineering and Science your GPA would likely keep you put.
Thank you so much for responding!
For the ACT I had: 30E, 26M, 34R, 32S. However, I am taking it tomorrow and am confident I will get a 32C with 32E, 28M, 34R, 32S.
For the prerequisite grades I got a B- in English Sophomore year and an A- in English Junior year. Would McGill overlook the Sophomore year if I have an A- in English both Junior and Senior year? How important is Sophomore year in comparison to Junior and Senior year? Thank you. @TomSrOfBoston
Thank you so much for responding @damon30.
I will be applying to Arts. I know McGill requires a B+ minimum for English. I received an A- in English Junior year and am confident I can get an A Senior year. However, I received a B- in Sophomore year. Would that rule me out? How important is Sophomore year in comparison to Junior and Senior? Thank you.
@damon30 I am very sorry but I do not understand what “nm” means. Could you please explain?
nm: “never mind”. I was about to name check @TomSrOfBoston (he is the McGill alum), but then I saw you had edited your post to add his name yourself. I don’t know if McGill down-weights sophomore year, but he probably knows.
@TomSrOfBoston For the prerequisite grades I got a B- in English Sophomore year and an A- in English Junior year. Would McGill overlook the Sophomore year if I have an A- in English both Junior and Senior year? How important is Sophomore year in comparison to Junior and Senior year? Thank you.
Hard to say. McGill has its own form of rolling admissions. they admit from the top down. The further above the minima the sooner you get a decision. If admitted your decision may come out later than if you did not have that B-.