My D is considering applying to McGill this fall as a US resident but she just read that they have a poor professor accessibility ranking in The Princeton Review. How much weight should she give this information? Can any recent graduates comment on your experience?
Thank you.
RD
McGill is a large university with about 31,000 full time students. As such it does not have the environment of a liberal arts college or a small university. First year introductory classes in many majors will be large lectures. In Science classes for example most interactions will be with teaching assistants during section meetings and tutorials. McGill is similar to large state universities in that sense.
My son is an alumnus from Desautels. There classes were smaller than in Arts and Science. He found that if he took the initiative faculty were quite approachable.
I do not believe that there are many current students or alumni on this forum. Here is a blog from Quora. It is a bit dated but it gives you an idea of some student experiences.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-attend-McGill-University-as-an-American-undergrad
https://www.quora.com/How-feasible-is-it-to-attend-McGill-as-an-American-student
My son is going to be a U1 in the Faculty of Arts studying Economics. The first year classes are pretty big but the professors are accessible if you reach out. @TomSrOfBoston nailed it…first year classes are big but classes get smaller as you go. My son had a very positive experience this past year. He learned a lot and, more importantly, we saw his critical thinking skills really develop.
Read through the threads. McGill has a strong culture…they really expect the kids to step up and advocate for themselves. It’s very different than most U.S. universities. Feel free to PM with any questions.