So I saw the other Q&A thread which seemed to be 2 years old so I though why not do one for students this year?
I’m a current American 1st year Desautels student living in Upper Rez. Feel free to ask me literally anything: life at McGill, life in management, life in Rez, transitioning to Montreal/Canada, AP Credits, extracurriculars, student permits, phone plans, bank accounts, NEXUS, etc. etc.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.
My daughter was recently accepted to McGill (Faculty of Arts) and is very excited about attending. She has not been able to visit the campus, so all we know about it is what we’ve seen on the web. I would love to hear what your first year experience has been like. My daughter will be coming from a relatively small town in Alaska, so there is the culture shock thing, but really, what is Montreal like? I’ve heard it’s a beautiful city. Is it easy to get around? Where exactly is the campus? Is it in the city proper or is it on the outskirts? How difficult was it for you to get all the international paperwork done? How are the residence halls? See, lots and lots of questions. Any information you could provide would be most helpful. Thank you.
Hi! Wow I’m so happy to have found this thread.
I got accepted into McGills Desaults program. I’m from Berkeley, California so obviously it would be a big move for me.
Is the weather tolerable? Is the social life really good, and are there cool people? Are there good professors and how are you liking the program in General?
I’m visiting McGill next week to check it out, I’m very excited. However I also got accepted into University of Washington Foster school of business, so that’s another top choice for me. Thanks!
@JuneauMom
In terms of culture shock, I didn’t really find it that much different from the States. McGill is located smack in the middle of downtown Montreal, and you probably have already heard the phrase “McGill Bubble”, and it certainly is true. In case you haven’t, the McGill campus and surrounding neighborhood is predominantly English speaking and Anglophone, and not as heavily influenced by French culture as other parts of Montreal/Quebec. Pretty much everybody Montreal will be at least semi-fluent in English and everybody working in the service industry, from banks to restaurants, will be fluent in both English and French as well. If you stay within the bubble, it won’t really feel that much different from living in the States with the exception of all the signs being in French. There’s also alot more to Montreal outside of the McGill Bubble which I’ve only gotten little tastes of as a 1st year, so I can’t comment too much about that. And the city certainly is beautiful, especially from the top of Mount Royal. And living in Montreal can certainly be cold, but probably not as much as Alaska.
For a US Citizen, the international paperwork wasn’t too bad. Now, you should definitely double-check everything I’m saying here since I’m not an immigration expert or anything, but for Americans you only need to apply for a CAQ and Study Permit, both of which can be done online. You have to apply for the CAQ first, and after you’re approved for that you apply for your study permit, which you can either do online or at the border crossing if you bring all the paperwork. If you do plan on attending though, you should start your paperwork ASAP. You can find out more on Canada’s site here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/getting-started.asp
Getting around McGill/Montreal certainly isn’t difficult. You can get from the two furtherest corners of the downtown campus in a 10-15 minute walk. If you live in any of the Rez’s except for Solin or the McGill Ghetto, the campus is only a 5-10 minute walk away. If you live further away, there’s always the metro (subway) which is pretty cheap. And of course there’s always bus service (including an express bus to and from the airport), and taxi/Uber in the city.
Now in terms of the Residence Halls, I live in Upper Rez (Gardner, McConnell, Molson), which is more of a traditional college dorm experience. I would say that Upper Rez definitely are the most social ones, and things can get pretty rowdy on the weekends (and often the weekdays as well), but studying certainly is possible as well. Of course there are also other residences as well as such as the ones that used to be hotels (New Rez, C4, Cit), RVC, Douglas Hall, etc. etc. which I’m not as familiar with, but you can check out the Unofficial McGill Guide here: http://www.unofficialmcgillguide.com/residence-reviews/ for some other student opinions.
@youngscholar4797
I’m from the northeast, so adapting to Montreal wasn’t THAT hard for me. But if you’re from Cali, it probably will be harder to adapt, but certainly not impossible (I think I met a couple of guys from California here). It can get cold in Montreal in the winter, but you shouldn’t have too much of a hard time if you invest in one or two nice winter coats. They do a fairly decent job of shoveling snow quickly in the winter, but keep in mind that classes will pretty much NEVER close for weather conditions until it reaches near apocalyptical levels, so you may have to walk through a snowstorm or two.
Now as you’re probably aware, the drinking age in Quebec is 18, and alcohol is allowed on all the Rezzes. I’m in Upper Rez myself, which are definitely the most social Rezzes as well as having the biggest partiers, there are people pre-gaming in the common room almost every weekend and alot of weekends as well. There’s a house party at someone’s apartment in the McGill Ghetto pretty much every night of the week as well. Of course, there’s no pressure to join and it’s not hard to find your own little niche. There are also a jllion nightclubs and bars within a 20 minute walk from Rez/Ghetto (if you’ll like be you’ll probably get quickly acquainted with the 1st year clubs like Tokyo and Korova).There’s a pretty vibrant EDM scene as well, and I saw a couple of big name performers this year (Steve Aoki and Dillion Harper). Greek life at McGill is pretty small though, and there’s not that much of a social scene revolving around McGill athletic teams. Can’t forget frosh of course, which is basically a week of partying before school starts (there’s also Hype Week/Carnival/Faculty Olympics which you can do if you want to re-live frosh week).
I think the Bcom program is pretty solid at McGill. I’ve enjoyed all the profs I’ve had so far, and most of the classes aren’t humongous in Management. All classes (with a few exceptions) in Management have to be curved between a B- to B, but if you study hard getting As certainly isn’t impossible. The McGill name is certainly strong internationally, and alot of major banks and consulting firms do on-campus recruiting and events.
Now if you’re entering as a U0 (under 24 credits), you aren’t actually allowed to take any management classes except for a couple of mandatory U0 classes, which means your schedule will be dominated be random non-management electives which can give a nice boost to your GPA early on. However, if you have some credits (from APs, etc.) but not enough to enter as a U1 (over 24), you can start taking a few management core classes during your first year if you want to, which I’d strongly recommend since it’d give you a leg up and more flexibility in your program later.
I was recently admitted to Desautels, and I would have enough credits to enter as U1. I was wondering if there is an advantage to starting as U0 though (assuming cost isn’t an issue)? Also, if I enter as U1, would I have to choose a concentration immediately? A few more questions as well:
1)what is the most competitive concentration/honors program, and which ones are most prestigious (I hear that honors in investment management only has like 10 spots).
2)What is the on-campus recruiting scene like? Which major Finance companies recruit at McGill (specifically from the US)?
3) What have you found to be the most important thing to focus on (from your experience) during the first year in order to further job prospects/chances to get into prestigious programs.
4) What is the social scene like for Desautels students.
Thanks
@Kstanz33
I believe if you enter as a U1, you technically do have to declare a major. However, changing majors in management is as simple as hitting submit on a form online. You wouldn’t be taking any major courses in your first year anyway, since you’d be taking core classes anyway (http://www.mcgill.ca/study/2015-2016/faculties/desautels/undergraduate/ug_mgmt_mgmt_core) which are the courses all management students have to take.
For the Honors in Investment Management program, you generally apply during your U1 year. And yes, it is pretty competitive, there are only around 10 spots for new students every year (and usually over 40 apply). To be competitive, you’ll need around a 3.7+ GPA (at McGill), while also having a demonstrated interest in finance (self-teaching yourself finance, prior finance internships, reading the WSJ everyday, etc. all help).
Many of the major bulge bracket banks and all the big Canadian banks have an on-campus presence. Most of the of OCR is primarily geared towards working in Canada, however plenty of grads manage to find their way to the US as well. The McGill Investment Club holds an annual finance convention to New York (as well as Toronto), and if you look on Linkedin, McGill grads do find their way to i-banking positions in the US. While it will require some more networking, it certainly isn’t impossible. Doing HiM definitely helps your odds, but a finance major with a high GPA and good extracurriculars will do well in recruitment as well.
For your first year, work hard at keeping your GPA up, do extracurriculars and get involved on-campus, and start hunting for internships early. It’s difficult for first years to find internships since most firms want juniors, but network and search far and wide, and having something is better than having nothing.
Social scene is very vibrant in Management. There’s 4a7 every Thursday in the Bronfman basement with $1 beers. The MUS hosts several concerts throughout the year (Halloween, Valentines Day, etc). And of course there’s Hype Week and Carnival which is basically a week of drinking and debauchery (if you want to do it of course).
I have more questions but I’ll first try to get these big ones out of the way.
@usert123
Thank you so much for answering.
Hi there.
My daughter (an international student) got offers from McGill BCom and BA (Economics). She plans to study Economics / Finance for undergrad, work for a few years and then do an MBA in the US. (This is the plan as of now!) I have some questions:
Appreciate your help.
This is completely my opinion, but I wouldn’t start planning out MBA schooling before even beginning undergrad. Whether an MBA is appropriate or necessary or not depends entirely on prior work experience and career goals, which you certainly won’t be able to predict before even graduating.
Thanks usert123. That was a huge help! God bless.
Do you know much about switching faculties?
I don’t know a whole lot about it, but it certainly is possible (but I believe there is an admission process though). Here’s McGill’s link on it: http://www.mcgill.ca/students/transfer-readmission/home-page
Okey doke! Do you have an estimate on the number of people who are waitlisted/ get in from the waitlist? I was just put on it and I’m anxious to improve my chances
No idea. You can try contacting Service Point or an advisor in that Faculty to see if they have more info.
Hi! So happy to have found this thread!!!
I’m from Portugal and I’ve been currently admitted to Mcgill - Desaultels Faculty of Management for an exchange semester - Fall 2015.
I have to pick my courses now. Can you give me some feedback about this courses: Strategic Management, Operations Management and Mangerial Economics? Are they easy?
I have also to pick electives, do you know any with low workload that can easily increase my GPA? Because I’m planning to do these 3 core courses…
Thank you! 
I haven’t taken any of those yet, but they’re all core courses so they shouldn’t be too bad, but I wouldn’t call them easy. If you’re looking for easy GPA boosters, you won’t find any in management because of the curve, but some popular ones outside of management are ATOC 185, MUAR 211, MATH 180, or most 200 level course in RELG. You should probably just check your school’s transfer credit policy though, since courses taken at exchange are often only counted as pass/fail and the grades themselves don’t transfer back.