<p>Hey guys, </p>
<p>I'm a current McGill student in the faculty of arts, studying anthropology (major), philosophy (minor) and classics (minor).</p>
<p>I lived in Royal Victoria College residence, and was a part of the Fine Arts Living-Learning Community.</p>
<p>I remember struggling a lot at first before I got to McGill because I had so many questions that were unanswered, so I'd love to help you with any questions you have.</p>
<p>Ask away!</p>
<p>Hows the Econ program? I know you arn’t taking it but I suppose you might have a few friends who are?</p>
<p>Do you get a single room there when you first get in? I’ve heard that some people get both single rooms and private bathrooms.</p>
<p>Do you struggle or know people who struggle because they dont know french?</p>
<p>Finally, how usefull is a McGill arts degree in terms of graduate prospects and grad school applications?</p>
<p>I’ve applied to the Faculty of Arts and currently my status is “Reviewed - Decision Pending”. I’m an American student applying from a community college. Do you know of any students in the faculty of Arts that transferred from an American college? If so, any idea roughly what their GPA was?</p>
<p>Oh, and also…how difficult is it to transfer from the Faculty of Arts to Management.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>bubu111,
Econ program in management or in arts?</p>
<p>RVC does not offer private bathrooms to people who have singles. </p>
<p>McGill is an English school - you don’t have to know French to get by. A lot of American students don’t speak a word of French but they still enjoy McGill and Montreal.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about how “useful” the degree is. It’s more about your GPA and what you make of it.</p>
<hr>
<p>redwings532,
For an inter-college transfer, I’m sure your GPA has to be quite high. I don’t know anyone personally who has transferred from a community college, so I can’t really help you in that, sorry.</p>
<p>Arts to management transfer, like any other inter-faculty transfer, is on the difficult (and annoying) side. Your GPA has to be at least 3.7 to be safe, which is kind of on the impossible side at McGill in arts. And given that management has less students than arts, it’s probably very difficult unless your academic records are outstanding.</p>
<p>if you have not yet received an acceptance letter to Desautels as an applicant from a Canadian high school, then should you assume that as a rejection?</p>
<p>@mmmaythe</p>
<p>I was referring to the Arts Econ program. That is the main one right as I was led to believe the management one is a sort of joint honours? I’ve been told by many that McGill’s econ department isn’t very good and it basically lives of the Mcgill name from their good courses like Medicine. How true is this?</p>
<p>Also, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about management or why its harder to get into then Econ or the other courses? I’ve been told McGill management is far from the best in Canada.</p>
<p>Oh and good that you brought up the GPA. How hard is it to graduate with a very high GPA? By hard I dont mean how hard the course is, I’m wondering how much grade deflation there is. Like I’ve been told that in U of T its very rare to even cross 3.5.</p>
<p>@ tjehddus
Hm, I wouldn’t assume anything as a rejection until you actually get the letter. Acceptance letters are still being mailed in May.</p>
<p>@ bubu111</p>
<p>Management program at McGill is known to… well, “suck” compared to other schools with similarly high reputation. It’s more about the exchanges we have with Wharton that gives us the reputation, I think, for management. Economics program in Arts will just give you a BA. McGill is known more for its science programs (esp. life science and neuroscience), but its arts programs aren’t bad, either. </p>
<p>Management is harder to get in because it’s still a management program, which tends to have a higher acceptance average than arts program at any school. But Econ honours in arts is considered a really good program.</p>
<p>It depends on how hard you work - your GPA will reflect that for the most part. Grade deflation also depends on your faculty, prof, and TA. I heard otherwise for U of T. I have friends going there (arts program) and first year, they managed a 4.0 GPA somehow, whereas 4.0 in arts at McGill first year is more or less impossible (or seems like it among people I know). But it’s known to go up starting 2nd year, as you specialize in your major and take courses you really want to take, instead of courses you have to take to fulfill your freshman core program in arts.</p>
<p>Thanks for doing this! 
I’m an Arts pre-frosh, but I’ve been thinking that I might want to transfer to the Faculty of Science instead (I discovered very recently that I am not as much of a “humanities person” as I previously thought). How many science courses should I take in my first semester to prove that I can do well? Also, what is a rough estimate of the GPA I should aim for to ensure a smooth inter-faculty transfer?</p>
<p>Bubu,</p>
<p>mmmaythe is obviously correct that career prospects will largely depend on the student and their individual achievement. That said, McGill frequently ranks the highest out of any Canadian university in the field of reputation among employers, so I would cautiously venture to say that, ceterus paribus, a McGill degree will serve you better than most =)</p>
<p>I have heard that Honours Econ at McGill is notoriously difficult; that said, difficulty doesn’t necessarily mean quality :p</p>
<p>Do not worry about grade deflation. It’s not so much that the top Canadian universities (UoT, McGill and UBC) are deflating so much as * every other university is inflating *. If you are contemplating grad school after your degree, those institutions (assuming Canadian/American) will know that McGill doesn’t inflate grades. If you’re not thinking of grad school, then there is little need to worry about the difference between a 3.7 and a 3.4. Plus, your McGill transcript will indicate the class average for each of your courses in addition to your own mark, so you can be sure that your effort and achievement will be properly reflected in the end. </p>
<p>It is true that some Arts departments - including Poli Sci, Econ and Philosophy - are ones in which As are statistically rare. But they tend to follow a more general bell curve in comparison to many science/engineering courses, which means that these Arts departments are also more difficult to fail. Glass half full I guess :p</p>
<p>Hey man thanks for doing this. Feeling a bit nervous myself, since I’m a suburban nerd moving to a big city where it seems everyone is fashionable as hell while I walk around in a T-Shirt and jeans. </p>
<p>First off, when is deadline for selecting courses? I think I’m able to do it now on Minerva, but I haven’t even met any of the counselors or talked to any students or anything yet. Are you supposed to just read the course catalog and decide on courses before Moving-In day? Also, my AP exam scores for senior yr hasn’t even come out yet so I don’t know what classes I’m exempt from… </p>
<p>Second, how did you like RVC residence? I know it’s the closest, so I guess you can sleep in a bit more in the morning, but it’s also right by a busy street while Gardner, Douglas, McConnell have more of a campusy feel. Any comments on how clean these different residences are? Big fear of mine is nasty public bathrooms/showers, since I’m probably going to have to share. </p>
<p>Any thoughts from anyone would be welcome!</p>
<p>I would recommend doing your course selections as soon as they are open; most intro courses in the arts are decently big, but some are not, and if you wait there will be classes that fill up. Your selections aren’t set in stone, and you can always change them for free until the end of the “add-drop period” (usually about 2 weeks into the semester). Get a rough idea of the selection you want, sign up for them when registration opens, get onto waitlists if you need to, and stay flexible; many people will still be switching their schedules in the first week of the semester. </p>
<p>As for the courses themselves, most departments in the Arts are structured so that there are introductory courses (200-level) that are prerequisites for more advanced courses in that department, or a subfield within the department. Looking at the catalogue descriptions of some 300/400 level courses in that department will give you an idea of what 200 level courses are prereqs. </p>
<p>U0 program has some specific requirements; if you’re not clear on how it is structured, you should contact an advisor. Do know that you’re actually * not obliged to complete the Freshman program requirements in your Freshman year, * so if you end up short of one Humanities by year’s end, it’s not a big deal so long as you complete one by the time you graduate.</p>
<p>If you’re entering U1, you should be entering with an idea of what majors/minors you’d like to pursue, and I would recommend contacting department advisors for assistance on course selection. You can always change your major after the first sem if you decide that your original intentions are not going to pan out. </p>
<p>Douglas was fairly clean. You can’t expect a communal bathroom to be spotless every time you walk into it of course, but they are cleaned by the janitorial staff. I can’t say much about upper rez, because the times that I visited would not have been good times to judge the tidiness of their habitants. However, I’ve heard that Molson is really beat up inside.</p>
<p>about residences . . . does it get messy sharing a private bathroom in a double room?? is it cleaned by the staff or do the residents have to do it on their own? ?</p>
<p>also, how good is new residence and any ideas on whether the new residence dining hall has vegetarian options at every meal or not??</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am an admitted student from Vancouver, BC. I have a question concerning AP exams.</p>
<p>I am taking four AP courses(Biology, Calculus, English Literature, and Chemistry) at school this year and when I applied to McGill in January I assumed I would be taking all four AP exams in May, as a result I clicked “Will take AP exams in May” for that particular column. However, I decided in March that four AP exams were just too much for me to juggle and decided to not take the AP English Literature test.*</p>
<p>I attended the rendez-vous in Vancouver this Monday and discovered that if McGill does not receive my score reports of all AP exams I reported I would take I would be considered a fraud.*</p>
<p>I am really panicking right now because McGill is my number one school. And I really did not lie about my inclination to take AP exam on my application. It’s just that things changed and I honestly felt it was a better choice not to take the AP literature exam when I know I wasn’t ready for it. *The AP exams were optional at my school so it never crossed my mind that I had to take the exam in order to go to McGill. I am really scared that McGill would revolt my offer.</p>
<p>Have you heard of any similar cases? I emailed McGill and unfortunately my email got hacked this weekend so I won’t have access to my email until at least Wednesday!I tried calling the office but no one picked up! Would it be possible for you to ask someone at McGill for me?</p>
<p>Please help!</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>McGill admits Canadian applicants based on their marks in regular provincial curricula, not on AP scores. I can’t say anything with absolute certainty, but hopefully that alleviates some of your panic.</p>
<p>hey!</p>
<p>I’m going to major in psychology this fall… and because I did the IB program, i automatically start at U1. How different was U1 from U0 in terms of work load, what professors expect of you etc… Will I be missing out on a lot because I skip U0??</p>
<p>I also jumped straight into U1 thanks to IB. </p>
<p>As far as difficulty goes, it’s not the difference between U0 and U1 so much as the difference between intro-level and second/third year classes. Since you do have some control over course selection, that also means you have some control over difficulty (a semester with one second-year classes vs a sem with three, for example.) In my personal experience, I found it impossible not to take at least one or two more advanced courses in the winter in order to have time to complete my program; I would recommend talking to an advisor from the Psych department so that you are clear on what courses you need to take and when. </p>
<p>I did notice a difference between intro-level classes and more advanced-level classes in terms of expectations and quality of work required, but it wasn’t backbreaking. </p>
<p>As far as whether you’ll “be missing out on a lot,” I guess that depends on your definition of “a lot.” Certainly, one can learn “a lot” in a year of university, and a year is what you’ll be missing out on. In the beginning I was really happy to be finishing my undergrad a year sooner; now, I’m a little agnostic when I think about all the other departments and courses I never got to try. But theoretically skipping the year shouldn’t impact your ability to come out of your major with the same skills and knowledge as any other graduate in your class.</p>
<p>How does housing work? I’ve heard that most students don’t live in campus housing; does it still feel like a college community?</p>
<p>How big are classes?</p>
<p>Is it easy/possible to transfer within McGill? I may apply to arts and sciences but if I decide I want to do environmental, how hard would it be to switch? Also, if I wanted to do a minor in another faculty, is it possible?</p>
<p>“How does housing work?” -> What does this mean? Did you have a look at the website first?</p>
<p>[Housing</a> | Housing - McGill University](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/students/housing/]Housing”>Student Housing - McGill University)</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by “college community” either. There’s certainly a community. And McGill is a “college.”</p>
<p>If you are from the states, then you are right that the “living-in-rez” experience is mostly an American obsession that doesn’t translate so well north of the 49th. However, McGill accepts more international and out-of-province students than most, and the residences offered by McGill vary in size, from very small to fairly large (again, see the website.)</p>
<p>Your class sizes will depend on department. Big departments (i.e. political science) usually have big classes. Small departments (i.e. English) usually have small classes. First-year classes are bigger than advanced classes. </p>
<p>McGill tends to have larger-than-average class sizes for Canada. To give some perspective, here are the sizes for the first-year courses that I’ve taken, indicated by department:</p>
<p>Political Science - 650
Political Science - 650
Political Science - 200
Philosophy - 230
Philosophy - 80
Philosophy - 375</p>
<p>As you take higher-level courses, they will obviously become smaller as curricula become more specialized:</p>
<p>Political Science - 40
Political Science - 180
Political Science - 60
Philosophy - 75</p>
<p>I’m not too familiar with transferring between McGill faculties, and I know next to nothing about the School of Environment, since it is at the other campus. As for minoring in another faculty, take a look at this link:</p>
<p>[About</a> Program Requirements | Programs, Courses and University Regulations - McGill University](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/study/2012-2013/faculties/arts/undergraduate/ug_arts_about__program_reqs]About”>About Program Requirements | 2012–2013 Programs, Courses and University Regulations - McGill University)</p>
<p>It sounds like you might want to talk to an advisor about it.</p>
<p>Hi, forgive me for such a trashy question but I have to know: how is the social scene (parties?) at RVC? I’ve heard that it’s quiet a lot of the time and I like to have quite a bit of fun. If you can tell me that it’s quiet when it needs to be (as much as I like to party, gotta maintain that GPA) but also rowdy when it needs to be, I’m sold!</p>
<p>Haha, not trashy at all! </p>
<p>From what I can tell, the people there had the party/study rhythmic down pretty well. Their quiet reputation came from when they were an all-female residence; they became co-ed a few (two? one?) years back. I didn’t go down there too often since I was in upper rez, but the people I met from there were insisting that they’ve mostly shed that reputation.</p>