Random Questions about McGill

Colleges & Universities A-Z McGill University
1

<p>I'm just curious: What region tends to produce the best-prepared new students at McGill (Quebec, other regions in Canada, US, Europe, Asia, etc.)? </p>

<p>I know McGill is extremely diverse regionally, but what about ethnically/religiously/socioeconomically?</p>

<p>Any advice on how many credits to take first semester? Also, is it smart to opt to get high grades in a class that you could technically skip? Or should you just take the credits and move on?</p>

<p>I know athletics aren't that big at McGill, but are they invisible? Is it that nobody's into sports or is it that none of the teams are really that good? ...I'm thinking about doing indoor track and tennis. How popular are intramurals? </p>

<p>Are the TAs capable? </p>

<p>Is it hard to transfer faculties? Is it possible to take classes in a faculty besides your own? If I am not mistaken, freshmen year consists of courses entirely in your own department, right? </p>

<p>I know it's A LOT of questions and if I don't get my answers here, I could still find a way to get them elsewhere, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>1- It's hard to say, but my guess would be Quebec just because McGill fits within the provincial education system (though admission is not as tough for Quebeckers). For the sciences in general, the cegep curriculum is pretty solid (it's sort of equivalent to a freshman year, all cegep graduates start in U1, not just in science) and I've heard from at least one American that it prepares much better than most US schools. Also consider the fact that, back in my days at least, practically all honours physics students were Quebeckers. Of course that doesn't mean much at the individual level.</p>

<p>2-It is very ethnically diverse, unless your only criterion is skin colour. Also very religiously diverse, but religion is mostly a private thing so it doesn't show so much. But I can tell you I had never met a Zoroastrian before coming to McGill. Socioeconomically, obviously the international and out of province contingents are relatively well-off, but there's a wide array of in-province students and the socio-economic ladder in Quebec isn't very large, so differences aren't very apparent.</p>

<p>3-12 is the minimum number of credits in a regular semester to be considered full time (a standard undergrad course is worth 3 credit). 15 is the number you'll need per semester to finish without taking summer classes. It's not a bad idea to take one easy course in your first semester. It'll ease the workload (depending on what your used to, it can be quite a shock) and can compensate GPA-wise for bad results (or bad luck if you wish) in at least one class.</p>

<p>4-They're not invisible. You can look up the sports section of the McGill Tribune to see which are more popular (I'm guessing hockey and football, in that order), but there's much more. I just don't personally know about it.</p>

<p>5-It depends on the TA. Some are really good, some are terrible. You can inquire with your departmental student society to know if a particular one is good, provided that the TA has TAed before. But you may not have much of a choice of tutorial section anyway.</p>

<p>6-It shouldn't be hard, provided you have the prerequisites. Yes, you are allowed to take courses outside your own faculty, but, again, it's a matter of prerequisites and maximum class size (usually not a problem, but preference will be given to in-faculty students if there is a limit and the class is full).</p>

3

<p>Thanks a lot, Blobof. </p>

<p>What's the approximate percentage of students who can speak fluent French by graduation. I have never taken formal french, but I'd really like to pick it up. </p>

<p>Also, how popular is study abroad at McGill? Is it easy to get on-campus jobs or off-campus internships? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>French fluency: it's impossible to say. Most students come from Quebec in the first place, and no matter what their mother tongue is, they are likely to be fluent in French already. You can take French classes of course, but if you really want to become fluent, it's better to do immersion (outside of Montreal in particular). There are summer programs all over the province (and in New Brunswick) for that.</p>

<p>For jobs and internship, I really don't know that much.</p>

5

<p>I know there are always on-campus employment opportunities (they just aren't always the most glamorous jobs, like dishwasher in the cafs, or telephonist).</p>

<p>I took 14 credits last semester (just 4 classes), the work load wasn't very bad. I'm now taking 18 credits, and the work load has increased something fierce (a combination of the increase in work, and an increase in overall material difficulty). </p>

<p>Everyone's got different oppinions of TA's. You could talk to two kids in the same math tutorial and they could give their TA's dramatically different TA's. To affirm Blobof, the quality isn't uniform. My last term's math TA was crappy (he picked pretty ridiculous examples for fairly straightforward things), where as this terms TA is more relaxed, though he moves slower. </p>

<p>Lab TA's are a mixed bag as well. Chem TA's vary like the weather up here, where as Physics lab TA's aren't as integral to the lab experience, so it's harder to judge. I, currently, love my physics TA's (Adam and Marius). My Chem TA's a nice guy (meaning he'll occasionally forget to respond to an email but in lab he's more than willing to help or answer any question). </p>

<p>Note about french around McGill: I came here as (for all tends and purposes) an ex-french speaker looking to immerse himself in a missed culture. This isn't the best place to do it. If you really want to learn french, goto a school in France (or atleast take a french course). McGill is an Anglo-phone bubble, meaning you won't be doing any heavy conversing any time soon in french. A passerby might ask you how much parking costs, in french, but you might as well respond, "je ne sais pas" and move on. </p>

<p>Basically, you're gonna have to really leave the McGill bubble to be dealing primarily with francophones (or in reality quebec-phones).</p>

6

<ol>
<li><p>Probably Quebec because McGill is tailored for the Quebec education system but of course it varies by level. There are well prepared Americans and burnout Quebeckers and vice versa. </p></li>
<li><p>This is all relative. It all depends on who you are and where you're from. For me personally (FYI: I'm an Asian male from Toronto), McGill and Montreal in general was a step down in terms of diversity for me. Prior to coming to McGill, I had never attended a school where one ethnic group made up more than 40% of the population (I actually took the time to look this up through my school board), so when I came to McGill, where the overwhelming portion of the population is white, it was a major step down. Same goes for Montreal, but it wasn't signficant enough for me to make an adjustment. Religiously, I don't know, it seems diverse but I tend to assume that everyone is non-practicing. Economically, if I had to rank McGill's economic diversity, it'd be last in the city behind UdeM, Concordia and UQAM (not necessarily in that order). I wouldn't be surprised if it was on the lower end of Canadian universities for this, but I don't have data to back that up.</p></li>
<li><p>Can't tell you much about the TA's, sorry.</p></li>
<li><p>French, don't know the answer to that, but French is fairly easy to pick up if you put in some effort. You can take classes at McGill or take FSL classes. For me, I felt that taking French classes outside of McGill with people who did not speak English was VERY helpful. The problem with taking French classes for me was that when I was surrounded by English people, we'd switch to English after class for conversation, but when I was surrounded by people who spoke Chinese/Spanish/Portugese/Hindi etc., we were forced to speak in French together after class.</p></li>
</ol>

7

<p>I know people have asked this question again and again, But do you need to learn French inorder to have a good student life?</p>

<p>Please answer truthfully as I’m considering applying and I do not know anything in French except “comon tutapel?”
answer: “Jemaple …”</p>

8

<p>No, you don’t need any French whatsoever to enjoy student life at McGill. It is an English university and most of its students speak either no French or very limited French. Most Montrealers (particularly in the vicinity of McGill) speak English, so even outside of McGill you will be fine.</p>

9

<p>Regarding French again - Like everyone else said, you’ll be fine coming in with little/no French. You’ll probably pick some up along the way. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t think Montreal is a bad place to learn French. Sure, it’s not the best, but you can definitely use it a lot… I go there every christmas/summer and I found that most shops greet you with a “Hello/Bonjour” and I even see some teenagers my age speaking French as well. So there are definitely ways to practice.</p>

10

<p>Montreal is the first place ive been too where even homeless people are bilingual…you dont need to speak any french</p>