<p>I really want to go, but the grade deflation and lack of scaling is really scaring me away. It seems as though getting a high (3.6+) GPA in Science would be extremely hard, and that I could do much better at Boston College. Not only that, but as hard as I try I can't find any statistics about McGill premeds getting into US med schools, and that really worries me. I do know for a fact that US med schools don't cut McGill premeds any slack.</p>
<p>So... convince me to go. Please. I REALLY want to go there; it's a lot less expensive and Montreal kicks all sorts of ass. I just don't want to gamble my future just for that.</p>
<p>I faced your dilemma...however i wasnt willing to sacrifice my happiness...yes my future is important...then again 4 years of college will probably be the best experience of your life (med skool isnt gonna be very fun at all) </p>
<p>As for the grade...i dont think its impossible to maintain a 3.5 GPA...its hard..but if your driven, motivated and hard working...you should have no problems</p>
<p>In medical school you will up against the best of the best....if your scared of competation at undegrad level, you most likely wont make it med skool </p>
<p>Go to the school where you want to be...
plus i am sure most american school recongnise mcgill as being hard school..although in canada they have cutoffs (be aware of that)</p>
<p>if ur future i really important to u then i guess go to BU...i dont think it will be that much easier </p>
<p>there are so many other factors in admssions anyway..MCATS, esasys, interview, recs, ECs, research..GPA is only a very small factor</p>
<p>I think a lot of us have faced the same dilemma. I accepted my offer to McGill yesturday and it felt so great. McGill is going to be hard, but it will be just that much more rewarding in the end when you've come out on top. Like dkm008 said, if you're motivated you will excel where ever you go. The biggest mistake you can make is to go somewhere that'll make you're life easy. Easier, fine, but you don't want life to be that easy. It won't give you much of an advantage in the end. Although I really don't know that much about Boston University, so just in general. These four years are going to be more important to your personal growth and development as a person than you're academic career. Grad schools not only want to see that you're smart, but they also want to see that you can succeed when you want something or when you have an interest for it. Besides, McGill has a whole bunch of students hoping to get into med school. I'm sure they wouldn't make the decision to go if no one from McGill was getting into the med school, and I'm sure that McGill wouldn't let all of it's students fail to enter med school. These will be the best four years of your life. Where do you want to be when it happens?</p>
<p>I don't want my life to be easy; I plan to work my ass off at either school. The fact is, though, that I'll most likely get a better grade at BC with the same amount of effort and receive the same quality of education. (I'm talking about BC and not BU, by the way. BC isn't ranked that badly.) I know that I shouldn't take shortcuts and try to make my life too easy, but why make it too hard?</p>
<p>What is the discrepancy between McGill and your typical US school anyway? Is it that bad?</p>
<p>If you work hard and motivate yourself- you'll do fine.
Like someone said before- a lot of kids are here for Med school- do you think they'd come here if they didn't believe they could get in?
My friend just got accepted to Harvard Medical School the other day- and she has told me there are hundreds of kids here who she thinks are much more likely to get in than her! She pulled off a 3.85gpa so far- so don't fret- its possible! (Coming from McGill only makes the options much more wider for you!)</p>
<p>Good luck, dames. There is no right or wrong answer. McGill is a unique place and makes a great option for certain people, but could be a poor choice for someone who was not fully enthusiastic about going there and all the apsects to it. Thank heavens for the McGill option. In the end you will have a US degree and that carries certain benefits and value long term.</p>
<p>i actually would say a mcgill degree would bring more benefits than a US degree- its just as recognized in the states as any ivy league- and its also recognized worldwide (while some of the ivy's are not!)</p>
<p>for everyone it'll be different. it does depend very much on what's important to you. For me, I just fell in love with the school and the city, and that was enough for me. I know it doesn't sound like much, but these days undergrad isn't enough for anything, so you're going to have to go to grad school. If you really want to go to a school with a big name and not much else you can go for grad school. As for doing well, you will and you can if you really want to. Get your priorities straight, and the answers should be pretty obvious. sometimes the benefits to going to a school cannot be ranked or recorded on paper. and besides, you can't deny that mcgill has a reputation if all of you are considering going to mcgill. mcgill does have a good reputation in north america and around the world.</p>
<p>Mcgill degree would be worth a hell lot more than a boston university one...(but i dont think it matters when applying to grad school since the school are somewhat equal caliber) </p>
<p>you would probably have an advantage over a person applying from community college or something...but thats about it </p>
<p>Med school admission really goes down to your personal acheivement, motivation, work ethic, determination, and also to some extent on your intelligence..</p>
<p>This is BC I'm talking about, not BU. It's ranked 37th in the US and rising; it may not be an Ivy, but it's definitely not BU either.</p>
<p>I guess I thought the difference between US and Canadian schoools in difficulty to be a lot larger than it really is. Hmm... maybe I'll go to McGill, then. Just maybe.</p>
This depends on the program and your plans. Let's say you plan to work in the US as a teacher (or nurse or other licensed professional). If you get a US degree, the program will be set up to fully meet the requirements for licensure in the state you go to college and likely to be accepted at most if not all states. With a Canadian degree, you are looking at going to additional schooling and expense to get certified before being qualified for a job. Depending on your intentions, maybe this has no impact for you. The other thing is, you are likely to be fielding questions in job interviews for the rest of your life, like, "Why did you go to Canada for college?" or "Are you from Canada?" If you go to BC, that doesn't happen. Consider this: if a US degree is not more valued, then why is everyone here trying to find out whether a Canadian degree will allow them to get into US grad schools?</p>
<p>ha yeah i know you weren't talking about bu but i think he was and i was referring to that. </p>
<p>i acknowledge that bc is much better than bu. but also that bu is a million times better than a community college.</p>
<p>i personally would go to mcgill over bc. but i am picking an american school because of the exact reasons that you are talking about, grade deflation, etc. i'm picking nyu over mcgill and bc.</p>
<p>omg everyone from PA is like going to NYU this year! 17 kids alone from my school is going, and upsided, and all these other kids i know from schools around my district.</p>
<p>anyway, i'm really worried about the grade deflation too but it's good that us 09er's know what we're up against before going in.</p>
<p>i think the grade deflation is a bit exagerated and taken to the extremes in this forum... mcgill has grade deflation- but it's not that drastic! you can do well, lots of people are!
In regards to getting asked "why did you go to canada" in job interviews- I think thats crazy. In my oppinion, when you apply to a job the fact you went to Canada, especially McGill, will greatly impress them, and will lead to many questions and great interest from the interviewers. That's been my case at least- I have never had someone say to me "Why are you there instead of here?" It's always "Wow, thats a great school, Congrads, tell me about it..." It really gets a lot of interest.</p>
<p>do curves exist at mcgill? if so, is it just not as generous as the ones given at colleges in the states? is that what the whole deflation is about?</p>