Some McGill application questions

Hello, CC people! I’ve read that McGill doesn’t take 9th grade into account, and weighs 12th grade most heavily. So my questions are . . .

  1. How much does 10th grade count? 10th grade is my weakest year, and I'm wondering whether a strong 11th and 12th will make up for a shaky sophomore year. I've heard everything from "10th grade is the most important" to "McGill only looks at your senior year," so I'm a little confused.
  2. Do they care about your courseload senior year? At my school (and at most US high schools, I believe) 10th or 11th grade typically has the heaviest courseload, while in 12th grade the intensity goes down a bit. Will McGill understand the difference between the systems, or should you try to have a challenging senior year?
  3. I know they only look at unweighted averages, but does having honors and AP classes benefit you in terms of admission at all? It just seems a bit weird to me that you'd have a better shot at acceptance if you coasted through regular classes with high 90s than if you got some Bs in AP classes.

Hi. I’m applying from the US this year. I don’t know where you heard that senior year is lighter for US kids, but it’s not. Or it at least shouldn’t be. Everything else I don’t have an answer to though. Good luck with your application