<p>Wondering if any other McGill parents are discouraged by their child's experience there due to strike by staff? Although we'd read complaints about the University's stifling bureaucracy on CC, we didn't give it any thought during our admission visit last November.
The strike has made accomplishing even the simplest task nearly impossible. My daughter has stood in 3 hour lines to learn that she was in the wrong line... </p>
<p>From what I've read, the office workers are demanding a modest 28.3% pay increase over the next 3 years plus other perks. Apparently, the Canadian economy is in better shape than that of the US!</p>
<p>Hope my daughter's impression of the school will change soon. She's also discouraged by huge classes with little opportunity for discussion.</p>
<p>I think it’s been mentioned here before but once you go on to upper years, the class size reduces significantly. The classes with huge sizes are usually intro-level or required courses. </p>
<p>Right now, I’m in U1 (2nd year) and I’m in a class with about 15 people. Seminars like these actually require you to participate (the whole course is geared towards discussions/presentations with your classmates). </p>
<p>It’s a shame you and your daughter saw that side of McGill on your visit. It’s not always like that, before they had the strike, most of the staff I met were really helpful and friendly. </p>
<p>For what my two cents are worth, McGill is a great school with awesome resources. There’s so much research opportunities and programs geared towards helping students (for example, like this [Staff-Student</a> Mentoring Program | Mentoring - McGill University](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/mentoring/staff-student-mentoring-program]Staff-Student”>http://www.mcgill.ca/mentoring/staff-student-mentoring-program)).</p>
<p>My son is also U1 (2nd year). We have talked to him a couple of times a week since August. He has never mentioned the strike and we forgot to ask. </p>
<p>I have certainly heard many stories over the years about many other universities where students have spend hours in line-ups and have not been positive about the bureaucracy.</p>