To those of you who are familiar with McGill, how expensive is it to live in Montreal as a student? I recall it was an expensive town to visit on vacation.
When I looked at apartments a couple of years ago (for if my son would want/need to move off campus from the dorms), the prices seemed very reasonable especially compared to US prices. And i’ve heard that groceries are reasonable too.
@TomSrOfBoston – can you weigh in on McGill and also the cost of living there for a student who might be applying there?
What was the dorm like? Campus food?
Others will have better advice, but for now I’ll say there is variation in dorms based on personal preference; some are more like American dorms, others more like hotels in feeling. Food in the area is great, would likely be tastier than on-campus offerings. At least one dorm had a floor with a nice giant kitchen for students to use.
Does ‘room and board’ include college provided/affiliated cafeteria food options?
Sorry – I can’t speak to actual experiences as my son ended up not attending, but it was one of his final two choices so we did a lot of online research (it was mid-Covid so no ability to visit). But he liked it a lot from what he learned – although it might be too large for your son’s preference as I think it’s around 40,000 students. And I’ve heard that it requires a lot more independence than US schools – they expect the students to advocate for themselves, so that’s also something to consider. But it seems to have a lot of high-stats students (in Canada, they have actual cut-offs) and they were a great price and they don’t care about ECs at all, so I always like to recommend it when people like yourself post about a kid with a budget, high stats, and non-stellar ECs.
There have been active McGill threads on cc in the past – you can check the ones from 2021 (when I was active on it) and I’m sure there must be current threads as well.
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I see that you are from Illinois. Regarding the cost of living in Monreal it would depend on where you are coming from. Compared to Toronto, Vancouver, Boston or San Francisco it is low. Compared to Omaha, Houston etc. it may be high. I am not sure where Chicago falls on that spectrum. A popular off campus location for McGill students is the LaCité complex. It is a few blocks from campus to the east. It is also on the higher end of off campus apartments. A 1 bedroom starts at C$1335, a 2 bedroom starts at C$2369. The exchange rate is about .74. Those rates include heat and utilities.
Apartments for Rent Near McGill University | LaCité Apartments (lacitestudents.ca)
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Yes. Here is the link:
Undergraduate Fees 2023-2024 | Student Housing - McGill University
And compare it to what we are paying in Los Angeles for a son who is at USC – minimum is about $1000 a month for a single bed in a shared bedroom with two people. So I guess to me it seemed like a major bargain!
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Thank you all for the info. I guess last question I have is - you go to McGill to study _________. What field is the university known for?
McGill is known for STEM. although it is a “well rounded” university. The political science department has the largest number of students. My son graduated from Desautels (business), which has become the most selective program.
They were strong in neuroscience and cognitive science which was my son’s interest. I think TomSr has a more comprehensive understanding.
But they are a really good university with a lot of high-stats students and a great reputation . I am sure their students can get a good education there in numerous disciplines.
I know if I were 17 and had his brains, I’d be applying in a heartbeat.
It’s an easy app— no essays. And they let you know pretty early.
I’d push him to apply. Come April he might be glad that he did. There are a lot of high stats kids who got shut out from where they wanted these past few years.
It seems that “lower tier” schools may reject or waitlist high stat kids cause they think they are going to get in to a higher tier school and will say no to the lower tier school. (Yield protection).
Is McGill on Common App?
YP is a real problem for us, we do not want to apply ED, seems like, as you said, high stats kids get penalized in EA.
They get penalized in RD too.
I don’t remember if it is in common app. Sorry.
No, it’s not on the Common App. It has it’s own application - but as other have mentioned - it’s pretty easy to complete. They don’t require rec letters, personal statements, or a listing of extracurriculars. Just grades and test scores.
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He loved Cali campuses - USC, UCSB UCLA, of course he did…obviously, they do not work for our budget. We saw CU Bolder, again, how can you not like it, but it is full pay and too many distractions all around. We did not know about U of Denver, might be worth a look. St Olaf and Macalester may be too small and, in my mind, you’d need to go to grad school to make a career.
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Thank you. Why can’t the States schools be more like that…