<p>hey.</p>
<p>my friend and i were accepted into UBC vancouver on the 16th. but for mcgill, we both have "final university transcript" as an outstanding item and that "further review is required". we're both (junior) transfers from a US college.</p>
<p>as for mcgill, basically, i'm assuming theyre not going to make a decision about us until mid-june the earliest because our spring semester ends so late. anyone have transfer experience with this (the further review shenanigans)?</p>
<p>My friend and I were also accepted into UBC. School of Arts and college of engineering.
My friend also go into Mcgill about a month ago.</p>
<p>for UBC, there's a system that is going to be available from mid-march, where you just enter your grades and it tells you the admission results immediately (this only applies to arts/sciences where your admission is based purely on your grades- for school of business, etc, you would need to send in a supplement as well) but im not sure if this applies to students outside canada, or even bc for that matter.</p>
<p>it only applies to BC high school students---it is a cool system though</p>
<p>I live canadian schools because of the objectivity</p>
<p>In america you could have a 3.95 GPA and 12+AP classes and a high SAT and get rejected from a ton of places...</p>
<p>In Canada there seems to be a more predictable system...</p>
<p>ugh, ubc keeps effing up my application. First, they need my halfway mark of my second semester grades. Than they say the transcript I sent with my grades up to second semester senior year was enough and I should be hearing a decision in the next 1 to 3 weeks (that was almost a month ago). Now I get an email saying they need my first semester grades even though they are on the transcript I sent! Ive called and they tell me to email the admissions site but that takes three weeks to get a response!</p>
<p>By the time I find out Its gonna be past the decision deadline for american schools.</p>
<p>^^^ sorry to hear that! maybe just resend them if thats all you can do...</p>
<p>yeah i think its great that I get to just self report my grades and get an automatic admissions decision</p>
<p>i got into the BSc Biol, Biomed & Life Sci program today, but i'm still waiting for the B. of Arts and Sciences program.</p>
<p>im currently in high school and i wanted to know what you would put on your supplemental to get into UBC's BCOM ? How much would you need? I volunteer a lot, and I play on my school sports teams.. would that be enough?
:)</p>
<p>basketballbabe13 : thanks I sent them in again and my app was complete a week ago</p>
<p>Are Decisions posted online? Or do they mail them?</p>
<p>I applied to UBC around Feb.26 or so (I knew it was close to the deadline), and I got my decision around two weeks ago. I just got my official letter and package today. McGill I applied on Feb.1 or so and sent in my document 2 days after, but I still haven't heard back from them. The status on my application just says ready for review. They are certainly taking their sweetass time. Just for reference, Carleton only took less than 3 weeks as well.</p>
<p>The decision will be posted online, just log into Minerva. They'll tell you the status of your application. They will also mail you if you're accepted. However, I've heard that McGill only gives email to the rejected, to save paper and money.</p>
<p>curiousgeorge11, for Sauder you would need the extracurricular plus letters of recommendation (beneficial but not required) and there are short answers/paragraphs on the application. Typically, you need 85%+ average from your 4 best provincially examinable courses to get in, or 30-32 in IB. I would get 32 in IB or 88%+ average across the board just in case though, because the highest acceptance average have been 92%, although it hasn't been that high in a few years.</p>
<p>PasadenaSTCA, it depends on how you look at it. The Canadian system is more predictable, but it can be argued that it is less objective because it is not holistic at all. Most majors/schools don't require anything other than the transcript. So someone who can be very talented, and spent a lot of their energy into music, arts, volunteering or working to support their family, but may not be the best student due to various reasons, and not get accepted. It could also be because of their family, their environment, the quality of their school, but all these factors are less considered as there are no essays to explain your situation, and no extracurricular to display all your talents. In a way, I prefer the American system because it takes everything into account, and look at me as a person rather than grades on the transcript. My stats aren't fantastic, but I have always been good at writing, and I think that's part of the reason that I got into some of my reach schools. This wouldn't have been possible at a Canadian university.</p>
<p>
[quote]
PasadenaSTCA, it depends on how you look at it. The Canadian system is more predictable, but it can be argued that it is less objective because it is not holistic at all. Most majors/schools don't require anything other than the transcript. So someone who can be very talented, and spent a lot of their energy into music, arts, volunteering or working to support their family, but may not be the best student due to various reasons, and not get accepted. It could also be because of their family, their environment, the quality of their school, but all these factors are less considered as there are no essays to explain your situation, and no extracurricular to display all your talents. In a way, I prefer the American system because it takes everything into account, and look at me as a person rather than grades on the transcript. My stats aren't fantastic, but I have always been good at writing, and I think that's part of the reason that I got into some of my reach schools. This wouldn't have been possible at a Canadian university.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No system is perfect or can be perfect. But I think there is a difference between the perception that a school looks at you "as a person" versus the reality of that. </p>
<p>The reality is that (with the common app) colleges are getting many more applications than they ever have. A student that would have thought long and hard about applying to a school if he had to do an application from scratch can now (as long as the kid or Mommy and Daddy are willing to pay the application fee) just press a couple buttons and apply. As such, schools are getting applications from kids that have no real interest in going there. The very idea that a college with 15,000 applications to process can know you as a person is often a joke. In regard to the essays, I could make a great case that the only thing learned from an essay is that (given enough time and effort) a potential student can produce a decent result. Don't believe me? Ask an admissions officer what percent of essays stand out in a positive way that made a difference in the candidate being accepted. </p>
<p>When my oldest son went on campus visits, I was impressed when one admissions officer was forthright about this. He said (paraphrasing) 'We have many applicants that have a track record of demonstrated success, we also have applicants that tell us how they overcame obstacles and still were successful. That leaves precious little interest in students sharing how they had obstacles and did not succeed.' If that sounds harsh, it's life. In the workforce, nobody is going to care about what you didn't achieve. </p>
<p>Best of luck getting into McGill. Btw, doesn't McGill allow supplemental materials like writing awards or even submitting papers you may have written? I know (at least the Faculty of the Arts) cares about your scores on written portions of ACT/SAT.</p>
<p>Btw, in the States, kids that applied for schools in October are just getting their answers now. You apply in February and its early April and McGill is taking their 'sweet ass' time? Interesting.</p>
<p>I think the essay speaks about more than just your ability to write or your fluency in the language. Together with extracurriculars, it can reflect your personality, your strength as a person. For example, some students have to work for 40 hours a week to support their family, or came from a broken family where one of their parents left and the other one just sits around and drink all day. They may have lower “stats” because they needed to take care of other businesses, but it doesn’t mean that they are less intelligent, hard working or able. I think in an essay, it is not necessary your writing skill that may get you an acceptance, but your story itself, a story that shows perseverance, ability to overcome obstacles or deal with failure, ambition, willingness to work etc. Does it mean that the adcom will know you as a person in the same way that the people around you does? No, of course not. They don’t have the time or desire to know you on a personal level. But they do have a much better sense of where you’re coming from, the significance and level of your achievement given your circumstances, your interests, strengths and weaknesses, much better than the adcom who just reads the transcript. Of course people who did not succeed, regardless of their obstacle is at a disadvantage. But they’re at more of a disadvantage if the university doesn’t even know why, or see an effort to overcome challenges. Essays gives more power to the applicant; afterall, it is the only part of the application that you can control. There has been many stories of students with below average GPA and SAT/ACT score but killer essay, recommendation letters and extracurriculars who got into top universities, even Ivies. </p>
<p>McGill does offer you the opportunity to send in additional document, but it is not required, nor is it required for you to take any standardized tests. Most Canadian universities don’t even offer that option, unless that major specifically requires it. I’ll admit, it is a much easier and quicker process, but it does have its flaws.</p>
<p>I think the Canadian university system works because usually Canadian universities have higher acceptance rates, lower requirements and less competition among students. McGill can get up to around #20 on some world rankings, but it is nowhere as selective as some of its American competitors around the same number. Also, Canadian public education does have less disparity between schools, so even though there is still a difference between good schools and bad schools, the disparity is not as large as American high schools. Canadian students in general, also have less extracurriculars. Our student paper is pretty much non-existent, and people have trouble filling up 150 hours in community service and extracurricular activities, while I see American students with 300+ hours of community service and participant of more clubs than we have in school in total. Internships in high school is almost unheard of, unless you have connections with the company. The emphasis on sports is less, and the grading system is more standardized (it seems like some American high schools have all different kinds of grading standards, GPA measurements, inflation/deflation issues) In short, it’s a different culture and I don’t think this system would work if it was moved into the US.</p>
<p>I don’t know which schools takes from October to April to get your answers, but the American universities I applied to in January have given me their decision anywhere from mid-feb to last week. I didn’t even finish mailing my supplemental forms until the beginning of Feb, but I received my decision from both Syracuse and NYU around Feb.18-20. Same with UNC, and I received my decision around Mar.20. Again, I applied for UBC in late Feb, got my decision about two weeks ago. Applied to Carleton in late Feb, got my decision about two weeks ago. Applied to University of Toronto in mid-march, they gave me an email that says they are reviewing my application. In comparison, it just seems McGill is the only one who’s taking months and doing nothing.</p>
<p>Thanks for the good luck! I already have my heart set on NYU though, so at this point McGill’s decision won’t make much of a difference. Unless I suddenly change my mind :p.</p>
<p>^^ well McGill only offers fast, “early admission” to its top students. For example, I applied in late January, and recieved my early acceptance in late February. They take more time on applications that are borderline, and yu may not find out until late May or sometime in June.</p>
<p>Plus, McGill recieves more applications than the other schools, due to its popularity not only in Canada, but also wroldwide.</p>
<p>I applied for a major scholarship at McGill and have a predicted 43/45 IB, but I still haven’t heard back. “Ready for Review” for over a month now. I guess it’s a moot point because I got into Penn, but I having a good Canadian safety would be nice…</p>
<p>I have applied to UBC Faculty of Science. My sister (a triplet) also applied but to human kinetics. She received acceptance on March 25th, I am still waiting. Is it unusual for the faculty of Science to take so much longer to make a decision. Our stats are very similar, my grades in fact are a bit better than my sister’s.</p>
<p>i have been admitted by McGill, 2
will u go to McGill or u have other choice?</p>
<p>have u got the decision for the Major Scholarship? i also applied, but i am not awarded. instead, i got Entrance Scholarship!
P.S. my ib predicted score is 44/45</p>