<p>My son is considering these as (hopefully) safeties. Can anyone compare and contrast or give other input? Thanks much.</p>
<p>What is your state or country of residence?</p>
<p>Connecticut. My husband is from Montreal and we often visit family there.</p>
<p>I started a whole thread on Michigan as a safety about a year ago. We concluded that Michigan cannot be considered a safety because of the holistic admissions. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/772114-can-michigan-safety.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/772114-can-michigan-safety.html</a></p>
<p>McGill is all about numbers.</p>
<p>I would not apply to either as a sole safety as both schools are pretty selective.</p>
<p>In terms of comparison, both are very well rounded academically, though McGill is located in a much larger city and Michigan has more resources and a more traditional campus environment. I would research the two schools and apply to the one that better fits your son’s personality.</p>
<p>Both are great universities. McGill would be quite a lot cheaper, but I’d be a bit concerned about class sizes. From what I hear, most undergrad teaching at Canadian universities, including the best of them like McGill, is done in large lectures, with little opportunity for classroom discussion and little contact between undergrads and faculty. Michigan is a big public institution and you’ll find some big lecture classes there, too; but roughly half the classes at Michigan have fewer than 20 students, and classes with over over 50 students represent only 17.1% of all classes—higher than, say, Princeton (10.9%), Stanford (12.2%), or MIT (12.6%), but lower than Cornell (18.1%) and lower than most publics.</p>
<p>I know the Princeton Review ratings are completely unscientific, but FWIW in their ratings McGill stands out for “long lines and red tape” (#18), “least accessible professors” (#14), and “class discussions rare” (#2). These characterizations are coming from McGill students, mind you. So I’d want to check that out very carefully. On the other hand, McGill is also highly rated for “great college town” (#14)—and I buy that, as I love Montreal. Ann Arbor is also, in my opinion, one of the all-time great college towns, but Montreal is someplace special.</p>
<p>If you are way above the accepted range for McGill it’s a safety. It’s all about numbers. They consider nothing else except in borderline cases. If it’s not borderline, and the application is properly filled out it’s a safety. Our school’s Naviance supports this theory to a T. My D considered McGill but liked Wisconsin better and used that as a rolling admissions safety. Safety was not needed.</p>
<p>McGill can be a safety. It’s all about numbers for Americans. UMichigan most likely cannot be a safety.</p>