US Grad School After McGill?

<p>Question from an American family: </p>

<p>McGill is a top choice for DD among public schools. We visited; she loved it (she's an A/A- student and her French is excellent; plus, her grandmother was from Montreal). </p>

<p>My concern is: she's leaning toward IR/history/anthro. How do US grad schools treat grads from Canadian schools? Are they perceived as foreign applicants despite US citizenship? Would a degree from McGill be competitive? I know it's a great school academically, but are their degrees considered equivalent or better?</p>

<p>Merci!</p>

<p>Iā€™m going to McGill next year and from what Iā€™ve heard/found doing research is that McGill is known in the US and is considered at least equivalent.</p>

<p>Good to know. Thanks!</p>

1 Like

<p>I havenā€™t posted here in ages, but just because, let me post again a list of where my McGill classmates got admitted to for grad school:</p>

<p>Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford (including 2 Rhodes scholars), MIT, Chicago, Vanderbilt, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, NYU, etc.</p>

<p>Long story short: no need to worry</p>

<p>Iā€™m from India. Can I go to McGill and do the undergraduate there and then come to US to do medicine in top med schools such as Harvard, JHU? Is that possible as i donā€™t have either Canadian or US citizenship or permanent residency?</p>

<p>Anyoneā€¦please answer meā€¦</p>

<p>I am not totally sure what to say about that one; youā€™ll be treated as international at McGill but you can get your degree just like any other student. You really just need the marks. As for harvard, you would be in the same boat as us, because we would be international students with a McGill Degree and so would you. Basically if you can get in to McGill you will need to maintain high standing (probably 3.8 GPA? Iā€™m not sure) to be considered at top US med schools.</p>

<p>Private American universities generally donā€™t consider nationality when evaluating applicants, so having a degree from McGill doesnā€™t make a difference unless you want to go to a public medical school, like the University of Washington. </p>

<p>(Even if you went to a US school, getting into Washington is almost impossible as 90% of its students come from Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska as it is the only med school in the region and therefore has a commitment to serve local applicants. <1% out-of-region applicants are accepted.)</p>

<p>As a professor who has worked in both US and Canada, having taught at Ivy league, state and top Canadian schools, a few thoughts.</p>

<p>ā€œGraduate schoolā€ is a very generic termā€” it very much depends on what field, masters, professional, PhD. For that reason, it is very hard to provide any general answer for any question about ā€˜graduate schoolā€™ </p>

<p>Having said that, almost all graduate programs could not care less about whether oneā€™s degree is American or not. The vast majority, if not all, take students from around the world, choose the best from which they have to choose. Such is the nature of graduate education. They DO care about the quality of the university one attended and for a PhD, the quality of the research and the individual people one has worked with. </p>

<p>McGill ranks among one of the top schools in the world in terms of general reputation, as well as renowned in numerous fields of study.</p>

<p>If you are thinking in terms of particular graduate degrees (ie. in particular areas of study), look at the particular relevant department at any school you are considering (it varies by field, not school!). </p>

<p>To illustrate, this is from the McGill Chemistry website. Relevant to those interested in pursuing graduate working chemistry (as but one example, and the same may not be said for say history or biology at Mcgill-- as with most undergraduate degrees, it often idepends on the reputation of the department in oneā€™s respective field):</p>

<p>Research Degrees</p>

<p>In a typical year, all of our Honours graduates continue to research degrees in Graduate Schools. Our students have been accepted to Cambridge and Imperial College (U.K.), Zurich (Switzerland), Harvard, Caltech, Scripps, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and all major universities of Canada. Six students have been awarded National Science and Engineering Research Council Fellowships for Graduate Studies in the past two years alone. Ten were given NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards. Many Majors students also continue in Graduate School. [An Honours degree is not necessary for graduate study in chemistry; it does however provide valuable research experience before undertaking the PhD degree]. In a typical year, 40% of our B.Sc. graduates continue to PhD degrees, and another 10% enter Medical School.</p>

<p>Medical School</p>

<p>Every year, students from this department take their B. Sc. degrees in chemistry and enter Medical Schools both in Canada and the United States. A chemistry degree provides all of the prerequisite courses necessary for medical application, and students aware that this is their goal normally register for the BioOrganic Option in our Majors program. Typically one student of every ten in our undergraduate chemistry programs will end up going to medical school. This is understandable in that modern medical research is taking place almost entirely at the molecular level, in the realm of chemistry.</p>

<p>Law School</p>

<p>Although not a common occurrence, students have gone from Otto Maass into Law School. Several recent graduates are in major law schools both here and in the U.S. One of the most lucrative fields in the world is Patent Law, and one of the most rapidly expanding is Environmental Protection laws. Most attorneys simply do not have a technical background, yet the development and protection of patents is of crucial importance in our high-tech society. At the center is research into drugs, polymers, and above all, solid state electronics. All of these fields are chemistry-based, but very few attorneys are capable of writing, or understanding, the technical details. Lawyers having chemistry degrees are in great demand.</p>

<p>Masters in Business Administration, the M. B. A.</p>

<p>We live in a technological world, and the need for people having science degrees to assume roles in industrial management has never been greater. Frequently, we have found our students moving from the B. Sc. into management positions often obtaining the M.B.A. degree either directly following graduation, or within a few years of leaving. The opportunities for business managers with a scientific background are great; the rewards are as well.</p>

<p>Thank you professor starbright. But can I go to a decent med school with loans for full payment of tuition?</p>

<p>This is outside of my expertise. You may find much more knowledgeable answers on the med school sub-forum as well as from searching the internet to learn about the US med school process, particular programs, who are the applicants and the acceptance rate. </p>

<p>Having said that, med school is unlike professional programs such as an MBA or graduate PhD programs. Your location of residency matters. I also believe, but could be wrong, that you could not get US or state residency status simply from having done your undergrad in the US.</p>

<p>what about engineering at McGill? Is is good enough to land me into an IVY?( if not an IVY, a top US school for example:Stanford) for my graduate studies in engineering OR an MBA?</p>

<p>I know one engineer from McGill who went to Stanford for grad schoolā€¦ (I donā€™t know that many engineers).</p>

<p>pleaseā€¦ anyone HELP!!! please answer my question anyoneā€¦</p>

<p>dragzta: you can try these posts, I had the same question:
<a href=ā€œhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/mcgill-university/751634-mcgills-prestige.html[/url]ā€>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/mcgill-university/751634-mcgills-prestige.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=ā€œhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/mcgill-university/708724-chances-continue-grad-postgrad-us-mcgill.html[/url]ā€>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/mcgill-university/708724-chances-continue-grad-postgrad-us-mcgill.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Yop, iā€™m a french student and iā€™m about to apply to mcgill faculty of arts, after one year in a french higher institution. </p>

<p>Actually, as a french student, i donā€™t have to pay any international fees (i think itā€™s about 1500 canadian $), so i consider mcgill as the best possibility to earn a north american degree, improve my english, and eventually purusue my studies in a grad school (not med school, but schools which deliver MPA). First, i wanted to be definitivly sure it would be possible, then i would have liked to know if i could apply to a u.s. law school with a mcgill degree ? (i know law is quite different compared to PhD or MPA degrees and there arenā€™t a lot of international students in J.D. programs)</p>

<p>Thx</p>

<p>Iā€™m pretty sure that if you are not canadian, you will have to pay the full intlā€™ fees lol</p>

<p>No, France has an agreement with MELS, so French students pay Qu</p>

<p>thanks freedayā€¦</p>