What Are My Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
1

<p>Hello everyone! </p>

<p>I visited McGill in February and fell in love with the school. It is definitely one of my top picks. There is very varied information, however, on the admissions standards so I was hoping some of you could realistically tell me my chances of admission. I would be applying to the Faculty of Arts. </p>

<p>I live in Northern Virginia, just outside of DC. My school was ranked 216 in the country, and we have a difficult grading scale. An A is 94-100, B+ is 90-93, B is 84-89, C+ is 80-83 and so on. We do not rank students. </p>

<p>After my junior year, my cumulative GPA is a 3.587. I think on a 90-100 A Scale I would be at about a 3.8. (I am really hoping the schools I apply to take the scale into consideration) We receive .5 for every AP course, nothing for honors. Here's my transcript:</p>

<p>8th Grade:
Algebra 1 Honors - B+
French 1 - B+</p>

<p>9th Grade:
English 9 Honors- A
Journalism 1- A
World History 1 - A
Geometry- A
Bio 1 Honors- B+
French 2- B
Health/PE 9- A</p>

<p>10th Grade:
English 10 Honors- A
Journalism 2- A
AP World History- B
Algebra 2 - B
Chemistry 1 - B
French 3- C+
Health/PE 10- A</p>

<p>11th Grade:
AP English Lang/Comp- A
AP US History - B
AP Psych - B
Trig/Math Analysis- B
Physics 1 - B
French 4- B+
German 1 - A</p>

<p>And my classes for next year are
AP Lit
AP US/Comparative Gov
AP Stat
Photo 1
French 5
Geosystems
Journalism 3</p>

<p>I've done indoor and outdoor track all three years and played varsity tennis last year. I am president of our French Club, in National Honor Society, and an AP Scholar. I will be an editor of the school newspaper next year. </p>

<p>My SAT's are 1960 (600 Math, 690 Reading, 670 Writing). I am taking the US History and Lit Subject Tests in October.
My AP's are:
5- World History
5- Psychology
5- Eng Lang/Comp
4- US History</p>

<p>Sorry for all the information, I just wanted to be as thorough as possible. I know my biggest flaw is my Math SAT but I really don't intend on majoring in anything that involves Math. Should I retake? </p>

<p>Thanks for ALL your input and advice.</p>

2

<p>any input? I really would love to go to McGill Arts</p>

3

<p>Your sophomore and junior year grades are subpar, which is bad news for you because McGill only considers grades 10+. ECs are not considered. Just try really hard to get A's senior year and I would retake the SATs to get above 2100</p>

4

<p>read this: Applicants</a> from U.S. high school programs (in the U.S.A. and other countries)</p>

<p>When they say "strong grades are required" they mean at least an A-. Fortunately for you, you've aced your english classes (basically the major classes they care about). Like cloudless has said, only sophomore year and above grades matter, so they're gonna scrutinize your 10, 11, and first semester of 12th grade marks. You didn't do so hot in your humanities/social sciences, and while they say English grades are of upper importance, they'll still look at that (because they'll want to see how you do in other writing intensive courses). </p>

<p>I really have to warn you, when they say english grades matter, they're politely nodding to the fact that 99% of the Arts programs are writing intensive. When I say intensive, I mean your grade will depend solely on your ability to write, and your ability to write/think better than your peers. Only X amount of kids are allowed A's in a class, so everything is graded relativistically. TA's do have the option not to award anyone an A, atop of all that. So think of it this way: to get the A, you need to be one of the TOP students in the course (I believe in my brother's 150+ student philosophy course only 4 kids were allowed A's on their papers). They don't eff around in the arts program.</p>

<p>On a lighter note, you can rest assured if you make it out of the arts program (with a decent average), you will be a stronger logician, and writer for it. You won't graduate from McGill with any shortage of written communication skills. </p>

<p>This wasn't mean to scare, just inform.</p>

5

<p>actually 10 grades don't matter as much. only 11 and 12. they look at your 1st sem. 12 first and try to predict your 2nd. sem grades by using what you got in grade 11.</p>

6

<p>thanks for all the input, everyone! I am not scared of writing; English is actually the only subject I don't really have to try at and can still get A's in so that sounds like pretty good news to me. My fingers will be crossed though, sounds like I'm pretty "on the border". I guess I will really have to work first semester</p>

7

<p>how about IB diploma?
i'm an IB diploma student, do they prefer ib students? and what are the average scores for ib diploma?</p>

8

<p>It says the following about the IB if you haven't read it already:</p>

<p>"The International Baccalaureate diploma with grades of 5 or better on all Higher and Standard Level examinations is the expected minimum for most programs. Some programs are more competitive and require higher grades. If you have an overall score equal to or better than 32 points, and have one grade below 5, you may be considered if you have several grades of 6 or better to compensate"</p>

<p>Applicants</a> from High Schools Outside Canada and the U.S.A.</p>

<p>I don't know what the usual score is to get in. I got into arts & science with 41. You can get 30 credits advanced standing with the IB diploma, so you enter into U1 directly usually.</p>