I am an applicant from a U.S. high school and applied in mid-October. The application is very, very confusing and I am pretty worried that I didn’t do something correct. My application status on Minerva says “Ready for Review” but all I did was upload a PDF file of my unofficial high school transcript and send my ACT scores. Does McGill need my guidance counselor to send my transcript also (my school uses Naviance) or is the version I uploaded fine? Plus, do I need to send AP scores? I think they would strengthen my application but I don’t know how to. I know there’s no essays, EC profile, etc., I’m mostly just concerned about the transcript. I’m applying to the Faculty of the Arts (first choice) and Interfaculty of Arts & Science (second choice.) I have about a 3.7 UW GPA and a 32 ACT score. (Does anyone know when I should be hearing back by?)
@jm18271 That is all you need to do; official transcripts are only required once you are admitted. AP scores should be submitted later to give you advanced standing. They don’t help your application though.
McGill Admissions will start reviewing International applications soon. If they see anything is missing they will flag it for you. (A lot of times they will ask you for first semester senior year grades.) The challenge is you need to check Minerva every few days. My son (a U0 in the Faculty of Arts) didn’t want the stress of doing that so he had me (his dad) do that for him. Remember they start admission with the highest grades/scores and work their way down. It’s a bit of confusing process but it seems to work for McGill. My son heard in early February, about a week after uploading his first semester senior year grades.
Your GPA and ACT are slightly higher than my son’s were last year. You are definitely a strong candidate. And FYI: my son is really incredibly happy at McGill. He is working really hard but having just a ton of fun. (It is a fairly social university.) And he loves being in Montreal. Best of luck! And feel free to message me with any questions…I’m happy to help if I can.
Thanks so much for mentioning this, @SwimmingDad. Puts my mind at ease with my D’s application also “Ready for Review.”
I’m glad to hear that your son is enjoying McGill. It’s a fantastic place for the right student.
@ShrimpBurrito Be sure to read through the link in Minerva to all of the different application statuses. It was helpful. Also, the admissions office is actually really great; call them if you need help. Just keep in mind they can get busy later in the admissions season.
We are actually heading up to Montreal in two weeks to bring U.S. Thanksgiving to my son. While there, son #2 who is a HS junior is going to tour McGill again. It is by far his top choice…so far!
@SwimmingDad We did this with our son his first year, except there was restaurant that did American Thanksgiving. i forget which one. That Thursday evening there was a 12’ snowstorm.
@TomSrOfBoston On our first trip up to Montreal to look at McGill we hit black ice in VT…had to be towed to White River Junction and rent a car. Somehow only lost 90 minutes. Foot of snow on the ground in Montreal the next morning and 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet both boys fell in love with the place. Hoping this Thanksgiving will be a smoother trip. 
I am a CIE A level student. Does anyone know if I have to send my school half yearly grades or anything? My predicted, AS and IGCSE grades are really good, but my school grades not do much.
I have asked them plenty of times about an issue similar to yours. I have great GCE and A level results but poor results in school A2 mid-terms. Sadly, McGill’s student services were awful and I never got an answer ( I asked the same question to other unis - U of T / UBC / UAlberta and got definite answers). I sent them my school grades upto AS level.
@student333z Ohh so you didnt send McGill midterm grades, right? Did you get in yet or any change in your status?
@oreos_m I applied in sept but havent heard back anything yet. I have a feeling that Canadian unis don’t care much about school results for A Level students though.