<p>I'm an American student from a high school of about 1500. If you have any input on the following questions I have, i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you! </p>
<p>What is an average class size like, excluding the intro courses like Bio 101?</p>
<p>Since its such a big school, how well do you really get to know other students?</p>
<p>Do the professors have office hours and is it feasible to actually get to talk to them if you have questions?</p>
<p>What is it like living in Montreal? Is there still a campus community or is everyone usually out in the city?</p>
<p>Average class size at McGill, even in Sophomore and Junior year vary from 100-500.</p>
<p>You do NOT get to know that many people. I’ve been in this situation where I would go to 300-people classes and rarely see the same face twice (and even less ever get to sit beside the same person twice). In comparison, when I was in 30-people classes and we all had the same classes, people actually got to know each other. </p>
<p>You will really make a few handful of ‘‘close’’ friends, usually in your Freshman year. You will meet other people here and there but they will be no more than acquaintances/facebook friends.</p>
<p>It is hard to get access to professors during office hours.</p>
<p>Montreal is a great city and you can meet people of all colours here (white, black, brown, yellow, purple). Despite their different backgrounds, the vast majority of the people are friendly. Watch out for (old) French people who hate English speakers though!</p>
<p>My point is that since I have friends at McGill and they tell me about their school, I’m in a good position to tell the OP about how life is like in a big university.</p>
<p>Good to know that you have friends in China. It’s a good hobby to collect friends on the internet. If you were a McGill student then you wouldn’t be spending so much time on the internet.</p>
<p>^ Au contraire. McGill students also use the Internet, you know. </p>
<p>OP: How well you get to know other students depends on you. There are 25,000 undergrads at McGill, so yes, it’s not like you walk through campus or even into certain classes and recognize everyone you see. That being said, that doesn’t mean that you’ll necessarily see someone once and then never ever see them again, in fact you’d be surprised. There are tons of clubs where you can meet people and get involved, and a lot of people use residences to build a group of friends. Residences are usually about 200 people, with the biggest one being 700 (it stands out). So you do get to know a lot of those people as residences organize their own events and have parties. Yes, there are a lot of people and you will never meet them all, but I also guarantee that unless you are a complete hermit, you will make a handful of friends. Making more friends after first year and residences depends on you but I have definitely found it possible.</p>
<p>To address your question about professors: they are very accessible in my experience. You’d be surprised but many students don’t go to professors’ office hours (which all professors have every week), TA office hours, and even tutorials where attendance isn’t recorded. I have never had a problem with meeting with my professors or TAs, although it does get busier close to exam times. It may depend on your classes, however. For example, I’ve never taken a science or engineering class and don’t know if that’s different. They also respond to e-mails in case you can’t make their hours to due having another class or whatever.</p>
<p>Montreal is an AMAZING city. And by the way, I have NEVER run into a French person who hates English speakers, hah. I speak French as a second language yet I have been able to get by in English just fine and most people do. Downtown Montreal is quite bilingual. As for the “campus community”, no it is not as strong as other schools I imagine though I can’t compare. That’s because everyone here can drink, go out, and enjoy Montreal usually immediately upon arrival, so we don’t rely on the same frats or campus parties to have fun - the entire city is open to us. However, there are a lot of “community” type things if you want that. Like I said, there are many clubs and events (especially parties) held throughout the year and it’s just a matter of you getting involved, but not many people are all “rah rah go McGill” in your face.</p>