What's the real story on stress and partying at McGill?

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
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My son has been accepted to the Faculty of Science and plans on pursuing Honours in Computer Science.

As I read about McGill here and in other places, I read again and again about two things that are of real concern to me.

First, I read that McGill is very high stress, much higher than many excellent US schools. So far as I can tell, the stress seems to come from the sheer volume of work, the difficyof the work and the grading policies which make good grades tremendously difficult (and guarantee that a certain percentage of students fail every class regardless of the quality of their work? I can’t tell about this bit).

Second, I read that it’s a major party school, that heavy drinking drives a lot of the social life. Obviously, there are at least some people who regularly drink heavily at just about every school and not every single person is a serious drinker at McGill. My son says he’s not into serious drinking and I believe him. And I know kids who weren’t into it who, having found themselves at schools where drinking is a big part of the social life, fell into it sort of out of necessity. I wasn’t a teetotaler in college and I don’t expect my son to be, either, but there’s a difference between people who get really drunk just about every Friday and Saturday night and people for whom drinking and sometimes getting somewhat drunk is one option among many and The Thing To Do every weekend.

I’m getting to a question, I promise.

My son and I are in Montreal now, so he can visit McGill,and talk to lots of people. Today, he spoke to several CS majors and several Computer Engineering majors. He reports (accurately? I hope so.) that they say (1) The stress reputation is overblown, at least as far as CS courses go and so long as you have good time management skills, it’s not that bad; and (2) plenty of people party, of course, but there are definitely people who would rather hang out with friends playing games.

So . . . should I think the reports of rampant high stress offset with a major culture of excessive drinking are overblown or did my son meet a few unicorns or did he run into the McGill version of Penn Face or Stanford Duck Syndrome, where people don’t want to admit that they’re stressed?

Anyone can respond, of course, but current or recent McGill students, particularly those with real knowledge about life as a CS major, would be particularly helpful.

Also, while we’re at it, I keep reading that McGill (and other Canadian universities) aren’t as hand holding as US schools. Can anyone give me some concrete examples? What does that actually mean, in practice?

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NOT. NOT The Thing To Do every weekend.

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Parent of a McGill alumnus. There are a couple of parents of current students her @SwimmingDad @ShrimpBurrito who may add on to this. I don’t believe there are many current McGill students here on CC.

Academic expectations and standards are high at McGill. That surprises many given McGill’s 45% acceptance rate. The high acceptance rate is due in part to McGill’s published minimum stats. There are no “Hail Mary” applications. Also McGill does not do extreme recruiting in order to inflate the total number of applications. If a student does the work he will get a good grade, though not necessarily an A. CS in particular, at all good schools, is a demanding major. It can be very time consuming. Some claim McGill practices grade deflation. There is definitely no grade inflation. McGill has a 92% first year retention rate and an 85% 6 year graduation rate so most students persist.

As for the party scene it is important to remember that in Quebec the drinking age is 18. There is a different dynamic than what is found in American schools. Students can drink legally. Socializing is done mostly in bars and clubs. At American schools it is done in dorms, frat houses and off campus apartments. The Greek scene at McGill is minimal. Athletics are not an important part of campus life. Being in the middle of a large city gives students an abundance of things to do. Compare that to say Penn State where there are 30,000 undergraduates in a small town that is a hundred miles from the nearest city.

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@TomSrOfBoston : What have you done with the other 10,000 Penn State undergraduates ?

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@Publisher Irrelevant point.

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Hi @millie210
My D is a first year student at McGill, but a U1. She’s in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Cognitive Science major, Computational Linguistics focus, so lots of math and CS. She is an excellent student and managed a 4.0 her first semester, with 16 credit hours.

Yes, it is stressful. The way I see it, a successful student at McGill has to be independent, disciplined, confident, and a bit competitive. S/he has to have the organizational skills to set up meetings with profs and advisors and adequately prepare for them. Resources are there, but the students have to actively seek them out. No one is going to approach a student to check up on him or her. My D has a fantastic advisor, and just yesterday had a fruitful discussion about research with a very helpful professor, but again, D has to make it all happen herself. McGill is a wonderful place for students who crave that challenge and yes, competition.

As far as the party scene goes, it is sooo different from the typical US college. Every Saturday afternoon, D meets with a group of friends for a study session, then they go out for dinner and/or drinks in the city afterwards. They may even take their laptops into a bar/restaurant and study while they sip on a beer. I know some students party a lot harder in the nightclubs, but it’s all out in the open, which I feel really good about.

I feel students at McGill are forced to “adult” more quickly than at many US colleges. Housing is only available their first year, then students are on their own. Much to my surprise, last week my D and two friends found an apartment (after attending a workshop hosted by McGill) and signed a lease. We parents did nothing. We will have to sign on as a guarantor, but otherwise D is managing it all. She’ll also have to buy furniture and move without our help.

Opportunities are rich for CS students. Montreal is becoming a global hub for AI. The head of Facebook’s AI division in Montreal is a McGill prof. My D is eager to take a class with her. In addition, the opportunities for personal growth are endless, living in a dynamic bilingual city with such a diverse population. D has friends from all over the world. Another payoff is that Montreal is a very safe city, and very affordable. It is often first on those lists of Best Cities for College Students.

My H and I struggled with some of the same questions you have. We saw McGill as D’s biggest risk, biggest reward college option. So far it has paid off big for her. It’s certainly not for everybody, though.

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@ShrimpBurrito did a really nice job explaining it.

The academic rigor and stress are definitely high at McGill. My son is an Economics major (Faculty of Arts). There is a lot of work, a lot of exams, a lot of papers. In the three weeks leading up to March break, he has had or is having 5 midterms, 1 major presentation in Marketing, 2 computer programs, and numerous assignments. He does a lot of work. That said, he has more than enough time for social activities.

In terms of partying, there is a lot but there isn’t a lot of pressure to partake. My son will often go out with friends and and drink but there is (from what he tells me) a lot less binging than he hears about from friends in US schools (Ivy, NESCAC, others). It happens…I’m not naive. He and his friends will also do things like go to Igloofest or a concert at Schulich or go to dinner in another Montreal neighborhood. And yes, some nights I now he goes to a club and probably drinks a bit too much.

McGill is all about adulting. They make the resources available but you have to step up to take advantage of them. For my son, this was my biggest concern and, I must say, he has stepped up. I still have to push him at times, but usually our Sunday calls are “I had this challenge and here is what I did to address it”.

Finally, another thought on stress. Trust your kid’s instinct. My kids went to a hyper stressful public HS outside of Boston. My oldest is able to deal with it and says it is less stressful than HS. My youngest has diagnosed anxiety and is debating whether he will go to McGill. (He was accepted earlier this week.) He reacts much differently to stress and he is thinking it through. He will end up in Montreal (either McGill or JMSB at Concordia)…it’s just a matter of which one he thinks is right for him.

Sorry I rambled a bit…ok a lot. I’m a HUGE McGill fan and a huge Montreal fan as well. Fabulous school. Fabulous city.

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Oh…and @ShrimpBurrito…a 4.0? Damn! :slight_smile:

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Thanks @SwimmingDad She’s certainly not expecting to keep it up!

Your S19 seems very intuitive. It sounds like he will make the right decision for himself. D has a couple of friends at Concordia. She loves the neighborhood! Her new apartment is near Concordia, in fact. I just love how all of those universities are squished together downtown. Makes for such a fun atmosphere.

My S20 visited his sister at McGill last fall. He’s also a high-achiever, but he came away laughing, saying “Noooooo McGill is NOT for me!” He’ll end up at a big football school in the south.

I saw a McGill cheer posted online somewhere recently. Pretty much sums up the culture, I think:

Give me an M! M!
Give me a C! C!
Give me a G! G!
Give me an I! I! I…I gotta go study…

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Thanks. This has all been very helpful.

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After reading the thread, it seems as though socializing at McGill is more like young professionals in an urban setting than like college students. Not sure if that is a plus or minus.

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Good luck @Publisher. I hope you have a good visit.

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It took a bit of sleuthing and the use of the Wayback Machine (Thank you Mr. Peabody!) but I found this article from the McGill Reporter from 2006. Please scroll down the page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060507173200/http://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/38/01/drinking/
The author did an unscientific study of the drinking culture at a cross section of American colleges. He also visited McGill for a contrasting view.

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My first year U1 daughter has found that the party culture has diminished as the year progresses. I think there was an initial fascination for Americans to be legal drinkers, so certainly access and availability makes alcohol more prevalent. But now I think there might be less “drinking to excess” than other comparable US schools. In terms of lack of hand holding, McGill seems to attract very self sufficient students. Incoming students, for example, won’t have an advising session before registering for classes, unless they initiate that on their own. The website is extremely comprehensive and informative, though I find it easier to navigate by searching whatever topic I want to know, and letting Google direct me to the correct McGill page.

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S1 is at the school of Commerce. The classes are good. The tests, especially the mid terms, can be brutal. In general, it seems to work that if the mid term is really tough (say 55-65% avg.), then the final will be easier, and vice versa. You certainly better plan to study if you come here. I can definitely say the same about U of Toronto, UBC, and a few other Unis in Canada, also. It’s a lot of work.

In Quebec, both alcohol and Pot is legal if you are over 18. In general, there seems to be more of an adult approach to it than at "University Towns".