McGill Information Session on Jan 18 2013
Contacts:
Lindsay.wilmot@mcgill.ca
Tania.raggo@mcgill.ca
Jocelyne.younan@mcgill.ca
Recruitment Unit 514 398 4751
Introduction by Jocelyne
Presenter: Lindsay
Downtown campus- Montreal is a student friendly city. Very safe. Downtown campus tucked into
downtown core. Cannot be more central than McGill. McGill university was there even before the city
developed. Multicultural and multilingual. Vibrant, safe and affordable. Cultural capital- fashion, great
cuisine, museums and of course French language. Easy to get by with just English. But to get the cultural
richness, good to embrace French. Good to pick-up few words. Very warm and welcoming city. In
downtown core, within walking distance from everything. But yet there is space for students. There is a
football field which is the skating field in winter. Great space, students are not lost in a larger city. They
have space to call their own. Fantastic public transit buses and subway covers considerable chunk of the
city. Students are encouraged to get out of the McGill bubble. Residence guaranteed in 1st year, but not
afterwards. Most look for apartments in downtown. Beautiful apartments, quite affordable, even in
downtown core. But if they can take the subway and get to a different neighbourhood then rent is only
a ½ or 1/3rd . Students can be adventurous.
Second Campus Macdonald Campus MAC- dedicated to studies in environment. For eg. Food sciences,
environmental engineering, wild life, agriculture. 30 minutes from downtown. There is a shuttle bus.
Students can head to this campus to enjoy the campus or to take a course there. Green houses, aviary,
research on campus, a place to get hands dirty. Residences and full range of student services. Mac
students can take courses in downtown campus. Island of Montreal- Mac is at southwest of downtown.
Experience at McGill: Truly international and can open doors to the world. McGill degree recognized by
employers and other universities. Reason for recognition is quality. Research and teaching excellence.
Time and funds to pursue teaching and research by professors. It is part of their contract with univ.
Students get to benefit from this wealth of knowledge. Cutting edge research accessible even to
undergrad students. Interesting option for those interested in grad studies, research or academics.
Students must be aware that McGill is neither a large nor a small university. Mid size. 24,000 undergrad
students. Smaller classes as they specialize. But need to be prepared for some larger classes. In a large
humanities class (600 students) only one class that size. Mostly 70 to 300 students. Pretty large. Once a
week that large class is split into conferences and breakout sessions. Breakout sessions are one-on-one
with profs and TAs. In science classes, smaller labs. Students who do well in McGill are the proactive
ones who are go getters, who are not shy, who meet with profs. after classes. You get what you put into
it- philosophy at McGill. The profs. will not come to you. Go and meet your prof. They develop extremely
important lifeskills. Prepared to go and get it. Those who are not there yet, need to ask for help. Just let
someone know. They will be given the tools to succeed.
Diversity Teaching at McGill done by profs. not TAs. Papers are graded by profs. But they have help from
TAs. 20% of students from outside of Canada. 24,000 undergrads from over 160 countires. 200,000
McGill alumni around the world.
Respect: is the key word even in residences. How to live together, enjoy each others company. Be part
of this mosaic of classroom. Students com e from everywhere and tend to go everywhere. So they
benefit from alumni all over the world. McGill alumni associations in most major cities all over the
world.
Programs Over 300 different areas of study. Pages 14, 15 and 16 of viewbook.
Faculty: Students need to apply to the faculty, not the major they are interested in. When looking at the
admission requirements need to look at the faculty requirements. For e.g. Psychology is offered from
multiple faculties. Majors are offered by departments. Very little difference in major offered by different
faculties in content or job opportunities. But what is different is the admission requirements. Admission
is by faculty. Faculty of Science, faculty of Engineering , Faculty of Education and School of Music are
good examples. For these four faculties students have to pick the faculty and then the subgroup.
Students in these faculties have to declare their major upfront. The admission requirements don’t
change. But some pre-med courses are more popular. Biomedical Sciences and biological sciences have
more competitive averages to get in. But for other faculties like Arts they don’t have to declare majors
upfront.
Kinesiology is offered from the Faculty of Education.
Transfer: No transfer is guaranteed into other programs. So weigh options carefully when applying to
programs. Rule of the thumb- competitive at admission stage then competitive at transfer level. For eg.
for Biological, Biomedical and Life Sciences (BBL). Better to declare your first choice as the program you
really want, not one with lower admission average. That strategy works only if students are solely
interested in getting into McGill and are also interested in continuing in that faculty if they cannot
transfer. Better to go into the program of your choice at another university. This is better than getting
stuck in a program you don’t want to study. Transfer is good if you change your mind after getting into
a program. If you cannot transfer a good option would be to do a minor in that field. Generally speaking
students can minor in any field. Mgt. is a common minor. You can get into the same career with a minor
or a major in that field. For eg. major in arts and minor in mgt. This works well for science and arts
faculties. Students are being prepared for roles outside your faculty. For eg. you don’t need a major in
Biology for a career in Biology. May be not for faculties like engineering. May not work for some
professional designations like CA, CGA etc which need a major in business and accounting, not a minor.
Career and Placement office has a good web site – what careers to expect upon graduation.
Coop and Internment: Extremely available. Not too many coops where students work and study
alternate. But more flexible internships. Internship can be done part-time during school year and full
time in summer. Internship helps students in the process of selecting placements, applying, experiencing
and test driving jobs etc. For eg. in engineering- after summer internship, they have the flexibility of
staying back in fall and returning to school later. Students can plug in internship and research
experience. In some programs this is integrated, usually nursing, social work. In engineering internship is
optional. But high participation rate in engineering.
Study Abroad For students with good academic standing. Most students get in, may not be their first
choice but which still works.
Programs- No direct admission from High School These programs are Social Work, Medicine, Dentistry,
Law, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Microbiology and Immunology. CEGEP students do one extra
year of high school. Applicants from high school are not eligible to apply directly for medicine. Quebec
CEGEP students may apply for the Medicine Preparatory Program, a year of Science curriculum followed
by the four-year MD, CM program. For med school, law and dentistry most students have 4 years of
undergrad. For Social Work, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Microbiology and Immunology IB
students can apply directly from high school, not AP. AP results come in very late, hence they cannot be
used for this direct entry. One full year of study at university to get into these programs. Can go into any
field and get into these. But certain programs are recommended. For instance for Microbiology and
Immunology , Science is recommended.
Application Process
 Apply online at www.mcgill.ca/appyling/
 Feb. 1 application deadline
 $100 application fee
 Two program choices for $100 fee. Usually two faculties
 Further two choices with extra fees
 Faculty choices are not treated as first, second choice. But as two separate applications. Both or
all choices will be evaluated. For eg. if you are admitted on your first choice, you will still be
evaluated on your second and subsequent choices. Students might get multiple offers at
different times. Each choice is evaluated. Second and subsequent choices looked at even if you
accept the first offer.
 At the time of application decide if you need housing. Check mark the box for residence.
 Disclosure information. Encourage students to include counselors name here. That way it is
easier for McGill to share the information with counselors.
 Within 24 hours of application will get access to Minerva and McGill ID #
 Track your application online through Minerva
 Minerva is the student portal to submit grades, upload documents for application and for
scholarships
 Completed applications are put in a queue.
 Offer timelines. Offers made on a rolling basis, depends on when you self-report and also on the
program, how competitive it is. For competitive programs, the process is slower.
 May 1 – Document submission deadline Self-report interim grades. Self-reporting accepted till
May 4. But encourage students to report earlier.
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Unsolicited offers- Are made to qualified students. For eg. if mechanical engineering is full, then
McGill might offer a spot in electrical engineering.
Waitlist- some eligible students are waitlisted and placed later.
BC High School Students Admission Requirements
 GPA average of 5 academic Gr. 12 level courses. Gr. 11 marks are not considered. 5 courses
include English 12 and program specific pre-requisites. Admission based only on grades for all
programs except Music, Architecture, Social Work where there are some additional
requirements. English 12 must be included. GPA is only 5 required courses, other marks not
looked at.
 Must meet program specific requirements
 Online courses are accepted. McGill does not differentiate between online and classroom
courses.
 Repeat courses – McGill will take the average of all attempts. Blend problems- For eg. if a
course is completed in Gr. 11 and is repeated in Gr. 12. Then blend the final mark from Gr. 11
year with interim of the mark in Gr. 12.
 Challenge Courses are accepted
BC Adult Diploma
Not generally accepted. Students with adult diploma should apply as mature students. They cannot
compare high school diploma with adult ed. Diploma. These students cannot apply for Major Entrance
Scholarships.
Self-reporting of grades in Minerva
 Advised to self-report marks online instead of uploading documents on Minerva. Uploading
documents option is available on Minerva.
 Report all Gr. 11 and 12 grades. Gr 12 marks are used for admission. Gr. 11 and 12 marks for
scholarships.
 First Round of self-reporting (optional) from Jan. 6 to Feb. 1. Encourage strong students to selfreport during this time for possible early admission. Students with 90% or more GPA. In the first
round students have the option to report a course with grade not available. This is usually for
semestered students.
 There are no refusals in the first round
 Only offers are made in the first round.
 Majority of decisions go out in Feb.
 Self-report all courses. Don’t pick the courses. The system will pick the best courses that are
needed for a program
 Second Round of self-reporting from March 1 to May 1. All courses should have a mark. That is
wait for Gr. 12 interim marks before self-reporting. Every course reported must have an interim
or a final mark at this stage.
 Students who did not receive an answer after the first round must upgrade their grades as soon
as second interim grades are available.
 Majority of offers in this round go out in May
 Don’t cheat. Most students are good about the marks they self-report
When to self-report- Strategies. Some students wait hoping to improve their grades. But students must
be aware the some programs are more competitive than others and get filled up faster.
What are interim grades
Terms per year
Interim grades
Two terms
First term
Three terms
first two terms (Term 1 and Term 2)
Two semesters
First semester finals and second semester mid terms.
Scholarships and Awards
Feb. 7 is the deadline to apply for Major Entrance Scholarships. Encourage students to apply. 94% is the
minimum GPA. But encourage students with grades below this to apply. Lots of money in this fund, goes
unclaimed. School nomination not required. Only reference letters.
Basic scholarships – all students are evaluated based on their grades. No need to apply. All Gr. 11 and
12 grades are looked at.