Thoughts on McGill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on McGill both good and bad especially from those with kids who currently/recently attended? DC is senior at private school in Northeast and has been accepted and wants to go but we are ambivalent because it is, after all, in another country.

What are your child's other options ?

What does your child want to study ?

Why does your child want to attend McGill ?

Is your child at a boarding school in the NE US ? Or at a private day school ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s the equivalent to about a top 30 or 40 school in the US. Not bad!

Love how the 20:49 post was so informative and then a post like this follows that reverts to the DCUM mean, which is to be slightly condescending, status-driven, and not especially useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the equivalent to about a top 30 or 40 school in the US. Not bad!

Love how the 20:49 post was so informative and then a post like this follows that reverts to the DCUM mean, which is to be slightly condescending, status-driven, and not especially useful.

also completely ill informed, what a muffin

[Anonymous]

Very large classes. Fiske Guide To Colleges informs that intro classes can be as large as 1,000 students.

Tradition is to get new students very, very drunk during the first two weeks. This would be a serious concern for me as a parent.

Really interesting city. In some respects, your child will be going to Montreal as much as going to McGill (similar to the old saying about NYU students "I didn't come to NYU, I came to New York City".)

I know NE boarding school students who attended McGill. They all went to study science or pre-med and all were able to pay Quebec tuition rates due to a parent's dual citizenship--if I recall correctly.

The international tuition rate is about $66,000 or so Canadian (I think this is about $50,000 US). Housing might be extra. Student housing is typically only available to freshmen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is the Harvard of Canada, am excellent school. That being said, we know a girl who was unable to switch programs of study after a year (with excellent grades - straight As) and transfered out to study what she wanted.

This isn't a good comparison. Prestige is much less of a thing in Canada, at least for education. Canadians tend to go to a closeby school regardless of high school performance.

One thing about McGill for Americans is that you largely miss out on the alumni network dimension of college. Another is that on-campus recruiting likely won't be for US roles, so kids will need to manage their own job search (which is hard for fields like banking, consulting, and tech).

[Anonymous]

It's a great school. I have a relative there and they're thrilled with the academics, the social life, the city. McGill is well-known and well-respected in the US and it's been a popular destination for as long as I can remember (and that's a long time!)

Btw, I believe the PPs about Canadian schools expecting greater maturity of their students, but fwiw I haven't seen a huge distinction in the experience of my relative and my own kid. The relative at McGill actually seemed to have more orientation parties than my kid who is at a small US school. Maybe less grade inflation? Not sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the equivalent to about a top 30 or 40 school in the US. Not bad!

Love how the 20:49 post was so informative and then a post like this follows that reverts to the DCUM mean, which is to be slightly condescending, status-driven, and not especially useful.

also completely ill informed, what a muffin

Not inaccurate, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very large classes. Fiske Guide To Colleges informs that intro classes can be as large as 1,000 students.

Tradition is to get new students very, very drunk during the first two weeks. This would be a serious concern for me as a parent.

Really interesting city. In some respects, your child will be going to Montreal as much as going to McGill (similar to the old saying about NYU students "I didn't come to NYU, I came to New York City".)

I know NE boarding school students who attended McGill. They all went to study science or pre-med and all were able to pay Quebec tuition rates due to a parent's dual citizenship--if I recall correctly.

The international tuition rate is about $66,000 or so Canadian (I think this is about $50,000 US). Housing might be extra. Student housing is typically only available to freshmen.

Wow, so not even cheaper than US privates. Why would anyone send their kid to McGill?

[Anonymous]

My DD went to McGill. There are some Canadian logistics to work out but I wouldn't let that dissuade you, there is a very helpful Int'l McGill Parents facebook page that helps one navigate currency conversion, etc.

Montreal is a blast - very student friendly, very, very safe (during the warm months, families hang out in the city's parks in the evening and picnic, etc.). My kid didn't mind the very cold weather at all - the kids adjust, it seems. Def agree with others re the kids not getting handholding, and maturing quickly, etc. It's a large public university so the education was mixed. There are some great profs, some not so great. Classes can be huge, as a PP noted.

McGill is huge and is not a rah-rah school by any means, it can be impersonal and bureaucratic. There's less campus culture but definitely a big student culture in the city as a whole.

It was a great value when my DD went - about the same cost as our US in-state. I believe they've increased int'l student tuition a bit so perhaps not as a great of a bargain now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is the Harvard of Canada, am excellent school. That being said, we know a girl who was unable to switch programs of study after a year (with excellent grades - straight As) and transfered out to study what she wanted.

This isn't a good comparison. Prestige is much less of a thing in Canada, at least for education. Canadians tend to go to a closeby school regardless of high school performance.

One thing about McGill for Americans is that you largely miss out on the alumni network dimension of college. Another is that on-campus recruiting likely won't be for US roles, so kids will need to manage their own job search (which is hard for fields like banking, consulting, and tech).

This part is absolutely not true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great school, great reputation in both Canada and U.S. My niece graduated from there and now has a dream job with an American company's Paris office.

She and her mom told me that it's somewhat different than many US schools in that students are expected to be fully functioning adults from Day One. There's not a lot of handholding or orientation, and students are expected to solve their own roommate/financial/coursework problems without much input from the school or interference from parents.

Yes. Helicopter parents would find it tough going. My friend’s daughter had an issue with tuition payment and McGill would not speak to the parents about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great school, great reputation in both Canada and U.S. My niece graduated from there and now has a dream job with an American company's Paris office.

She and her mom told me that it's somewhat different than many US schools in that students are expected to be fully functioning adults from Day One. There's not a lot of handholding or orientation, and students are expected to solve their own roommate/financial/coursework problems without much input from the school or interference from parents.

Did she know French before attending or learned French when she was there?

[Anonymous]

+1 for the parents board. Topics to check out specific to this year:

1. Length of visa issues
2. Adequacy of funds on meal plan
3. Health care for minor illnesses (e.g., what if your student needs a strep test)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very large classes. Fiske Guide To Colleges informs that intro classes can be as large as 1,000 students.

Tradition is to get new students very, very drunk during the first two weeks. This would be a serious concern for me as a parent.

Really interesting city. In some respects, your child will be going to Montreal as much as going to McGill (similar to the old saying about NYU students "I didn't come to NYU, I came to New York City".)

I know NE boarding school students who attended McGill. They all went to study science or pre-med and all were able to pay Quebec tuition rates due to a parent's dual citizenship--if I recall correctly.

The international tuition rate is about $66,000 or so Canadian (I think this is about $50,000 US). Housing might be extra. Student housing is typically only available to freshmen.

Wow, so not even cheaper than US privates. Why would anyone send their kid to McGill?

Children of World Bank and IMF employees get university education paid by the Bank/Fund if they attend non-US universities. There are many DMV kids as a result attending McGill and the better Canadian universities as a result, they just aren't US nationals.

[Anonymous]

My kid was just accepted there, so I wanted to correct one point. You apply to a certain faculty (arts, sciences, etc) which have multiple majors in each. You do not apply to a specific major, you choose second year. This is different from UK school where you apply to a major.

We have friends at McGill and my kid really liked many things, They are committing elsewhere for different reasons but McGill was strong contender, reasonable cost compared to US privates, great city, many, many American kids go there btw!