McGill University

Overview

McGill was founded in 1821 and is a research university in Montreal. Its main campus is downtown, at the foot of Mount Royal, and the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is based at the Macdonald Campus in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, on the western tip of the Island of Montreal. McGill describes itself as having three campuses, so check where your program is based.

The language situation is unusual. McGill teaches mainly in English, but its official language policy gives students the right to write essays, examinations and theses in English or French, unless the course is designed to teach a language. That makes McGill an option for francophone students who want an English-language degree, and an English-speaking school in a French-speaking city for everyone else.

How to apply

There is no provincial application system in Quebec for McGill: you apply through McGill's own online application, which opens on October 1. The fee listed on that page is $140.16 CAD; a second choice for the same term is included, and further applications cost extra. After you apply, you upload documents and follow your status in the McGill Applicant Portal.

Deadlines depend on where you went to school. For Canadian high school applicants outside Quebec and Ontario, McGill lists February 1 for the application, February 7 for the Major Entrance Scholarship, and January 15 for Music. Ontario, US, Quebec CEGEP and international applicants each have their own requirements page with their own dates, so pick your background on the admissions site before planning.

How McGill reads your grades

For Canadian students outside Quebec and Ontario, McGill calculates a top 5 average from your best five Grade 12 academic courses, including your program prerequisites. Applied, technical and career courses, physical education and health courses and co-op or work experience courses are left out, and at most two fine arts courses (not counting AP and IB) can be in the top 5.

Instead of mailing transcripts, most applicants self-report their Grade 11 and 12 courses in the Applicant Portal. For students outside Quebec and Ontario there is an optional first period from January 6 to February 1 and a mandatory second period from March 1 to May 1. McGill later checks those marks against official school records, and if they differ, the official grades win and a decision can change. Report carefully.

CEGEP students are assessed with the R score, which our explainer on the R score in Quebec covers. Some programs ask for extra documents or steps; the program page lists them.

Costs and funding

Quebec sets different tuition rates for Quebec residents, students from other provinces and international students, so your status changes the bill a great deal. McGill publishes current rates on its Student Accounts tuition pages. Students from outside Canada need a Quebec acceptance certificate (CAQ) as well as a federal study permit; start with the Government of Canada page on studying in Canada.

Getting ready with StudyBrix

McGill courses expect a lot of independent reading and writing from the first week.

• Sharpen essay writing with the academic English bridge deck and the academic writing course.
• If you plan to use your right to write in French, keep your French active with our French learning guide.
• Read Canadian GPA scales explained so university grade point averages make sense when your first marks arrive.

Our guide to universities in Canada sets McGill alongside the other Quebec universities.