Crazy McGill Reactions

Colleges & Universities McGill University
1

<p>I wanted to start this thread to hear about any other stupid/crazy reactions that US high school students have seen when they tell friends or people in class where they’re going to school. I live about 10 minutes outiside of Washington D.C. in a very good school district and am met almost daily by people who have no clue what McGill is, usually to hilarious effect. </p>

<p>Examples:</p>

<p>-One person thought “McGill” was the name of a sandwich at McDonald’s</p>

<p>-One person thought Montreal was in Spain</p>

<p>-Two people collectively thought McGill was in South Carolina and then, after they were told by a friend it was in Canada, decided on their own grounds that it was some sort of Canadian community college. (They then later reportedly went on to say, “Man, I thought he [me] was smart! That’s too bad that he has to go to Canada…” as if my parents were punishing me by sending me there…)</p>

<p>-The same two people then decided that I must be going to McGill because Marijuana is legal in Canada. As far as I know, it’s punishable by fine in British Columbia and the other provinces’ rules are basically like those in the US. Either way it doesn’t matter because that’s not why I’m going to McGill!</p>

<p>-Almost everyone thinks that the lower drinking age is my motive for going.</p>

<p>-Two people have suggested the idea that I’m moving to Canada to dodge the draft. (A) There is no draft. (B) Having a student visa for another country would not exempt you from a draft in the event that there were one. (C) Being a college student at any school, regardless of country, is enough grounds to exempt someone. </p>

<p>-One person thought that everything is really cheap in Canada, “y’know, 'cuz on prices and stuff it always says like ‘$5 US and $27 Canada.’” I don’t even want to try to understand that logic. </p>

<p>-Almost everyone has balked at the idea of me finding a job in the US or getting into a good grad. school back here. (“Dude, isn’t a Canadian degree, like, less important?”) I’m done at this point attempting to explain the whole international prestige and reputation thing, so I just answer “no” and move on. </p>

<p>I think that covers most of them. I probably make my school out to seem stupider than it really is, because in truth there are some people who recognize it. All of my teachers are familiar with McGill, and four or five of my friends are as well. (Nevermind that one is French by birth and two are from Canada.) </p>

<p>Anyone else seen any funny reactions?</p>

2

<p>it seems that everyone around you has never heard of mcgill. How did you learn about mcgill?</p>

3

<p>lol…nice</p>

<p>thank god i happen to go to a international school where everyone knows mcgill</p>

4

<p>i live in ontario and everyone knows about mcgill…</p>

<p>more people are intimidated by it rather than having those remarks…</p>

<p>weird…</p>

5

<p>Reactions have been mixed. Some people here know McGill well and congratulated me on my acceptance.
Others have no clue, have never heard of it, etc.
People who think that a degree from a Canadian university is substandard to a US degree are ignorant.</p>

6

<p>I have one! This is from a Californian girl though, so, to her the world outside Cali is just not “it”… we live in Tunisia though so you’d think it help, but hey, she lives in a bubble… So here’s how the conversation went.
“Hey! What did you get on ur SAT?”
“Oh, 1470, but it was my second time taking it.”
“Me too, I didn’t know you were so smart, isn’t that more than Bernie? (our valedictorian)”
“Yea but he only took it once, and the first time around he beat me”
“Oh, so you must be going to a really good school, where ARE you going?”
“McGill”
“Oh… Where’s that?”
“In Canada”
“Oh I’m sorry, with that score you could have gone to a good school!”
“Oh you know how it is” (I didn’t even bother)
“But, where did you say again?”
“McGill”
“Is it a good school?”
“Yeah it is”
“But… why didn’t you go to a school in the US, there are some really good schools that would want you.”
and on and on and on</p>

<p>the burger one is really funny though :D</p>

7

<p>haha…
No one really knows it here either. :\
I found out by going to an international school as well (it was a canadian boarding school. lol). I’m just worried that since I’m an american the name might not be as strong as some of the ivy schools when applying for jobs in the financial services industry.</p>

<p>Reason I’d go would be the price. :D</p>

8

<p>wow, these are all hilarious. The McDonald’s one is the killer though. Funniest thing I’ve heard all day. In truth, some people at my school know very, very little about McGill, and I live in Toronto. Two of my best friends only applied there because I’ve been raving about it for the longest time. Now when most of their acceptances have come in and they visited a couple of them they really like McGill and where really impressed by it. For me it’s been the same as n-man…most of the people at my school are pretty intimidated by McGill. One guy who really wanted to go and dropped out of IB so that he could get the marks decided not to even try because he knew that his chances were pretty slim, and I don’t think he was too far off from a 90. Another friend who’s going to U of Chicago next year for economics was very impressed that I had gotten into McGill. For people who’ve done their research, they’ll know what McGill is. The people that matter know what McGill is- like the teachers, guidance counsellors, employers. For all the other people, their approval’s not even worth the trouble. It’s good enough that you believe that McGill is a good school. If you can’t reassure yourself about that, then you might want to do some thinking. Talk to the people who matter and see what they have to say.</p>

9

<p>totally unrelated, but i had to tell it.</p>

<p>i once told my girlfriend that i was interested in “marine archaeology” and she said “oh…you mean like you build things underwater?”</p>

10

<p>MaxiJaz, my mom was the person who originally suggested it to me. She knew the kind of school I was interested in and brought it up, and since about two days after that I’ve been in love with it. (I’m pretty sure I would have come across it anyway while researching colleges, though.) A lot of adults, especially ones that grew up in the Northeast and New England, think of McGill as the “Harvard of Canada,” which may not be as accurate of a statement as can be, but is still a lot better than thinking it’s a sandwich.</p>

11

<p>I just remembered something funny along the same lines, except this time it was about a big shot american university. A really smart fellow IBer who graduated last year applied ED to Cornell, got in and accepted the offer. When he told a friend that he was going to Cornell, they asked if that was near Ottawa. He just stood there and thought to himself…what the hell is he talking about?? Then he realized that the person had confused Cornell with Concordia. Pretty sad, isn’t it?</p>

12

<p>Pk, my mother also introduced me to McGill. We took a family vacation to Montreal a few years ago and she said, “Why not look at this great university, right here in North America?” She also called it the Harvard of Canada.</p>

13

<p>i have had various reactions when i tell people im going to mcgill. if they are real people, and by real i mean intelligent, they are very impressed because they know that mcgill is a very good school. ive also heard that it is the harvard of canada. </p>

<p>but then there are the non-real people, and by non-real i mean the idiots that seem to be everywhere in my school. a group of such idiots was trying to name all the ivy league schools while i was trying to take a nap one day in class (im a senior, what can i say.) lets just say the conversation was painful, as one of them was convinced that penn state was an ivy. wow. i finally couldnt take it anymore, so i woke up and listed them all. they then asked me where i was going, despite my mcgill bag and sweatshirt that i was sporting that day. i told them mcgill. big mistake. they sat there, eyes blinking, mouths open. i then said “well, its in montreal.” no change in expression. “in canada.” they were completely confused and asked “why would you want to go there??” i simply responded, “because its amazing,” and then went back to sleep. i hate my school.</p>

14

<p>although i guess i cant really complain, because i had never heard of mcgill until i looked into it. i was just finishing up all my applications when i received an email from mcgill. my dads canadian and he told me i should check into it. i applied on a whim right before the deadline, basically because i thought it sounded cool. and then i realized that mcgill is amazing. and now im going there. true story.</p>

15

<p>props to you.</p>

16

<p>“Where are you going to school?”</p>

<p>“McGill.”</p>

<p>“What?”</p>

<p>“McGill…University”</p>

<p>blank stare.</p>

<p>“It’s in Montreal.”</p>

<p>“Montreal…that’s in Canada right?”</p>

<p>…</p>

17

<p>“Is Canada part of the United States?”
Sorry, couldn’t resist this–it is something that has been asked of me.</p>

18

<p>my friend asked if she would need a passport when we went to Montreal last week (from Ontario, btw).</p>

19

<p>Bittersweet–you have to be kidding.<br>
Is there still a rift between English and French Canadians? My mother used to travel through Canada years ago and she said there was one at that time.</p>

20

<p>it’s not that bad now. although if there’s another election…I dunno. I don’t really see any so called rift between the english and french canadians, although I don’t doubt that it exists. If it exists, it’s not out in the open. I doubt it would affect your everyday life though. Everyone there speaks English and they’re all pretty nice.</p>