This is the official discussion thread for McGill Class of 2029 applicants. Ask your questions and connect with fellow applicants.
Currently applying to McGill as an international student coming from a US High School and I have questions about SAT score submissions.
I scored a 1420 (720 RW and 700 M) and want to apply for Comp Sci which has entry requirements of 700 for both sections. I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and have taken 8 AP classes total in which I have passed with a score of 3 or above in each (still have to take the test for the 3 I am taking this year). My school also doesn’t do student rankings.
I’m trying to figure out whether I submit my SAT score or not, given that it is right on the cutoff point and might hurt my chances of getting admitted. Does anyone have some insight?
If anyone has some recommendations for the major entrance scholarship that would be amazing (especially regarding the personal letter of reference since I don’t really know how to start on that).
Hello!
My son was a little bit in your shoes in 2022.
He applied for the combined CS & math major but had a 790 in math and a 690 in RW as well as a 4.0 UW. He applied w/o sending his test scores because of the 690 (and 700 cut off from the previous year). He got in early January. So, as you have a 700 or more in both you might be OK with sending your score.
He also applied for the Major Entrance scholarship but did not get it. We were not surprised!
I saw recently that the website that they have estimated minimum requirements.
I am not sure you meet these but it is always worth sending…!
Good luck to you!
Thank you for the insight!
Has anyone heard back yet?
Not yet. My son applied to Bcom/Desautels on Nov.3 and hasn’t heard. He has 39/42 ib score and SAT 1500. We were hoping to hear from them in Dec. Is it a bad sign?
Not a bad sign. Desautels is the most selective faculty so decisions then to come out later than for, say, Arts.
Oh, thank you. It’s good to hear. We will wait and see then..
Hello! I am an international student who has applied to McGill’s BA Education in Global Contexts program on December 16. I would like to ask, for an international student, when should I expect to hear back? I heard that once you submit your updated transcript (which includes senior year semester 1 grades) you’d hear back pretty quickly. I just started my second semester, but my school releases our semester 1 transcripts rather late (January 15). I plan to submit it immediately after I have received it. How long am I expected to wait after I have submitted my updated transcript? Thank you very much!
Not entirely sure for international student! The rule below stands for US students.
Generally speaking, McGill admits from the top down. They will admit students with best grades/test scores first then, the rest!
So, if you have good stats, you should hear soon after sending semester grades.
This is very helpful, thank you very much! I was able to receive my transcript with semester 1 grades early by my counselor so I submitted them today. I am well above the cutoff (GPA 3.3) for the program I am applying to (My GPA is 3.75, SAT 1380 - Reading 730 Math 650) but not exactly the best of best students. Hoping to receive some good news soon though!
Hi! I am also an international student. Did you receive a request for first semester grades or did you just send them?
Hello! I didn’t receive a request, I just sent them.
I read your post and it sounds idential to my daughter’s situation. EXACT SAT and GPA. She has weighted 4.36 and UW 3.97. She also had a 1430 SAT. She went ahead and submitted it. I actually called and they said it doesn’t hurt as long as you are meeting the threshold. I read a story about another USA application with similar stats that did not submit and they ended up wanting him to submit IB scores since there was no SAT. In your case probably your May AP scores. My daughter is doing IB so we don’t want to have to rely on those scores in AUGUST to find out whether she is admitted. This student also ended up getting in but very late and this messed up housing. I think if you meet the SAT and it is a solid 700+ on each section go for it. Just my 2 cents. My other daughter was admitted about 5 years ago to Desautels (competitive), and she applied for the major scholarship. She had PERFECT grades from France. I mean it was like 19+ in each subject which is very rare. She did get in but not the scholarship. I think the scholarship is VERY hard to attain. She was honestly in the top .05% of all of France and didn’t get it. But I think with your stellar SAT and GPA you will be a shoe in! 
can we add a spreadsheet tracker for admission offers to Mcgill with program, date applied , date of offer, country applied from etc
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Do you upload unofficial transcripts for semester grades, or wait for your school to send official transcripts? I think my school sends official mid year transcripts to all schools, but I don’t know on what timeline. I can upload unofficial transcripts today.
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Also, second question, could anyone familiar with admissions at McGill shed some light on the process? I know it is not holistic, so I was feeling pretty good about my chances (46% acceptance rate), but now I see that the engineering department only has a 10% acceptance rate. I have a 4.0 uw, 1540 SAT, 8 APs (4 with 5s, 4 in progress), and all the prerequisite classes in calc, physics, bio, chem, English, and French. However, I imagine that I’m just one of thousands with similar stats. Without taking into consideration the more holistic elements of an application like extracurriculars or work history, how do they pick their 10%?
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Where did you see that?
To answer your first questions, I would say self report as soon as you have the grades.
Second answer is tricky and I believe the acceptance rate differs by engineering program! Nowadays, I believe, bioengineering is the hardest with about 5-7% acceptance rate then comes mech eng! I am not sure about the others…I would say chem eng is likely behind!
As a reference, my daughter got in bioengineering in 2019 with a 4.0 and 1540 but was reviewed - decision pending for a week (gray zone) which was stressful. She was accepted right away in computer engineering.
My son got in CS/math honours and software engineering in 2022 with a 4.0 and 1480.
The decision ( for engineering undergrad) on whom is accepted is made on grades, challenging classes and test scores. The higher the better! Better stats applicants get decision earlier.
Hope this helps!
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