<p>I don’t know where you guys are getting your information.</p>
<p>1) I’ve never heard of anyone getting their admissions rescinded from McGill (let alone any university) for “with-holding” their AP exams. McGill would <em>never</em> know you took the exam, unless you sent the school. </p>
<p>2) Not sending your scores, and staying U0 in status has some great benefits, with only one obvious drawback: time and money. </p>
<p>The benefits are that you can use your freshman year to get acquainted with the McGill system. This includes the messy bureaucracy, and the potentially mediocre instruction. Coming from the science/engineering U0: the 100+ person lecture hall experience, mixed with the the professor who can’t possibly care about every single one of you, is push for you to start becoming auto-didactic. </p>
<p>Cynicism aside – though, I truly believe what I’ve written – at least in the Sciences, McGill truly attempts to stay consistent. The stuff you see in U0 is great preparation for the stuff you’ll see in U1, and the teachers will expect you to know it. So if you’re like some of my french bacc buddies who went into (Chem. Eng.) Thermodynamics while simultaneously doing Chem 120 (and getting the basics of thermodynamics) you might find yourself playing catchup, or just plainly not understanding. I think that being diligent in my U0 studies set up a great foundation for the rest of my education (especially the math courses). </p>
<p>That being said, the U0 courses aren’t great, and they seldom give you small class sizes (even the tutorials are 40+ people in size). Their content is what’s important, not the instruction. The best part is, more often than not, the book (and solution manual, if available) are clear enough to follow, should you get lost (you just need to be honest in your effort to follow it). </p>
<p>3) @Blobof: I’m not sure where you’re getting your numbers. If you’re an out-of-province Canadian, an American, or anyone else in res, there’s a good chance you’re starting in U0. The majority of the people I knew starting in U1 courses were the Quebecois kids, coming from CEGEP, and seeing as most were from Marianopolis, or Dawson, they all sort of knew each other and had cliques already setup. </p>
<p>U0 is the time to sit in a class room, maybe goof off a bit, and take solace in the fact that you, like everyone else, know few people. So, you can start fresh and make friends.</p>