USA applicant (CDN citizen) to McGill (graduating HS early)

[jacqueline702]

Hello, McGill’s admissions requirements are so clear but somehow, I still have questions. I’m wondering if anyone has experience/answers for the following:

-If a student graduates high school early, do they consider marks from grade 9 and 10?

-Do the posted A- cutoffs (for math/science courses for the Science faculty) translate to an A- in the US grading scale (90%) or the Canadian grading scale (several points lower)? My daughter received one B+ (88%) in Biomedicine first semester of 9th grade (2nd semester was a 92/A-) and we are trying to figure out if she is not eligible for McGill because of this grade.

-If she is ineligible for Science because of that grade, she is considering Arts, but has one B from a one-semester gifted English class at Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.

Overall, she has a 3.9 uGPA. She has not been able to take the SAT since 9th grade (1230) because of testing site availability, so she does not plan to report it since McGill is test optional this year.

We appreciate any insights/advice you may have about her situation!

[TomSrOfBoston]

How early will she be graduating? After grade 11?

The minima published for US students is on the US system.

“Courses must include: Pre-calculus; two of biology, chemistry or physics” Does she have two of these three courses with an A- or higher? Does she or will she have grade 10 and 11 English courses at her high school aside from that college level course at JHU?

Since your daughter is in a somewhat unique situation you may want to call McGill’s Admissions Office for specific information.

[jacqueline702]

Hi, yes she is graduating after grade 11.
She does already have Honors Precalculus (A-/A), Physics (A/A), Chemistry (A-/A), and then Biomedicine (B+/A-).
For English, she had Honors 9th grade English (A-/A-), she did her 10th grade English through JHU (B in Persuasive Writing, A in Poetry), and she’ll do Eng 101 and Eng 102 in dual-enrollment this year as her 11th and 12th grade graduation requirements.
I will definitely call tomorrow - I was just hoping maybe someone else had some insights that might be good news since we can’t call with today being a holiday.

Thanks!

[go2college2021]

Hi,

My daughter is in similar situation. We haven’t yet decided if she should apply to Mc.Gill, as she is a US citizen also. Is your daughter not American too ?. Also it would be helpful if she can be considered Quebec In-province. I’m also looking for feedback on how that works if someone who studied in Quebec moved to US and now trying to claim In province residency ?

[TomSrOfBoston]

@go2college2021 If a student is a dual citizen they will pay the Canadian tuition rate in every province. If the dual citizen student was born in the US and has not lived in Canada for more than three months cumulatively they would qualify for the in province Quebec tuition rate at McGill (after a lot of paperwork).

I am not sure what your last sentence means.

[jacqueline702]

@go2college2021 She is a dual US/CDN citizen. She was born in Ontario and we moved to the US when she started first grade. She will get Canadian tuition at any university in Canada (that offers such a rate), which would be incredibly helpful. I am not too concerned that there is a cheaper Quebec residency rate. We have never lived in Quebec and I’m happy to have the option to pay Canadian tuition, honestly!

[go2college2021]

@TomSrOfBoston - What you are alluding to is what I meant. “If the dual citizen student was born in the US and has not lived in Canada for more than three months cumulatively they would qualify for the in province Quebec tuition rate at McGill (after a lot of paperwork)”. Anyone knows what paperwork is involved ?. And how soon before start of the semester or start of the application, do we need to be in Quebec to initiate the paperwork ?. My daughter falls under this category.

[go2college2021]

@jacqueline702 Please share what you find out about transfer credits. My daughter will be graduating high school with an Associates degree (dual enrollment). Not sure how many credits McGill will accept. Please do share what you find out. I will do the same. From what I read on the website they seem to make determination of transfer credits after you apply or after you actually enroll. It would be a waste of 1 yr of effort if they are not transferring all credits.

[DadTwoGirls]

“Anyone knows what paperwork is involved”

I would ask admissions at McGill. We were in the same situation and they were quite helpful. However, my daughter ended up going elsewhere so we never found out all of the details. The admissions folks at McGill were not always as quick to respond compared to the smaller Canadian universities that we were looking at, but they did always respond in a helpful manner.

One daughter attends a different university in Canada, coming from the US with dual citizenship. The day after we arrived we went to a Services Canada location and got a Social Insurance number. It was easy and took about an hour. She needed her Canadian passport to do this (which was also needed crossing the border). She also signed up for provincial health insurance right away which I thought she did on-line. I do not know what else you would need to do to get in-province tuition at McGill.

With one of the acceptances from a university in Quebec they missed the fact that my daughter has dual citizenship, and sent information on how to get a student visa and other documentation required for an international student. A quick call and a fax of proof of Canadian citizenship fixed this very quickly, but you should be aware that if you get “how to apply for student visa and cost for an international student” information it means that they messed up a little bit, and it will be easy to fix.

“I’m happy to have the option to pay Canadian tuition”

That is certainly my reaction.

[TomSrOfBoston]

@go2college2021 The regulations are here in section 8C:
https://www.mcgill.ca/legaldocuments/quebec/situation8
@ShrimpBurrito has gone through this process and could provide more details.

[go2college2021]

@TomSrOfBoston - Thank you.

[FrenchCDN]

Hello,
We just went through this with our daughter last year! Was very easy and McGill was very helpful. She is a Canadian citizen born in US. After 3 months in Montreal, she had to upload all the paper needed:
-Sworn statement (On McGill website) she filled it and brought it to Service Point for Commissioner of Oaths attestation)

• Canadian Citizenship proof (not passport)
• Proof of activities outside the US (she had letters from elementary, middle and HS)
• proof of Residency (she has a copy of lease from McGill as she was in residence at that point) and a bank statement /cellphone bill with address in MTL.
  Once she uploaded this, it took only a few days and her status changes in Minerva! We, then, were reimbursed the difference between Canadian in province and out of province).

It was very easy and certainly worthwhile as she has the Major Renewable Scholarship, and she therefore pays no tuition.

Hope this help!

[go2college2021]

Thanks. Good to know, I can actually do this after enrollment, and they will even reimburse fees already paid. For us, it is a tough choice. As a commuter, my daughter can complete her undergrad free in the local state school in the U.S. One reason to go to Mc.Gill is for entrance into Medicine without MCAT. With acceptance of about 11-12% don’t know if it justifiable to take the step of going to Mc.Gill. Also any forums/experiences about B.S Chemistry at McGill on this site ?

Thanks All for your great responses.

[MYOS1634]

Unless your local state school is UCB/UCLA/UNC-CH/UMich, McGill will have thr best ROI. If she wants a smaller school, Mount Allison or Xavier are alternatives.

I’m not sure McGill accepts students who graduated early (after year11). McGill admits Year 12 students and requires a Year 0 compared to Quebec students with a DEC. Year 11 Quebec students must complete 2 years for a DEC before applying to McGill.
Have you checked?
Would she consider a DEC Science (or science Honours) at Dawson or JohnAbbott? (Those are highly selective but they’re worth a shot if graduating after year 11 means she has to add something).

[go2college2021]

@MYOS1634 Thanks, No, she is not graduating highschool early. She will graduate after 12th grade. But she has completed about 60 college credits. McGill policy says student needs to complete atleast 60 credits at McGill to be eligible fo degree. So, not sure if they will accept all the 60 credits or partial credits. I think we need to apply to find out. In theory, per policy, she should be treated as a transfer student.

[MYOS1634]

If the credits were taken before high school graduation they wouldn’t requalify her as a transfer but may give her advanced standing.
Odds are that they’d waive Year 0 and she could start in Year1 right away.
In addition, because college is much more than taking courses - connections, self discovery, growth through activities and leadership, depending on fields research and/or internships…

[bouders]

One reason to go to Mc.Gill is for entrance into Medicine without MCAT.

McGill medicine doesn’t require the MCAT from any student who graduated from any Canadian university. Other Canadian med schools do require the MCAT.

[go2college2021]

@bouders Given the rigor at Mc.Gill, what are the odds one would end up with a 3.7-3.9 GPA to be able to get into MC.Gill med school ? D interested in Chemistry. Any path to Mc.Gill med with Chemistry major and end up with qualifying GPA

[bouders]

@go2college2021 I don’t have first hand knowledge of McGill, but I estimate around 15% of students get a GPA > 3.7.