Hello everyone! I’ve looked online, but there isn’t a clear answer about what the odds really are for most American applicants. The acceptance rate says 40–50%, but I know the school is still competitive.
3.3 average (unweighted) in each of grades 11 and 12
B+ in each English
I don’t know exactly how to translate your numbers to letter grades as this can depend on the HS, but it might appear on your HS transcript or your school profile.
As far as when you hear back from them, generally they want to see senior year grades from the first marking period (plus all your other HS grades). Once they get all that info, you might see a decision any time, but the timing varies a lot.
From what I remember, McGill doesn’t even ask about anything but grades and test scores: no recommendations from teachers, no list of extracurricular or awards, nothing. My kid applied test optional for ACT-SAT but submitted a lot of AP scores. I’m pretty sure that’s why she got in. She had great grades and very high rigor but not a perfect 4.0 unweighted. Her APs were many more 5s than 4s and maybe one 3? They wanted first semester senior grades but she heard back just a couple of days after that submission. It was January 2022…when she heard. test optional for ACT/SAT was pretty common back then.
Admissions at universities in Canada tends to be predictable for local students, and students from Quebec generally have quite a good idea what grades are needed to get into McGill. This means that McGill has a lot of applicants who are academically quite strong, and not so many applicants that are not going to get in simply because the local students mostly don’t apply if they are not likely to get in. This suggests that it is possible to be quite competitive for admissions, and yet still have an acceptance rate in the 40-50% range.
McGill has a sort of rolling admissions, where acceptances are sent out over time. As such it is difficult to predict when you will hear back.
McGill does admit by major, or at least by which faculty you are applying to. What grades will be needed will depend upon what your major is. My vague recollection is that the Faculty of Arts is slightly easier compared to computer science and engineering, which should help you.
Admissions at McGill is very heavily dependent upon grades, and yours appear to be very good.
I think that your chances are very good.
You could hear back any time from December (less likely) to February (more likely) to mid April (less likely unless you are very close to the cutoff).