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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
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Wow, tmhlee. Very nice response.
Yeah, Roojin, everything she's said is true. I think that no matter where you go, if you'll find like-minded people, you will get what you want. Yes, there are people who go to McGill solely to party, there are people who go to McGill to be challenged academically but also to be able to let their hair down and experience the fun side of university, and there are people who to go to McGill purely to study. Since you appear to be the person who wants to maximize learning and minimize partying, you should consider rez where you will be able to do that. For example, I think MORE housing and Solin and Greenbriar are catered more toward people who are independent and aren't necessarily looking to get drunk every other day.
With that said, about the the bedbug problem - like tmhlee said, they will probably look to fix that by next year. But the whole point of university (at least on the first-year residence side) is to live in a cramped environment, in fairly sketchy buildings, and amongst your peers. All the while paying way too much to do it. I realize that it's not for everyone, and people have different monetary resources or dietary needs or a mountain of other reasons. I know for me personally, financially Upper Rez is not the smartest move, but I'm willing to pay more to experience the social, small community (although I guess it's not that small when it's 100+ people) aspect.
The only piece of advice I'd be able to give you is, don't base your decision on your "social perception" of the school. If you want to go to McGill, go to McGill. It's not like people will be forcing you to party. But it does limit what residences you can apply to. I mean, nowhere does it say you can't apply to Gardner if you like solitude, but your floormates will probably be confused why you don't want to party and you'll be annoyed by them staying up until the wee hours of the morning. University is more "independent" no matter what way you look at it. It's up to you to make friends with similar goals as you, and then it's smooth sailing.
McGill Arts '12
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
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So today my majah and I went for a lengthy power walk, and talked about McGill. I basically squealed "Oh my god! I'm so excited! Ahahaahaaaaaaaa!!!" about a billion times. I told her about the Foreign Service thing (because I usually find something out, start planning something in my head and then tell my mom like a year later, and then get pissed when she starts asking questions about logistics). She thinks it's a pretty good idea, since the education part would be way less expensive than if I were to go to law school, and then end up doing public law because I don't want to do corporate law. Ughhh, though. I can't decide which language to take. Not to mention, my freaking schedule isn't working out too good. 
McGill Arts '12
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/6/2008
Posts: 26
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there's too many residences to choose from i'm so confused  adding on to the fact that i prolly will not be able to visit mcgill until move in day lol o wells
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 108
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I KNOW! Freakin residence is taking me forever to decide! I am really confused! Double vs. Single., Apartment vs. Dorm, Meal P. vs. No Meal P., Party Life vs. Less Party Life, Walking up a Hill vs. Not LOL!
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 607
Location: Mississauga, ON
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take a breath guys 
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/5/2008
Posts: 88
Location: Edmonton
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tmhlee wrote:Wow, Charles Roth, mcgillguy's math prof has amazing rating for Math 133.
I'm so easily persuaded. Now I will probably take that course. I wonder if he still teaches that course, though.
McGill Engineering 2010
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 607
Location: Mississauga, ON
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No? Well hopefully I will be in one of his classes.. I'm not sure about McGill again. It's getting pretty annoying that I can't make up my mind. Coin toss coming soon. Bahhh.
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/6/2008
Posts: 26
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wait ppl are already looking at ratemyprof?
have you guys figured out your courses yet?
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
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Well, not per say. I just have a rough list of courses I'm considering taking. If you go on that Fall 08 Course Schedule, you can browse through all the courses available (in science or arts, depending what you're going into). You can then see which prof is teaching what, and you can look them up on ratemyprof and see what students say about them.
McGill Arts '12
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 77
Location: Montreal, Quebec
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The part about UofT being more academically(???lol) inclined is somewhat true. At UofT ALOT of people just go there for classes, leave and thats their sole purpose. At mcgill that population of students exists, students from montreal, but its significantly smaller. In first year, definately, your going to be surrounded by people who are just as lost and lonely as you are and you'll find that sense of community quite easily, whether it be in your rez, the library, the cafeteria, or class.
In terms of academic rigour, I personally like many of the people from my school, chose not to go to UofT because of the repuation for "work work work and your GPA still gets owned" type of thing. I dont work nearly as hard as I did in highschool and I'm still doing fairly well. i.e. if you divide my GPA by 4 Id have a higher avg than i had in highschool lol, but thats not exactly how it works unfortunately. I'm confident that if you put the same effort as you did in highschool, assuming you did in fact work hard, a 4.0 for first year is quite attainable. Although after first year things may get a little messy with specializations and weeding courses, but if your doing something you like you should be fine.
Oh and about rate my professor, for first year enough people take the course and review the profs for you to get a good idea of how the profs actually are. If there's 15 great reviews and 1 bad, obviously the one bad review is from someone who managed to fail the course. If theres 250 horrible reviews and 6 good reviews, the six good reviews are from the people who ended up getting the better end of the curve after a really nasty final. The latter does happen in first year FOR SURE if you take calculus, lookup Wiliam Brown.
Mcgill Engineering 2011
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/11/2008
Posts: 26
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Hey,
Thank you very much for your indepth responses. This really did remove some of the scare I had when considering McGill. One of U of T's aspects which repulsed me was the high competition. Also, if I were to stay in Toronto, I would commute to U of T from Aurora, so it would be approximately a one hour commute. I would be a member of University College, but I saw U of T's residence, and it was far worse than McGill's, and if I were to stay, I would rather reduce the cost, and buy a car with the money instead.
McGill had been my dream school since I saw it during the summer of grade 11. I loved the people, Montreal, their strong political ideas, and the history of McGill, not to mention the reputation. I saw it once more a few weeks ago; the school was definitely more busy, but I also got the impression that people in Montreal were somewhat rude. I do not know if it was just my luck. In any case, I am still sure Montreal is a great city, full of opportunities to discover and since I am in French immersion, it would permit me to perfect my French. Also McGill is very diverse, full of international students, which brings new views at the classroom level. As was mentioned by tmhlee and heythereb, there will always be the party students and the academic students. I suppose its true that in either place, I will see both ends of the spectrum. McGill has been my dream. U of T always occupied second place to McGill. Also, Greenbriar seems to suit me just fine, I saw the you-tube video, and its very nice. Thanks very much for not letting me assume McGill is all party. I think I will proceed to go to McGill. By the way, I would most likely attend faculty of science, and I intend to specialize in a biological science.
Thanks Juiced8 for letting me know of the McGill academics. That is a very key fact that I need to know. I know how hard it is at U of T and despite the efforts, A's simply aren't given away without five or six all-nighters. While I value hardwork, I also value good health. It seems McGill is most likely to offer that peace of mind and body.
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 607
Location: Mississauga, ON
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Juiced, are you serious? lol. attainable 4.0? I think I am so down. Roojin congrats .I think I am leaning towards McGill again. It feels like a duty to go there to fulfill my childhood dreams or something. haha And if you do end up going, I really suggest you keep an open mind to take advantage of the culture and social life that will be available to you there, lol, not just studystudystudy. And since you are in french immersion, yeah, montreal for sure would be an advantage for you. I want to get fluenter in french as well. I hope I come to a decision tonight...
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/3/2008
Posts: 93
Location: Canada
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Juiced8 wrote: I dont work nearly as hard as I did in highschool and I'm still doing fairly well. Is this true? Is engineering really not as horrendous as its made out to be?
University of Toronto: Engineering Science 1T2
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
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Roojin - about Montreal people being rude - I say don't base the behaviour of the whole city based on whatever bad apples you managed to talk to. I've heard that the metro ticketers are really rude if you don't speak french, but I've never experienced that. Even when we asked people who didn't speak english for direction they didn't shrug us off or ignore us, they tried to convey where to go through hand gestures or a few key english words. The only rudeness we experienced was from this waiter at an Italian place. And it was more of a cold-shoulder for not speaking french than outright hostility.
And please don't base your decision on whether or not McGill is a party school. You'll find parties wherever you go, and likewise, you'll find quiet studious people wherever you go. And like tmhlee said, these are supposed to be the 4 best years of our lives (we're finally out on our own, maturing -although some more than others) so don't believe the hype that you either have to study 24/7 or party 24/7. You can definitely have both, and when you find the right balance, it'll be great.
McGill Arts '12
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/5/2008
Posts: 88
Location: Edmonton
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heythereb wrote:Roojin - about Montreal people being rude - I say don't base the behaviour of the whole city based on whatever bad apples you managed to talk to. I've heard that the metro ticketers are really rude if you don't speak french, but I've never experienced that. Even when we asked people who didn't speak english for direction they didn't shrug us off or ignore us, they tried to convey where to go through hand gestures or a few key english words. The only rudeness we experienced was from this waiter at an Italian place. And it was more of a cold-shoulder for not speaking french than outright hostility.
And please don't base your decision on whether or not McGill is a party school. You'll find parties wherever you go, and likewise, you'll find quiet studious people wherever you go. And like tmhlee said, these are supposed to be the 4 best years of our lives (we're finally out on our own, maturing -although some more than others) so don't believe the hype that you either had to study 24/7 or party 24/7. You can definitely have both, and when you find the right balance, it'll be great. I agree completely with your second paragraph. As for the first, a metro ticket agent was indeed enormously rude with me for not knowing the Quebecois approximation of French.
McGill Engineering 2010
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/5/2008
Posts: 88
Location: Edmonton
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frodolf wrote:Is this true? Is engineering really not as horrendous as its made out to be? We like to start by lulling you into a false sense of security. Then ... (image of axeman in the shadows).
McGill Engineering 2010
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
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mcgillguy88 wrote:heythereb wrote:Roojin - about Montreal people being rude - I say don't base the behaviour of the whole city based on whatever bad apples you managed to talk to. I've heard that the metro ticketers are really rude if you don't speak french, but I've never experienced that. Even when we asked people who didn't speak english for direction they didn't shrug us off or ignore us, they tried to convey where to go through hand gestures or a few key english words. The only rudeness we experienced was from this waiter at an Italian place. And it was more of a cold-shoulder for not speaking french than outright hostility.
And please don't base your decision on whether or not McGill is a party school. You'll find parties wherever you go, and likewise, you'll find quiet studious people wherever you go. And like tmhlee said, these are supposed to be the 4 best years of our lives (we're finally out on our own, maturing -although some more than others) so don't believe the hype that you either had to study 24/7 or party 24/7. You can definitely have both, and when you find the right balance, it'll be great. I agree completely with your second paragraph. As for the first, a metro ticket agent was indeed enormously rude with me for not knowing the Quebecois approximation of French. I guess it depends when and where you are. But a few bad experiences does not make everyone rude. When I first went there I was a bit apprehensive because I've always heard "People in Quebec especially hate people from Toronto!" so I was expecting more hostility and general unpleasantry, but seriously that's total codswallop. Not to say that not everyone feels this way, but negative things always tend to be blown out of proportion, and there's no point letting it deter you from going where you want to.
McGill Arts '12
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 5/5/2008
Posts: 88
Location: Edmonton
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Also, I like how this is the longest topic about residences for any university. Is McGill just that extra bit confusing?
McGill Engineering 2010
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
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Well, we've basically lumped in anything McGill-related into this thread, but I like to think that we McGillites (McGillians?) take that extra step to outdo everyone else. 
McGill Arts '12
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 607
Location: Mississauga, ON
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McGillies ;) ? Yeah i swear half the posts on this thread aren't really rez related lolol. Last time I was in montreal, one ticketer was extremely rude and refused to give any kind of reply in either english or french. I realized that they prefered french only after a few tries.. hahah. One ticketer couldn't speak english but he understood it (as well as my broken french); and I understood his french so we still got communication going and I found it pretty funny actually (I was asking what time the last train left bahaha.)
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