|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
heythereb wrote:How do you know that you're getting 0 Financial Aid?
This is the corniest thing ever, but just go with your heart. I'm getting no scholarship at McGill, and I am with every other university. So that's kind of a downer, but I am kind of having epiphanies all over the place, and just came to the realization that I am really set on having fun in university, and just learning because I want to learn and not care about marks so much, and that I wouldn't want something like money to discourage me from going somewhere I want.
I think the university experience is what you make of it. I mean, if you hang around mostly live in the library, 4.0 GPA people then you'll probably experience little school spirit, whereas if you attend regular hockey/basketball/football (do we even have a football team??) then you'll meet similar minded people. Yeah I meant scholarships by financial aid. d'oh. Is McGill generous with financial aid? I dunno, I will apply and see how it goes. I'm trying to see where I'd go if cost wasn't an issue... and I couldn't. So I brought it back into the decision making factor. I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy whatever school I go to. I'm not one to dread a place and mope around. But I would still like to get the best possible education, and learning opportunities.. and possibly succeed somewhat and see if I have a shot at applying to grad/professional school - which requires a higher GPA. But then I don't want university to be some strategy game... then I'd be applying to Nippissing or something. So like, McGill and Queen's are both awesome choices... my other would be UWO but I took that out of the equation a while back. =] I think I'm scared that I have these really high expectations for McGill - since like the beginning of high school; and now I know they may not be met? I just don't want to be making a major decision based on some ideologies I had back when I knew next to nothing. But then again, I can't really think of a reason not to go.. and yeah, McGill does have a football team.
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
Yeah, I don't really have crazy expectations for McGill. I know that it's frustrating that you have to have over 95% in your last two years of HS to get a scholarship, and there's that doubt created by the "its reputation is overhyped/it's not worth it, etc." people. And that feeling of "can I actually handle it? Maybe I should just go to something like Carleton and have little competition and feel smart."
Plus I really wanted to apply to schools in US. My average is kind of iffy for a lot of top places, but I did well on the first SAT I did back in grade 10, so I can imagine getting a near perfect score wouldn't be too hard. But my parents definitely could not afford a private uni, and I don't want to saddle myself with crazy loans before grad school. McGill I guess is kind of the like the Canadian version of rich-history-you're-among-the-top-students-of-the-nation US private universities. I don't know if Queen's has a tradition outside of "school spirit weee." Not that I'm knocking them, just depends what you're looking for.
But how is Queen's less expensive than McGill? Isn't their standard rez like a solid 9 grand?
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
heythereb wrote:Yeah, I don't really have crazy expectations for McGill. I know that it's frustrating that you have to have over 95% in your last two years of HS to get a scholarship, and there's that doubt created by the "its reputation is overhyped/it's not worth it, etc." people. And that feeling of "can I actually handle it? Maybe I should just go to something like Carleton and have little competition and feel smart."
Plus I really wanted to apply to schools in US. My average is kind of iffy for a lot of top places, but I did well on the first SAT I did back in grade 10, so I can imagine getting a near perfect score wouldn't be too hard. But my parents definitely could not afford a private uni, and I don't want to saddle myself with crazy loans before grad school. McGill I guess is kind of the like the Canadian version of rich-history-you're-among-the-top-students-of-the-nation US private universities. I don't know if Queen's has a tradition outside of "school spirit weee." Not that I'm knocking them, just depends what you're looking for.
But how is Queen's less expensive than McGill? Isn't their standard rez like a solid 9 grand? Yeahh, I'm worried about if I can handle it or not. the people from my school who went there all have said it's hard as hell. I know if I work my ass off I will atleast survive, but it will take so much getting used to for working hard. Lol. I'm so used to studying for tests and starting assignments last minute - I don't know if I'll be ready. But this isn't just for McGill, it'd be for any school I go to, so meh. But Queen's does seem more like a "I'll hold your hand through it all" type of university. McGill seems more like U of T where you're just a number. I don't think I'd have a problem with that but the thing is I just don't know.And I guess I'm not too worried about rep either between the two - it's just undergraduate. I'd love to go to the US for post-grad - but I don't think it's worth all that money for an undergrad degree... so I didn't bother taking SATs, except for that practice booklet thing I did in like gr 10. Haha. I noticed the other day that all this hype about Queen's and their school spirit - it seems to be really led on by the school itself I think (administration, etc). In their viewbooks, their letters, pamphlets and jazz, they really like to call themselves the school to go to for the ideal undergraduate experience. I'm starting to be skeptical that it's just a marketing scheme. Lol. Except the students who buy into it would be the ones looking for school spirit anyway, hence adding to Queen's spirit. If I go to Queen's I will have like $10 000 paid off for first year with their scholarship + bursary + outside scholarships. It's not much, but that's like half the cost right there.
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
Yeah, see that's why it's so hard to guage how you'll do next year, because people have different study habits and abilities, so for someone studying for 6 hours maybe seem like an eternity and for others, it's just a pre-study read-over. Plus how well you can write essays/take in sci info all varies so there's no posible way to know how you'll do until you're actually in the lecture hall.
I don't know how generous they're with their bursaries, but I have to apply soon and apparently they try to respond within 2 weeks of your application so if you still haven't decided by them, I can at least answer that question.
With regards to school spirit - I guess I don't really know what you mean by that? Like really high sport fanaticism or being proud of going to school there or what?
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
heythereb wrote:Yeah, see that's why it's so hard to guage how you'll do next year, because people have different study habits and abilities, so for someone studying for 6 hours maybe seem like an eternity and for others, it's just a pre-study read-over. Plus how well you can write essays/take in sci info all varies so there's no posible way to know how you'll do until you're actually in the lecture hall.
I don't know how generous they're with their bursaries, but I have to apply soon and apparently they try to respond within 2 weeks of your application so if you still haven't decided by them, I can at least answer that question.
With regards to school spirit - I guess I don't really know what you mean by that? Like really high sport fanaticism or being proud of going to school there or what? Good question. I'm not sure. I guess I'm thinking more like being proud of your school, but not in a sense like how Waterloo kids are proud of their school... if that makes sense. Being involved in school events, sports, culture, clubs or whatever. I go to a really dead beat school where half the students hate being. So a change would be nice. Western and Queen's seem to always to be the 'party school' or whatever with 'school spirit' - but I guess if your school's located in a place like London or Kingston where there aren't so many things to do and most of the student population comes from out of town... you can't help but end up with a high-spirited school? There's a lot of out of province/ international students coming to McGill, so I'm sure it won't be as dull as UTM or something; but meh. It's what you make of it in the end. + Montreal. Gawd, how could you not enjoy that??? Lots of students + awesome city > few students + little city  You know what. I'm pretty sure I will accept McGill. I'm just going to wait for that letter though since my acceptance isn't 'official'.
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. WAY TO GO.
Yeah, you just reminded me of one of the things I'm looking forward to at McGill - an international student body. I'm especially looking forward to meeting people from South America, Northern Europe and Africa since they're not very common where I live, expect for the few people who grew up here with roots in those regions.
Yeah, but also, think about how much more you can do in Montreal that you can't in Kingston. I mean, once you find your group of friends, it'll be so much fun exploring Montreal and going to new places instead of the same ol same ol "downtown" in Kingston.
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
heythereb wrote:AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. WAY TO GO.
Yeah, you just reminded me of one of the things I'm looking forward to at McGill - an international student body. I'm especially looking forward to meeting people from South America, Northern Europe and Africa since they're not very common where I live, expect for the few people who grew up here with roots in those regions.
Yeah, but also, think about how much more you can do in Montreal that you can't in Kingston. I mean, once you find your group of friends, it'll be so much fun exploring Montreal and going to new places instead of the same ol same ol "downtown" in Kingston. I think you persuaded me somewhat. Lol. Thanks?..! And Arts&Science seems really flexible/liberal in terms of course selection. I'm excited all over again  I got sick of Kingston in like a week... imagine 4 years 
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
Congrats. That's great. Hopefully more people going to McGill become active on these boards. I want more feedback and what people are thinking pretty much about everything.
Have you started looking at courses? I'm so overwhelmed. i want to keep some doors open so I'm thinking of taking courses from a variety of programs just so I'm not pigeon-holed into history.
Plus I'm worried about hearing people applying to law school that their first year GPA brought down their CGPA.
It's awesome that there's so much choice, but at a certain point, it's like how can i fit all the courses i want to take into my schedule? Also, do you know if i can just take as many courses as i want beginning of the year (say 7) and then drop the 2 I don't like by the drop date?
now you've got me excited again - I can't wait til summer starts/ends!!
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
heythereb wrote:Congrats. That's great. Hopefully more people going to McGill become active on these boards. I want more feedback and what people are thinking pretty much about everything.
Have you started looking at courses? I'm so overwhelmed. i want to keep some doors open so I'm thinking of taking courses from a variety of programs just so I'm not pigeon-holed into history.
Plus I'm worried about hearing people applying to law school that their first year GPA brought down their CGPA.
It's awesome that there's so much choice, but at a certain point, it's like how can i fit all the courses i want to take into my schedule? Also, do you know if i can just take as many courses as i want beginning of the year (say 7) and then drop the 2 I don't like by the drop date?
now you've got me excited again - I can't wait til summer starts/ends!! Yeah! did you watch that broadcast thing? One of the girls talks about how in the first two weeks you can 'shop around' for courses and you can take what you think you'd be interested in and drop whatever you aren't feeling.
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
It's like us 3 really keen on mcgill. Lol. I have looked at courses.. the amount available can be a bit intimidating yeah :S Hopefully I don't screw up with prerequisites and degree requirements and end up staying like 2 more years. I'm concerned for my GPA too. Lol. I'm so used to getting easy 80s and 90s...it's going to be so different.
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
Do you mean that video "What to do in Freshman Year" or something in the McGILL 2012 group on Facebook? OK, that's good, because I have heard that chosing courses based on that little summary is not the best way to see if you'll like it. Ahh, that means that the first two weeks will involve me going to class for like 7-8 lectures (that's 15-21 lectures depending on the schedule, whoa). Yeah, going to McGILL is gonig to be a big problem for us since you don't have to put in a lot of effort in high school to get great marks and that becomes ingrained in study habits, which is really bad (ex I'm beginning to study for my calc test, which is today, right now, between checking this site and MSN). Plus, the whole optional attendance thing is really going to hurt me, I think. If i feel that a class isn't covering anything that's not found in the books, I will most likely start skipping, and that's usually not a good thing. Ugh, curse my laziness. Have you seen this website http://www.birdcourses.com/? I'm kind of happy that there's an econ course on there since I wanted to take one, but wasn't sure how I'd do since I drop 4U Econ early in the year. It's a good thing we've got like half the summer to decide on our courses since my brain is about to explode from this whole "new/future school" info.
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
you joined the 2012 mcgill facebook group? Lol. Yeah i'm like on this forum, msning. . . need to get started on a bio assignment due today. Good luck with calc... vectors test? It was this video on McGill's new student page via McGillInMind. https://mcgillinmind.mcgill.ca/mcgill/schedule/webBroadcast.doNeed to be signed in for it I think... and I forget if it was the first or second video, but one of them talked about it. Thanks for that link to bird courses. =] I wanted to take economics this year and never had the room for it. And don't stress about courses! There will be advisors and you will probably get used to it real quick.
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
I didn't join it yet, just watched the Do's and Don'ts of Freshman Year. I'll watch that vid later.
Yeah it's vectors - I really slacked for this chapter, and my eyes are glazing over and I still have like 1/2 the homework to do and it's already 2 am.
Gah, I am officially signing off. Tell me when you get your package/officially accept your offer.
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/28/2008
Posts: 108
|
Wow! I missed a lot. Hey guys, seems like it's just us 3! HAHA "Just the three of us..." I think tmhlee is my brother from another mother. Seriously! I felt the exact same way about McGill. I had heard such amazing things about it, beautiful girls, great city, amazing nightlife etc. and that's why I have such high expectations of McGill which is causing me to think twice about the whole Montreal + McGill scene. It sucks, I can't help it. McGill has always been a dream of mine, I was soo nervous to get an acceptance, and for some stupid reason, now that I am accepted, I can't pull the trigger. ARGHH  heythereb Congrats man! I think your officially a McGill'ee. Dude, how do I get to these videos? Do's and Don'ts ?
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
 I might've been your sister maybe. Search for McGill 2012 on the facebook group. Neat video . Hahaha I want that flask they show at the end.. Frodolf: For me I think it's the opposite. I know I have certain interests but I still don't know what to choose - so having all those courses in the freshman program will help me figure out what my strengths are at the university level - not just high school. I think it will probably be good for me. Like I'm doing fine in high school, but I'm pretty sure university will be totally different and I sort of need a sense of where I stand and what I'm capable of at the university level. I won't deny being at least a little bit intimidated by the so called 'science boot camp' though and the 500+ kids... but I think I can make it. Do all the out of province students take the same courses then for the Freshman Program? Is it in their course calendar (Fricking huge btw.. bah) As for that link I put up, go to https://mcgillinmind.mcgill.ca/Log in through "admitted students" From the left side menu, go to "New Student Events" And then "Web Broadcasts" There are two videos and they are like 50 minutes each. Kind of boring stuff, but I watched it while doing some calc.
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
At frodolf, I think that science program isn't that restrictive - I think you can take maybe 2 electives? However, that depends what you're thinking post-grad. If you want to go to med school, you have to take the appropriate prerequisites, which leave 1 elective each for the first two semesters. @ martin - I know that it's pretty hard to actually accept because it's like, is it going to live up to the standards I've set? Also, whenever I get on the subject of McGill and next year, I get pretty incoherent. I can't wait to join clubs, and FROSH WEEK!! Plus, actually living in Montreal instead of just barely seeing like one street. Do's and Don'ts vid: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1016877897260&oid=20524245345I seriously can't wait - making new friends, GUYS, a totally new city, classes that actually challenge me (although probably not first year). So what's everyone's status as of now? Have you guys officially accepted or what? by the way, is anyone else having trouble signing in to the McGillInMind? I enter my ID and pin, and it says that an error occured. Oh, and I'm a girl too.
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
Still haven't been accepted officially I just submitted my bursary application though. Btw, frodolf, SSMU apparently offers language courses where you can take French, meet with people like once a week for $40 or something? It's also in the McGill in Mind broadcast video. heythereb: to log in, did you use the 9 digit code you used for enterving minerva?
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
Sorry, I meant challenging in terms of actual discussion and class debate that comes with small classes later on. yeah, I have no doubt that first year will kick my bum. By the way, in case you guys haven't used the site yet http://www.registersmart.org allows you to chose the courses you're thinking of taking and creating an actual schedule. Yeah, I used my ID. on your bursary, did you state why you'll be earning 0 this summer (assuming you're not working those 2 before/after Explore)?
McGill Arts '12
|
|
Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 604
Location: Mississauga, ON
|
heythereb wrote:Sorry, I meant challenging in terms of actual discussion and class debate that comes with small classes later on. yeah, I have no doubt that first year will kick my bum. By the way, in case you guys haven't used the site yet http://www.registersmart.org allows you to chose the courses you're thinking of taking and creating an actual schedule. Yeah, I used my ID. on your bursary, did you state why you'll be earning 0 this summer (assuming you're not working those 2 before/after Explore)? You are loaded with awesome links. Thanks
|
|
Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/7/2008
Posts: 330
Location: Toronto
|
No problem. OK - seriously question: for the bursary, at the top there is a comments box which a required asterisk beside it. Then at the end, there is another comment box, where you explain extenuating circumstances. where would i explain why i'm earning no money this summer and then i haven't applied for osap but i will once the application becomes available?
McGill Arts '12
|
|
