Anyone with a DC at McGill?

[dauntlesscrusader]

All thoughts welcome! DH is Canadian and DD has friends nearby, but she hasn't lived in Canada since she was tiny, and I don't know much about the Canadian universities (McGill ranks well, but I'm more concerned abut her having a good undergraduate experience).

My closest friends two kids go to McGill and study similar subject to my DC do in the UK so we have talked about the differences a little. The main one being cost and the fact that a lot of DC at McGill stay at home so have a different experience to UK students who move away.

Obviously McGill is an amazing Uni but the students seem to have less contact with staff than in the UK. Lectures are massive and their are little or no small group tutorials and no access to lecturers. Also there is very little feedback on work etc. My DCs (x4) go to RG Unis and have more interaction with their lecturers -with small tutorials etc. This interaction between DC and lecturers has been important to my DC - i think it's helped them engage and enjoy their subjects - sounds corny but it what they think....

My friend commented that a lot of the lecturers at McGill were not great lecturers as they were hard to understand (accents) but my DC have experienced this in the UK too. Apparently Lab access for my friends DD doing physiology has been awful and pointless as there are way to many students and it's also been badly organised. My DC haven't had this problem at their Unis.

Those were the only things that have come up when I've talked with my friend so very anecdotal. Her DC do comp sci and a physiology (?) type degree. It could be completely different for other subjects.

McGill is ranked extremely highly and has always been. It's also very well known internationally.

As an aside, I think Montreal would be an amazing city to be a student in.

Thanks WowWow. That is incredibly helpful. She has found a course in the UK that she loves the look of, and it's probably the best choice. But it's hard to turn down Montreal, and the McGill name (the UK uni has an excellent department, but isn't an international brand and the location isn't great).

The info about small group work and access is really good to know.

Please don't take my secondhand info as red though. It's more just highlighting things you could look into iyswim. - I know from my own DCs Uni experiences that things change from department to department and from year to year etc. It's the same as schools 🤷🏻‍♀️

Oh I did a Masters at McGill and absolutely loved it! I have to say it was 10 years ago, but the teaching structure is still the same. I think, going from what WowWow said, that it may be quite different for different subjects. I studied English Lit and was a Teaching Assistant, and a Student Advisor, for undergrads. In arts subjects the students attend a weekly lecture, but also a smaller class. Depending on the popularity of the subject, the lectures range from huge (100+ students) to small (35 or so) and these are run (obviously) by the professor running the course. There's sometimes time for individual questions/chats afterwards, and the professors will have formal "office hours" each week, where students can go and talk to them about their work - and are expected to do so when planning their final essays. The weekly classes are run by Teaching Assistants (graduate students who are led by the prof) and are groups of up to 15 students. Depending on the prof/TA these are more discussion/seminar style. The TA will also run office hours for students to drop in to when they have questions or ideas they want to discuss. I have to agree with Wow that my friend doing graduate science had a very different experience, and really didn't enjoy it so much, so I suspect sciences are a different kettle of fish. When I was there, almost all students lived in dorms or shared houses away from home, and there was a good proportion of students from the US as well, but that may well have changed as Canadian property prices have gone bonkers. It's obviously a very good university, and Montreal is a fantastic place to live. I think a British student would feel more comfortable there than a US one, tbh: American students seemed to be surprised that Canada was different, and had different expectations (not expecting to have to clean their own room, being confused that signs were in French). But most undergrads were friendly and ambitious and seemed to be having fun. I'm still in touch with some of the ones I taught and they're all proud to have gone there. Not sure how much all that rambling helps sorry! I miss McGill though and would go back in a heartbeat (and would happily send dd there in 8 years!)

That's good to hear a more positive account. Like I said my account was based on a second hand sample of 2 .

We used to live in Montreal and I think it's a fantastic city. The local politics are a bit annoying but if you are only living there temporarily then you can ignore the shenanigans.

Oh yes the politics was indeed a bit bonkers! As you say though, I was only there for 2 years, so I could just enjoy the fabulousness of Montreal. And your sample size may be small, but my experience is a while back.