Admission requirements for September 2021
Canadian high school applicants (outside Quebec and Ontario)
Admission review process - McGill calculation of the "Top 5"
Select the location of your school:
School located IN Canada
Admission is based on McGill’s calculation of your ‘Top 5’ academic Grade 12 courses, including the prerequisites for the program to which you applied.
- Marks for failed/repeated courses are taken into consideration and will be used in the ‘Top 5’ calculation, as required.
- For programs where science and/or math are prerequisites, these must normally have been completed within the last five years.
- If you are applying on the basis of a Grade 12 diploma issued by the Nunavut Department of Education, the language course, Inuktitut, and the social science course, Aulajaaqtut, are regarded as academic courses and may be included in the top-five course average.
- Grade 12 English or French will be included in the ‘Top 5’ calculation, depending on the language of instruction at your school.
- You must have obtained, prior to the start of classes, a high school diploma that gives you access to university education in your home province or territory.
If you are completing the IB Diploma or individual IB Diploma Courses, you will normally be considered for admission based on your ‘Top 5’ average and you will be required to self-report marks in percentage format. You may subsequently be granted advanced standing credits based on your final IB results.
If you are completing College Board Advanced Placement (AP) examinations you may be awarded advanced standing credits based on final results.
School located OUTSIDE Canada
Though completing a Canadian high school diploma, you must apply as an applicant from a High school outside Canada/US. As such:
- Deadlines will be the same as for applicants from schools outside Canada.
- Transcripts and additional supporting documents (if required), must be uploaded via Minerva.
Admission is based on McGill’s calculation of your ‘Top 5’ academic Grade 12 courses, including the prerequisites for the program to which you applied.
- Marks for failed/repeated courses are taken into consideration and will be used in the ‘Top 5’ calculation, as required.
- For programs where science and/or math are prerequisites, these must normally have been completed within the last five years.
- Grade 12 English or French will be included in the ‘Top 5’ calculation, depending on the language of instruction at your school.
- You must have obtained, prior to the start of classes, a high school diploma that gives you access to university education in your home province or territory.
If you are completing the IB Diploma, you will be considered for admission based on your Predicted IB subject results and school transcript. Consult the IB Diploma page for more information.
Prerequisites and last year's cut-offs
Below are the lowest grades used for admission for September 2019.
Grades that are equal to or better than those listed below do not guarantee admission.
Admission to McGill is competitive and subject to availability of space. As such, minimum grades may fluctuate up or down in any given year.
Agricultural and Environmental Science
These programs are offered on the Macdonald campus.
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | ||
---|---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE COURSES | |
All B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.) programs |
80% Overall |
80% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Bioresource Engineering (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) |
80% Overall |
80% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Food Science (B.Sc.(F.Sc.)) |
80% overall |
80% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Concurrent B.Sc. (B.Sc.(F.Sc.)/B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.)) |
80% overall |
80% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Architecture
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE COURSES |
90% overall |
87% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Arts
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | ENGLISH OR FRENCH COURSES |
86.8% overall |
85% in the prerequisite English or French course |
Bachelor of Arts and Science (B.A. & Sc.)
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE/ENGLISH OR FRENCH COURSES |
89.5% overall |
85% in the prerequisite English or French course 87% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Education
PREREQUISITES: |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | ||
---|---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | ENGLISH OR FRENCH COURSES | |
Kindergarten/Elementary Education |
80% overall |
80% in the prerequisite English or French course |
Physical Education |
80% overall |
80% in the prerequisite English or French course |
Secondary Education |
80% overall |
80% in the prerequisite English or French course |
TESL |
80% overall |
80% in the prerequisite English or French course |
Engineering
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | ||
---|---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE COURSES | |
Bioengineering |
96.5% overall |
92% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Chemical Engineering |
91.5% overall |
92% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Civil Engineering |
91.5% overall |
92% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Computer Engineering |
94% overall |
94% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Electrical Engineering |
93% overall |
93% in each prerequisite math & science course |
Materials Engineering |
90.5% overall |
91% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Mechanical Engineering |
94.5% overall |
91% in each prerequisite math & science course |
Mining Engineering |
89% overall |
87% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Software Engineering |
95.5% overall |
96% in each prerequisite math & science course |
Human Nutrition
This program is offered on the Macdonald campus.
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | ||
---|---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE COURSES | |
Nutrition |
80% overall |
80% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Kinesiology
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE COURSES |
87.8% overall |
86% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Management
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH/ENGLISH OR FRENCH COURSES |
93% overall |
85% in the prerequisite English or French course 87% in the prerequisite math course |
Music
For information on admission requirements, see the Schulich School of Music website.
Nursing
PREREQUISITES |
---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE COURSES |
81.5% overall |
80% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Religious Studies
Bachelor of Theology (B.Th) |
For information on admission requirements and applying, see Theology. |
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) |
See: Arts |
Science
PREREQUISITES | |
---|---|
|
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | ||
---|---|---|
TOP 5 AVERAGE | MATH & SCIENCE COURSES | |
Biological, Biomedical and Life Sciences Group |
94.9% overall |
87% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Bio-Physical-Computational Sciences Group |
93% overall |
89% in each prerequisite math and science course |
Physical, Earth, Math and Computer Sciences Group |
92% overall | 87% in each prerequisite math and science course |
What is considered an “academic" course?
Academic (considered for inclusion in the Top 5 average)
- All Advanced Placement (AP) courses
- All International Baccalaureate (IB) courses
- Most first language English and French courses
- All foreign language courses
- Most mathematics courses
- Most locally developed social science/social studies courses
Note: Only one Fine Arts course can be included in the Top 5 average, excluding AP and IB courses. Fine Arts courses include: Drama, Music, and Visual Arts.
Non-academic (excluded from the Top 5 average)
- All computer courses (except AP Computer Science and IB computer courses)
- All English as a Second Language (ESL) courses
- Most technical, professional, and applied courses
- All career courses
- All physical education and health courses
- All work experience and co-op courses
Specific courses used by McGill in the calculation of the Top 5 average:
- Alberta
- British Columbia and Yukon
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Nunavut
- Prince Edward Island
- Saskatchewan
Note: This list is not comprehensive as it does not include most locally developed courses. Where applicable, “Challenge” exams for academic and foreign language courses are recognized and can be included in the Top 5 average.