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FAQs for Canadian high school applicants
Fall 2021

  • Self-reporting grades
  • Top 5 
  • Quad/Quarter 4 grades
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McGill.CA / Undergraduate Admissions / Apply / Requirements

Requirements for Canadian applicants (not ON or QC)

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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus);
  • Two of Grade 12 Biology, Chemistry or Physics
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus);
  • Grade 12 Physics;
  • Portfolio (Admission review takes into account the portfolio evaluation)
LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020)
TOP 5 AVERAGE MATH & SCIENCE COURSES

90% overall

87% in each prerequisite math and science course

Arts

PREREQUISITES
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school.
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus);
  • Two of Grade 12 Biology, Chemistry or Physics


Note: The B.A. & Sc. is a unique degree that is jointly offered by the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science.  It is rooted in both Arts and Science and carries roughly equal course weight in each faculty. It is an interdisciplinary degree intended for students who want to pursue simultaneously a Major in the Faculty of Arts and one in the Faculty of Science or one of the interfaculty programs in Cognitive Science, Environment or Sustainability, Science and Society.
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:
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Applicants to the B.Ed. Secondary Mathematics: subjects must also complete Grade 12 math (pre-calculus or calculus).
  • Applicants to the B.Ed. Secondary Science & Technology: subjects must include Grade 12 math (pre-calculus or calculus) and two of Grade 12 biology, chemistry, or physics.
  • CASPer Test: B.Ed applicants to Kindergarten/Elementary, Secondary, and TESL are required to complete this online assessment as a component of the selection process (see Additional Supporting Documents).
  • TESL applicants must also pass a language test.
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus)
  • Grade 12 Physics
  • Grade 12 Chemistry
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus)
  • Two of Grade 12 Biology, Chemistry or Physics
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus)
  • Two of Grade 12 Biology, Chemistry or Physics
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus)
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus)
  • Two of Grade 12 Biology, Chemistry, or Physics
  • CASPer: Applicants to Nursing are required to complete an online assessment called CASPer, as a component of the selection process (see Additional Supporting Documents).
  • Proof of French proficiency
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
  • Grade 12 English or French, depending on the language of instruction at your school;
  • Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus)
  • Two of Grade 12 Biology, Chemistry or Physics
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:

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.
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