Admission requirements for September 2021
U.S. high school applicants
Admission review process
Select the location of your school:
High schools located IN the U.S.A.
You must have obtained, prior to the start of classes, a high school diploma from an academic program leading to university entrance.
Grades 10, 11 and 12 academic results will be considered, including prerequisites for the program to which you applied. All results are taken into consideration, including those for failed or repeated courses.
You must have taken either of the following tests (optional for Fall 2021) (unless applying to Music):
- the ACT, or
- the SAT and at least two SAT Subject Tests (see prerequisites for required SAT Subject Tests by program)
FALL 2021 applicants: In response to the interruption of testing services brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, test optional assessment for ACT/SAT has been adopted for students applying for Fall 2021 admission. Applicants who submit a formal request (procedure below) indicating that they cannot or choose not to submit test results will not be disadvantaged in the admissions review process. This applies to students applying with a U.S. high school diploma to most undergraduate programs*.
If you wish to exclude the requirement for ACT/SAT test scores from your application review for Fall 2021, this will apply to all your application program choices and is final once the form has been submitted. You must follow the steps in the section entitled “Applying as ACT/SAT ‘test optional’” below to indicate that you are applying as ‘test optional’. If you do not follow the steps below, your file will not be considered ‘test optional’ and test scores will be used in the review of your application.
*Applicable for: Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Arts, BA&Sc, Education, including Kinesiology, Engineering, including Architecture, Management, Nursing, and Science.
If you are completing the IB Diploma or certificates concurrently with a US diploma you will normally be considered for admission based on your US high school record and may be awarded advanced standing credits based on final IB results.
If you are completing College Board Advanced Placement (AP) examinations or university courses you may be awarded advanced standing credits based on final results.
High schools located OUTSIDE the U.S.A.
You must have obtained, prior to the start of classes, a high school diploma from an academic program leading to university entrance.
Grades 10, 11 and 12 academic results will be considered, including prerequisites for the program to which you applied. All results are taken into consideration in determining admission, including those for failed or repeated courses.
You must have taken either of the following tests (optional for Fall 2021) (unless applying to Music):
- the ACT, or
- the SAT and two SAT Subject Tests (see prerequisites for required SAT Subject Tests by program)
FALL 2021 applicants: In response to the interruption of testing services brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, test optional assessment for ACT/SAT has been adopted for students applying for Fall 2021 admission. Applicants who submit a formal request (procedure below) indicating that they cannot or choose not to submit test results will not be disadvantaged in the admissions review process. This applies to students applying with a U.S. high school diploma to most undergraduate programs*.
If you wish to exclude the requirement for ACT/SAT test scores from your application review for Fall 2021, this will apply to all your application program choices and is final once the form has been submitted. You must follow the steps in the section entitled “Applying as ACT/SAT ‘test optional’” below to indicate that you are applying as ‘test optional’. If you do not follow the steps below, your file will not be considered ‘test optional’ and test scores will be used in the review of your application.
*Applicable for: Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Arts, BA&Sc, Education, including Kinesiology, Engineering, including Architecture, Management, Nursing, and Science.
If you are completing the IB Diploma concurrently with a US diploma you will be considered for admission based on your Predicted IB subject results and school transcript. Consult the IB Diploma information found in High schools outside Canada/US.
If you are completing College Board Advanced Placement (AP) examinations or university courses you may be awarded advanced standing credits based on final results.
Prerequisites and last year's cut-offs
Below are the lowest grades used for admission for September 2020.
Grades that are equal to or better than those listed below do not guarantee admission in 2021.
Admission to McGill is competitive and subject to availability of space. As such, minimum grades for entry may fluctuate up or down in any given year.
Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
These programs are offered on the Macdonald campus.
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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All B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.) programs |
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Bioresource Engineering (B.Eng.(Bioresource)) |
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Food Science (B.Sc.(F.Sc.)) |
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Concurrent B.Sc. (B.Sc.(F.Sc.)/B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.)) |
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Architecture
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Arts
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Bachelor of Arts and Science (B.A.&S.C.)
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Education
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten/Elementary Education |
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| Physical Education | |
| Secondary Education | |
| TESL | |
Engineering
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Bioengineering |
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Chemical Engineering |
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Civil Engineering |
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Computer Engineering |
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Electrical Engineering |
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Mechanical Engineering |
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Software Engineering |
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Materials Engineering |
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Mining Engineering |
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Human Nutrition
This program is offered on the Macdonald campus.
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Kinesiology
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Management
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Music
For information on admission requirements, see the Schulich School of Music website.
Nursing
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Religious Studies
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Bachelor of Theology (B.Th) |
For information on admission requirements and applying, see Theology. |
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Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) |
See: Arts |
Science
| PREREQUISITES | |
|---|---|
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| LAST YEAR’S CUT-OFFS (2020) | |
|---|---|
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Biological, Biomedical and Life Sciences Group |
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Physical, Earth, Math and Computer Sciences Group |
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| Bio-Physical-Computational Sciences Group |
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Applying as ACT or SAT 'Test Optional'
If you wish to exclude the requirement for ACT/SAT test scores from your application review for Fall 2021, you must follow the steps below. This will apply to all your application program choices for Fall 2021 and is final once the form has been submitted. If the form is not uploaded, we will consider test scores in the review of your application. Please take careful note of your deadline to submit the ‘Request Form to exclude ACT/SAT’.
- For applications submitted between October 1 and November 20, this form must be uploaded not later than December 1.
- For applications submitted after November 20, this form must be uploaded not later than 10 days after the date of your application.
After submitting your application to McGill and receiving your emailed acknowledgement notice (which includes your Minerva ID number and PIN), complete the form following the steps outlined below:
- Download the form
- Complete the form, and save it to your device as a PDF
- Log in to your Minerva account using your ID number and your PIN.
- Select the Applicant menu
- Select Admission Application and Documentation Status
- Select an application
- In the checklist requirements for that application, ‘Confirm to exclude ACT/SAT’ will show on the checklist
- Upload the completed PDF form to your ‘Confirm to exclude ACT/SAT’ checklist item
- Verify the form has uploaded by the receipt date.
- You may have applied to multiple programs; only upload the form once and it will update all program applications that you submitted.
Minimum ACT and SAT score requirements
Applicants must present the ACT or the SAT and at least two SAT Subject Tests
FALL 2021 applicants: In response to the interruption of testing services brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, test optional assessment for ACT/SAT has been adopted for students applying for Fall 2021 admission. Applicants who submit a formal request indicating that they cannot or choose not to submit test results will not be disadvantaged in the admissions review process. This applies to students applying with a U.S. high school diploma to most undergraduate programs*. You must follow the steps in the section entitled “Applying as ACT/SAT ‘test optional’” above to indicate that you are applying as ‘test optional’.
McGill requires those applying on the basis of a US high school diploma to provide ACT or SAT results by the published deadline. Minimum values for admission are set annually for the ACT composite and section sub scores for each program as well as for the SAT Reasoning and SAT Subject tests.
Applicants taking the ACT test provide McGill with the ACT composite score and four section sub scores: English, Math, Reading and Science Reasoning. Some applicants retake the ACT test and submit multiple composite scores and sub scores to McGill. In such cases, to be considered for admission, the applicant must achieve the composite score determined by McGill in at least one of the test sittings.
Applicants taking the SAT test provide McGill with SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing, SAT Math and SAT Subject Test scores at the threshold set for the particular test and program for that year. Applicants can take tests and submit scores multiple times. McGill will consider the highest scores in each SAT test in its admission decision.
We cannot precisely predict minimum scores in advance.
When an otherwise strong applicant is missing one or more SAT subject test scores, at the discretion of the Admission Officer it may be possible to substitute it with the same subject AP exam score(s) of 4 or 5. AP Statistics cannot serve as a replacement for an SAT math subject. Any AP exam results used for such replacement must be received by the applicable documentation deadline. Where appropriate, applicants will be asked by the Admission Officer via their Minerva checklist to provide a copy of the score(s).
SAT |
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| Evidence-Based Reading and Writing | 670 | |
| Math (for Engineering and Architecture) |
580 (620) |
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SAT subject tests |
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| Literature | 610 | Chinese/Chinese L | 570 | |
| American History | 600 | French/French L | 590 | |
| World History | 590 | German/German L | 570 | |
| Math I | 570 | Hebrew | 500 | |
| Math II/IIC | 550 | Italian | 570 | |
| Biology | 590 | Japanese/Japanese L | 570 | |
| Ecological Biology | 590 | Korean with L | 570 | |
| Molecular Biology | 590 | Latin | 580 | |
| Chemistry | 580 | Spanish/Spanish L | 570 | |
| Physics | 580 | |||
ACT |
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| Composite | 26 | |
| Individual subject scores | 24 | |