Admission review process

• Prior to the start of classes, you must have obtained a U.S. high school diploma from an academic program leading to university entrance. The academic program must be accredited through a U.S. regional accreditation agency, such as WASC, NEASC, Cognia, etc.
• 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 the ACT or the SAT (unless applying to Music).
  • Test-Optional: The ACT/SAT opt out policy has been extended to students applying to undergraduate studies for Fall 2025 (and for Fall 2026), for the following programs:

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Arts
Bachelor of Arts & Sciences
Education (including Kinesiology)
Engineering (including Architecture)
Management
Nursing
Science

For instructions on how to exclude the ACT/SAT requirement from your admission review, refer to "Standardized testing" section.

• If you are completing the IB Diploma or individual IB Diploma Courses concurrently with a US diploma you will normally be considered for admission based on your US high school record and may be granted advanced standing credits based on final IB results.
• If you are completing College Board Advanced Placement (AP) examinations or university courses you may be granted advanced standing credits based on final results.
• If you are completing the French Baccalaureate, admissions requirements can be found under International Admissions.

Prerequisites and last year's scores

Listed below are the lowest grades used for admission for September 2024. These values are given as a reference and do not represent the grades required for future admission.

Grades that are equal to or better than those listed below do not guarantee admission in 2025.

Admission to McGill is subject to availability of space. As such, minimum grades for entry may fluctuate in any given year.

Standardized tests

• McGill requires those applying on the basis of a US high school diploma to provide ACT or SAT results by the published deadline.

Opting out of ACT/SAT test score consideration

• Students applying for Fall 2025 (and for Fall 2026) admission to the following undergraduate programs will be able to opt out of submitting ACT/SAT results:

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Arts
Bachelor of Arts & Sciences
Education (including Kinesiology)
Engineering (including Architecture)
Management
Nursing
Science

• Applicants who choose to opt out and to not submit ACT/SAT results will not be disadvantaged in the admission review process.
• If you wish to exclude the requirement for ACT/SAT test scores from your application review, you will indicate this when you are filling out your McGill application. This will apply to all the programs to which you apply for Fall 2025 (and for Fall 2026) and is final once you submit your application.
• If you choose to not exclude your ACT/SAT scores, then test scores (the ACT or the SAT) will be considered in the review of your application and must be submitted. Your application will be cancelled due to being incomplete if your test scores are not received.

ACT

• 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.
• Test score requirements for admission are set annually for the ACT composite and section sub scores. These requirements may vary by program. We cannot precisely predict minimum scores in advance.
• Competitive scores are equal to or greater than:

Composite: 26

Individual subject scores: 24

• It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure official test results are sent directly to McGill by the testing board. 
  
  McGill’s ACT institutional code: 5231
• Note: The personal information you provide to the examination board needs to match the information you provide to McGill. If there is a discrepancy in personal information, we will not be able to match your electronic results to your applicant file. Please contact Service Point via the webform to have your test results matched to your file.

SAT

• Applicants taking the SAT test provide McGill with SAT Evidence Based Reading & Writing, and SAT Math scores.
• Applicants can take tests and submit scores multiple times. McGill will consider the highest scores in each SAT test in its admission decision.
• Test score requirements for admission are set annually for the SAT tests. These requirements may vary by program. We cannot precisely predict minimum scores in advance. 
• Competitive scores are equal to or greater than:

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 670

Math: 580 (620 for Engineering and Architecture)

• It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure official test results are sent directly to McGill by the testing board.
  
  McGill’s College Board institutional code: 0935-00
• Note: The personal information you provide to the examination board needs to match the information you provide to McGill. If there is a discrepancy in personal information, we will not be able to match your electronic results to your applicant file. Please contact Service Point via the webform to have your test results matched to your file.

Supporting documentation

It is in the applicant’s interest to complete their file as quickly as possible. When program space is limited, preference may be given to applicants who have submitted all required supporting documents/information earlier on. Should a program reach its capacity prior to the ‘supporting documents’ and/or ‘self-reporting’ deadline, incomplete applications may be cancelled.

1. Academic documents

   Self-reporting (for applicants from schools located within the U.S.A.): Most applicants (except those to Religious Studies) are required to self-report their grades using the designated web form accessible through the McGill Applicant Portal.

   If your school is located outside the U.S.A., unofficial transcripts must be uploaded directly to your McGill Applicant Portal. (Self-reporting is not available to students applying from schools outside the U.S.A.)
   
   A complete high school transcript should include: Final grades from Grade 10 and Grade 11 (Grade 9 results are only required if prerequisite science courses were taken that year), and current/interim results from Grade 12: this may be a first quarter report card, a first trimester transcript, a mid-semester transcript or another type of academic progress or interim report normally issued by the high school. Official final transcripts are only required if admitted.
   
   ACT and/or SAT test results (if not opting out) must be official and sent directly from the testing board. McGill's institutional code for the College Board (SAT and AP) is 0935-00; for ACT, it is 5231.

   If your school is located in the U.S.A.:
   If you are completing an International Baccalaureate Diploma: Your predicted IB results may be uploaded or submitted to McGill.
   
   If your school is located outside the U.S.A.:
   If you are at school outside the U.S.A. and you are completing the IB Diploma: You will be considered for admission based on IB requirements, including your Predicted IB subject results and school transcript. Consult the IB Diploma information found in High schools outside Canada/US.

2. Proof of English proficiency

   Applicants who have lived and attended school, for at least four years, in a country where English is the acknowledged primary language, are not required to provide further proof of English proficiency.

   If this is not the case, official test results will be required by the supporting document deadline.  Please consult Proof of English Proficiency for accepted tests and other exemptions.

3. Additional supporting documents

   Certain programs will require additional supporting documents. These could be proof of French proficiency, CASPer test results, recommendation letters, personal statement, or other documents; the requirements will be different depending on the program you are applying to. If your program choice is listed below, please carefully verify the additional requirement(s):

   • You have applied to Education, Global Engineering, Music, Nursing, and/or Religious Studies
   • You have applied for a Major Entrance Scholarship and/or Financial Aid
   • You selected ‘Extenuating Circumstances’ on the application for admission

   If none of the above apply, additional supporting documents are not considered in the admission review and should not be submitted.