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McGill 2014 interview invites?


RedLily

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minerva was updated for me a day or so before i got my rejection email last year.

 

i don't know why i keep applying here, unless someone messes up my file, I'm an easy rejection. plus, i did my undergrad at mcgill, and that's possibly the best reason not to come back!

 

A stunning endorsement. If you don't mind me asking, what were the problems you found with McGill? I've heard of quite a few McGill students disliking the school

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A stunning endorsement. If you don't mind me asking, what were the problems you found with McGill? I've heard of quite a few McGill students disliking the school

 

I'd venture to say that many students dislike many schools :). McGill medical school is one of the very best med schools in the world and we have a really sick program. I feel lucky each and every day that I really do go here and I think it's an amazing school with opportunity for clinical exposure, teaching from top professors, and research. I did my undergrad here as well - but it may well depend on which program one does. McGill is not known to be easy, and UG here is really very difficult to do well in.

 

In any case, good luck everyone! We'll be seeing some of you at the MMI's!

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I'd venture to say that many students dislike many schools :). McGill medical school is one of the very best med schools in the world and we have a really sick program. I feel lucky each and every day that I really do go here and I think it's an amazing school with opportunity for clinical exposure, teaching from top professors, and research. I did my undergrad here as well - but it may well depend on which program one does. McGill is not known to be easy, and UG here is really very difficult to do well in.

 

In any case, good luck everyone! We'll be seeing some of you at the MMI's!

 

I suppose what I said deserves an explanation...

 

The best experiences of my life have happened while in Montreal and at McGill. I made an awesome group of friends through the music program, got heavily involved with leadership and student engagement, made some lasting contacts in high places (which is what one should always endeavour to accomplish at a school the boasts a reputation like McGill does, I should add), and reconnected with a city that I used to visit quite often as a young boy.

 

I certainly had a fair share of interesting classes; I took a year of latin, with an amazing prof, and any course with Joe Schwarcz, or Ariel Fenster had me at full attention (incidentally, Dr. Joe teaches a course for med students here), but on the whole, I've found that the professors here don't have time, or care for their students - especially professors in the faculty of biology. Maybe it's different with only 180 medical students. I've worked with the medical students here for the past two years, training them to be frosh leaders, and I certainly get the sense that they are just as tight a group as any other set of students. I've even been to one of their christmas parties, and from what I remember...it was killer. So I'm not suggesting that students who get into McGill med have an air of superiority among themselves (at least no more than any other school does).

 

My major problem is the inconsistency between, and inability of the administration at McGill. Financial services is a joke, be prepared to wait months to move forward for government student aid like OSAP. Most departments have one or two advisors for several hundred students, so they never prioritize you, or give you the attention you deserve. Professors always think they're right...on two occasions I had the wrong grade on my final. In one instance, it took me six months and a formal appeal to the chair of biology before things were resolved and I got the grade changed. As a music student having to take several credits in science for my pre-reqs, or having to be allowed to take more than five courses a semester, I generally had to speak to several administrators in different buildings across campus. The Quebec government has cut back so heavily on funding to McGill that our principal is essentially travelling across North America the year round trying to collect donations from alumni. I could go on. Maybe the most of these circumstances don't apply to medical students, but I'm sure that they just manifest in a different way. McGill has to be one of the biggest administrative messes in all of Canada.

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I suppose what I said deserves an explanation...

 

The best experiences of my life have happened while in Montreal and at McGill. I made an awesome group of friends through the music program, got heavily involved with leadership and student engagement, made some lasting contacts in high places (which is what one should always endeavour to accomplish at a school the boasts a reputation like McGill does, I should add), and reconnected with a city that I used to visit quite often as a young boy.

 

I certainly had a fair share of interesting classes; I took a year of latin, with an amazing prof, and any course with Joe Schwarcz, or Ariel Fenster had me at full attention (incidentally, Dr. Joe teaches a course for med students here), but on the whole, I've found that the professors here don't have time, or care for their students - especially professors in the faculty of biology. Maybe it's different with only 180 medical students. I've worked with the medical students here for the past two years, training them to be frosh leaders, and I certainly get the sense that they are just as tight a group as any other set of students. I've even been to one of their christmas parties, and from what I remember...it was killer. So I'm not suggesting that students who get into McGill med have an air of superiority among themselves (at least no more than any other school does).

 

My major problem is the inconsistency between, and inability of the administration at McGill. Financial services is a joke, be prepared to wait months to move forward for government student aid like OSAP. Most departments have one or two advisors for several hundred students, so they never prioritize you, or give you the attention you deserve. Professors always think they're right...on two occasions I had the wrong grade on my final. In one instance, it took me six months and a formal appeal to the chair of biology before things were resolved and I got the grade changed. As a music student having to take several credits in science for my pre-reqs, or having to be allowed to take more than five courses a semester, I generally had to speak to several administrators in different buildings across campus. The Quebec government has cut back so heavily on funding to McGill that our principal is essentially travelling across North America the year round trying to collect donations from alumni. I could go on. Maybe the most of these circumstances don't apply to medical students, but I'm sure that they just manifest in a different way. McGill has to be one of the biggest administrative messes in all of Canada.

 

Thanks for clarifying :). I totally know what you're getting it and I agree actually - but I do think a lot of that is limited to undergrad. I think for such a big university, you really feel very small as an undergrad. I know I certainly did.

 

Thankfully, the Medical School has its own administration, and actually a lot of these issues don't really exist because we're most often dealing directly with the Faculty, who will deal with "main campus" for us. So please don't think badly about McGill because of those experiences! I think they do happen a lot as an undergraduate, and it is easy to get the feeling people don't care, which is really unfortunate but it's just such a big university. Funding is also Faculty-dependent and although we do have cuts they're not quite as bad as some other faculties, and it doesn't affect student life in any particular way :).

 

You're quite right that with 180 med students, the administrators are a lot more willing to work directly with us and the professors don't have an air of superiority as they may in large biology courses :). Good luck with your apps!! I hope to see you at the MMI :)!

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I second Slippy's message. There's a lot more dialogue between the faculty and the students in med here. We have some influence over how the program is run.

 

Sceptical

 

Thanks for clarifying :). I totally know what you're getting it and I agree actually - but I do think a lot of that is limited to undergrad. I think for such a big university, you really feel very small as an undergrad. I know I certainly did.

 

Thankfully, the Medical School has its own administration, and actually a lot of these issues don't really exist because we're most often dealing directly with the Faculty, who will deal with "main campus" for us. So please don't think badly about McGill because of those experiences! I think they do happen a lot as an undergraduate, and it is easy to get the feeling people don't care, which is really unfortunate but it's just such a big university. Funding is also Faculty-dependent and although we do have cuts they're not quite as bad as some other faculties, and it doesn't affect student life in any particular way :).

 

You're quite right that with 180 med students, the administrators are a lot more willing to work directly with us and the professors don't have an air of superiority as they may in large biology courses :). Good luck with your apps!! I hope to see you at the MMI :)!

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