Best cegep for McGill Premed

[Willm_lhy]

Hi,

i was wondering if you knew what would be the best cegep for McGill premed between Marianopolis, brebeuf Dawson and André-Grasset.

Does having your cegep in English have a real advantage for McGill?

thanks!

[Bambi]

Welcome to the Forum! 

the language of your Cegep is irrelevant. The language of study in Cegep should be your personal choice based upon your comfort, in which language you feel you will likely achieve greater academic success. My higher education was always in English, however, I ended up going to a French speaking med school and my difficulty was the language, not the content. Regarding your other question, choose the one that involves the least amount of travel time. 

Your success will depend upon your work ethic, your motivation, your resilience, your time and stress management skills, your ability to make good strategic decisions along your journey, including your choice of a s.o. as this latter decision can potentially destroy your career goals at the very beginning, e.g., if you choose someone who becomes a serious distraction, who is needy of your time and focus, who is not supportive of your ambitions - you could end up with a career as a taxi driver! If you are genuinely kind to others, are empathetic, compassionate, a likeable, nice person who gets along with others and are a team player, this will go a long way in helping you establish yourself and open doors for you. 

As an example, I am a surgeon today and when I applied for a residency position, the competition was fierce. There were just 3 spots, 80 applicants, 40 of whom were interviewed. I was the least qualified of all applicants as my knowledge base was extremely low. In the end, I was selected for my 'soft qualities' and the interviewers recognized that I was a 'good fit' for the team, whereas not one gunner was chosen, nor those with big egos, lots of research, etc. 

Good luck on your loong journey! 

[Willm_lhy]

4 hours ago, Bambi said:

Welcome to the Forum! 

the language of your Cegep is irrelevant. The language of study in Cegep should be your personal choice based upon your comfort, in which language you feel you will likely achieve greater academic success. My higher education was always in English, however, I ended up going to a French speaking med school and my difficulty was the language, not the content. Regarding your other question, choose the one that involves the least amount of travel time. 

Your success will depend upon your work ethic, your motivation, your resilience, your time and stress management skills, your ability to make good strategic decisions along your journey, including your choice of a s.o. as this latter decision can potentially destroy your career goals at the very beginning, e.g., if you choose someone who becomes a serious distraction, who is needy of your time and focus, who is not supportive of your ambitions - you could end up with a career as a taxi driver! If you are genuinely kind to others, are empathetic, compassionate, a likeable, nice person who gets along with others and are a team player, this will go a long way in helping you establish yourself and open doors for you. 

As an example, I am a surgeon today and when I applied for a residency position, the competition was fierce. There were just 3 spots, 80 applicants, 40 of whom were interviewed. I was the least qualified of all applicants as my knowledge base was extremely low. In the end, I was selected for my 'soft qualities' and the interviewers recognized that I was a 'good fit' for the team, whereas not one gunner was chosen, nor those with big egos, lots of research, etc. 

Good luck on your loong journey! 

Hi! Thank you for your answer, 

it’s going to help me chose the right one.

i was also wondering: I am doing my secondary in a music profile with a really good music school and I am also studying at the Montreal Conservatory, even though this is just a hobby and not my carrer goal. I would like to do a double-dec music and Natural science and all the cegep I listed in my post have double-dec. Do you know which one is the best? (Brebeuf is with EMVI and Marianopolis with McGill)

[Bambi]

Sorry, I cannot inform you which is best. I do encourage you to do it though. I studied piano for years and when in med school sharing an apartment with many classmates, I had an electronic piano with earphones, so I could relax playing while my roomies were not disturbed.

Music is not just a hobby for you, it has helped with your development, taught you focus, discipline, persistence, perseverance in your search for excellence, all of which are transferable skills to so many disciplines. Moreover, you will appreciate and enjoy music for decades to come! 

In addition to piano, I developed expertise in ballet which taught me collaboration - team work, discipline, focus and I led others, so I gained in leadership skills. I applied the same focus, discipline, motivation in music and ballet to my studies.