Is Grad School for You? Consider McGill!

Is Grad School for You?Consider McGill! Graduate and Postdoctoral StudiesMcGill University

Should I go to Grad School? • The decision-making basis should be: • A genuine interest in your area of studies • Thorough analysis of your long-term goals • NOT to avoid making career planning decisions * Having a Master’s or PhD does not automatically make you more or less employable.

Things to do first • Explore career possibilities upon bachelor graduation • Consult career advisors and alumni in your own faculty • CaPS offers excellent advising services and career planning resources • Conduct a self-assessment of the “soft”, transferable skills you would need in your future career • Where can you best develop them?

Things to think about • Can I take a year off to ‘see the world’? • Will it be hard to come back to school? • Should I get some work experience in a related field? • Should I take several streams or concentrate on one subject area? • Should I stay at McGill or go somewhere else?

Options • Master’s Degree • Professional Degree • Doctoral Degree • Graduate Diploma or Certificate

Master’s Degree • Requires a Bachelor’s Degree • Extensive Research and Analysis • Advances Career and Earnings Potential • Can often choose Thesis or Non-Thesis option

Doctoral Degree • Original research in a specific field with a supervisor (prof. advising on research) • Requires a Bachelor’s Degree • Normally requires a Master’s Degree (some exceptions) • Research- and Work-intensive

What’s the Difference? Master’s Degree (Academic) Doctoral Degree (Academic) Average Length: 4-7 years Research-oriented Typically requires a dissertation • Average Length: 2 years • Career-oriented (usually) • Most require a thesis or a project

Application Considerations • Who will write your letters of recommendation? • Graduate programs generally require letters of recommendation from professors • Become involved in research throughout your undergraduate career • Try to have something published • Honours Programs will give you an “edge”

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding School • Founded: 1821 • Associated with • 8 Nobel laureates • 2 Canadian prime ministers • 128 Rhodes Scholars (more than any Canadian university) • Ranked 18th in 2009, 20th in 2008 and 12th in 2007 in the Times Higher Education Supplement ranking of the world’s best universities, along with Harvard, Oxford, MIT and Caltech • Namedbest public university in North America • Named Canada’s top medical-doctoral university in Maclean's magazine‘s • Ranked 1st in Canada by U.S. News & World Reports

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Students • 34,208 students total • Highest average entering grades among Canadian universities at 88.9% • 6,392 (18.7%) international students • from over 160 countries • 7,635 (22.3%) graduate students • highest proportion in Canada • Enrolment by Place of Origin • Enrolment by Mother Tongue

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Faculty • 1,616 tenured and tenure-tack faculty • 163 Canada Research Chairs allotted • 135 members of the Royal Society of Canada • On average, full-time McGill professors publish more peer-reviewed articles than colleagues at any other Canadian university • Nearly 60% of the faculty are recruited from outside Canada

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Faculty • McGill professors have won many prestigious international and national awards: • Rhodes Scholarship • Nobel Prize • Kyoto Prize • Gairdner International Awards • Templeton Prize • Killam Prizes

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Research • 11 faculties and 10 schools; more than 300 programs of study • Most research intensive university in Canada • International reputation for scholarly achievement and scientific discovery • Encourages interdisciplinary approaches • $375.75 million awarded in research funding in 2006-2007 • 147 international research and development partnership • 180 contracts worth $14.7 million signed between McGill and industry in 2007-2008 • the largest patent estate of all Canadian universities

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Research

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Facilities • Nearly 50 distinct research centers and institutes, all on the cusp of groundbreaking research • Life Sciences Complex • high-tech music building • Macdonald Campus living laboratories • four affiliated hospitals in Montreal

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Facilities • Many external research stations, including • Gault Nature Reserve, Mont-Saint-Hilaire • Bellairs Research Institute, Barbados • McGill Sub-Arctic & Arctic Research Stations

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill At A Glance: Outstanding Opportunities • In Quebec, a student visa allows you to work for three years after graduation • McGill University maintains important global connections with other universities, hospitals, governments, industry and NGOs • MIDAs Program: international doctoral students pay same tuition as domestic students • Reasonable tuition rates compared to peer institutions in Canada and the U.S.

mcgill.gradapplicants.ca McGill’s General Admission Requirements • Bachelor’s Degree • Requirements vary by program (http://coursecalendar.mcgill.ca/gps200910/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm) • Minimum CGPA* over duration of Bachelor’s: 3.0 out of 4.0 OR minimum CGPA over last two full-time years of Bachelor’s: 3.2 out of 4.0 • Int’l degree equivalencies available http://www.mcgill.ca/gradapplicants/apply/prepare/requirements/internationaldegree/ * CGPA = Cumulative Grade Point Average

Useful Links • Arts OASIS: After a B.A. degree: What about graduate studies? • http://www.mcgill.ca/oasis/ba/graduate/ • McGill Prospective Graduate Students Website • http://www.mcgill.ca/gradapplicants/ • CaPS: Applying to Graduate Studies and Professional Schools • http://www.mcgill.ca/caps/students/graduate-studies/

Is Grad School for You? Consider McGill!