|
|
Comparable Schools'
Diversity Grades:
College Prowler Take
McGill has one of the highest international student populations of any university, somewhere around 18 percent. That said, a significant portion of that percentage is American students, which doesn’t help the diversity. Still, there are a lot of students from all over the world, and there are so many different languages and cultures represented. Even many of the Caucasian students hail from outside of North America or have lived and traveled around the world. The most represented minority is Asian, with many students coming from China, India, and all over the Middle East. Going to McGill, one comes in contact with so many different ways of doing things, and one comes to realize that each way is embedded in a specific culture. Contrary to popular (American) belief, the population of Canada is not solely comprised of white lumberjacks. Canada has a huge immigrant population—in fact, it has the highest per capita rate of immigration in the world. However, despite having many international people of color, it seems that there is a slight lack of national people of color at the school. Race in Canada is a very different thing than race in the United States. The McGill application does not even ask for the race of the applicant, indicating a very different approach to Affirmative Action. This does not mean that ethnic tensions do not exist in Canada, nor does it mean that Canadians deny that they exist. They just go about things differently. When it comes down to it, McGill, like Montréal, is exceptionally diverse and exudes a very international atmosphere. Students Speak Out
Love your school more than free food? Hate your school more than term papers?
Somewhere in between? Show the world what YOU think of YOUR school:
McGAB says: McGill University 2014 Psychology  |
Campus is fairly liberal-leaning...
Campus is fairly liberal-leaning in terms of ideologies and politics. I would say that, sexually, campus is pretty diverse and accepting. There are tons of international students, so it's fairly diverse in terms of ethnicity. But you can't really ignore the fact that there is a large population of upper-middle-class white kids. They are kind of everywhere.
Diversity: March 25, 2009
Report |
McGIF says: McGill University 2016 Math and Statistics |
McGill is one of the most...
McGill is one of the most ethnically and sexually diverse campuses I have seen. When you walk to class, you could hear about three different languages being spoken. However, a lot of kids that attend McGill are wealthy and pretty liberal.
Diversity: March 24, 2009
Report |
McGNW says: McGill University 2015 Biological and Biomedical Sciences |
Diversity is one of McGill's main...
Diversity is one of McGill's main strengths. It has the highest percentage of international students of any Canadian university. There is a mixture of francophone Quebecois, Canadians from anglophone provinces, a lot of Americans, French-speaking Europeans, and a significant contingent of South Koreans. Campus politics, like anywhere else I guess, are liberal and inclusive toward different religions and sexual orientations.
Diversity: March 20, 2009
Report |
McGMK says: McGill University 2014 Psychology |
I like to think that McGill's...
I like to think that McGill's campus is extremely diverse. Being a cosmopolitan city, Montreal is home to many different ethnicities and people. Whatever your background, McGill has a club or organization for you. Queer McGill and Hillel are just two examples of organizations that exist to support McGill's diverse student body. McGill's tuition is quite reasonable when compared to other Canadian and American universities. Consequently, the economic diversity is great.
Diversity: March 17, 2009
Report |
McGEM says: McGill University 2015 Biological and Biomedical Sciences |
McGill has a lot of international...
McGill has a lot of international students who represent most countries and cultures in the world, making campus a very interesting place. The political scene at McGill is also very diverse and full of great debates, although student governments tend to be very left-leaning. That being said, the vast majority of students at McGill are white, middle- to upper-class students from eastern Canada and the United States.
Diversity: March 11, 2009
Report |
FactsEconomic Status
International students tend to be much wealthier than Canadian or Québec students. There is definitely a “rich American” stereotype. The wealthy kids with trendy clothes are the most visible economic class, but this is probably because they are the flashiest. Talking to some of the Québec residents who make up about half of the population, one will find many who pay for school themselves or live with their parents to save money. Québec tuition is very cheap, so not only the elite can afford it. In general, since McGill is a public university, the student body is pretty well-rounded when it comes to economic status.
Gay Pride
Queer McGill is an organization very active in promoting its hotline and services for the GLBTQ population of McGill. They have posters up all over campus, and they host many different events, activities, and lectures. McGill is a fairly liberal school with liberal administration, and Montréal is a very liberal city. The university population is overall very accepting, and issues of gender and sexuality always seem to find their way into class discussion.
Minority Clubs
McGill's clubs read like a U.N. attendance record, with a club for practically every country. Since the international population is high, minority status is not lumped into “Middle Eastern” or “Asian,” but often in terms of specific nations.
Most Common Religions
Christianity is the dominant religion at McGill, but the most visible religious groups are probably Islamic and Jewish. There is an interfaith publication called Radix, and many clubs for various faiths. These clubs host holiday parties and help students find places of worship. They occasionally hold lectures or discussions on campus, but most religious practice is private.
Political Activity
In part due to the high number of international students, students at McGill are hyper aware of the world around them. For this reason, there is a great amount of political activity on campus. Though politics are generally left-leaning, there is still a diversity of opinions represented on campus, and controversy occasionally ensues. Lately, extremely controversial issues have flared up on campus, with such questions as whether to condemn Israel or admit a pro-life group official club status. McGill students are always looking to make a point, whether to have their voices heard or simply beef up their résumés.
Did You Know?
Only about 50 percent of students identify English as their mother tongue, and nearly 30 percent report that their first language is neither French nor English.
American students make up only about 7 percent of the total student population.
Most Recent Contributing Author
Name: Kelly Baker
Hometown: Weston, CT
Major: Sociology Kelly can moonwalk just like Michael Jackson, but she's physically incapable of doing any other dance moves. Contributing Author Internship
College Prowler is actively seeking talented students to be "Contributing Authors," and assist with updating
the College Prowler guide to their school. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain internship experience, be a part of a nationally
recognized company, gain tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is
really like at your college. Read more about the internship.
|
|
