Is Grad School for You Consider Mc Gill

Is Grad School for You? Consider Mc. Gill! Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Mc. Gill University 1

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 Ph. D does not automatically make you more or less employable. 2

Things to do first • Explore career possibilities upon bachelor graduation • Consult career advisors and alumni in your own faculty • Ca. PS 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 Mc. Gill or go somewhere else?

Options • • Master’s Degree Professional Degree Doctoral Degree Graduate Diploma or Certificate 5

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 6

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 7

What’s the Difference? Master’s Degree (Academic) • • Average Length: 2 years • Career-oriented • (usually) • Most require a thesis • or a project Doctoral Degree (Academic) Average Length: 4 -7 years Research-oriented Typically requires a dissertation 8

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” 9

q Founded: 1821 q Associated with § 8 Nobel laureates § 2 Canadian prime ministers § 128 Rhodes Scholars (more than any Canadian university) q Ranked 18 th in 2009, 20 th in 2008 and 12 th in 2007 in the Times Higher Education Supplement ranking of the world’s best universities, along with Harvard, Oxford, MIT and Caltech q Named best public university in North America q Named Canada’s top medical-doctoral university in Maclean's magazine‘s q Ranked 1 st in Canada by U. S. News & World Reports 10 mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding School

mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Students q 34, 208 students total § Highest average entering grades among Canadian universities at 88. 9% q 6, 392 (18. 7%) international students § from over 160 countries q 7, 635 (22. 3%) graduate students § highest proportion in Canada §Enrolment by Mother Tongue 11 §Enrolment by Place of Origin

q 1, 616 tenured and tenure-tack faculty q 163 Canada Research Chairs allotted q 135 members of the Royal Society of Canada q On average, full-time Mc. Gill professors publish more peerreviewed articles than colleagues at any other Canadian university q Nearly 60% of the faculty are recruited from outside Canada 12 mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Faculty

q Mc. Gill professors have won many prestigious international and national awards: • Rhodes Scholarship • Nobel Prize • Templeton Prize • Kyoto Prize 13 • Gairdner International Awards • Killam Prizes mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Faculty

mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Research q 11 faculties and 10 schools; more than 300 programs of study q Most research intensive university in Canada q International reputation for scholarly achievement and scientific discovery q Encourages interdisciplinary approaches q $375. 75 million awarded in research funding in 2006 -2007 q 147 international research and development partnership q 180 contracts worth $14. 7 million signed between Mc. Gill and industry in 2007 -2008 q the largest patent estate of all Canadian universities 14

mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Research 15

mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Facilities q. 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 16

mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Facilities q Many external research stations, including § Gault Nature Reserve, Mont-Saint-Hilaire § Bellairs Research Institute, Barbados § Mc. Gill Sub-Arctic & Arctic Research Stations 17

q In Quebec, a student visa allows you to work for three years after graduation q Mc. Gill University maintains important global connections with other universities, hospitals, governments, industry and NGOs q MIDAs Program: international doctoral students pay same tuition as domestic students q Reasonable tuition rates compared to peer institutions in Canada and the U. S. 18 mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill At A Glance: Outstanding Opportunities

• Bachelor’s Degree • Requirements vary by program mcgill. gradapplicants. ca Mc. Gill’s General Admission Requirements (http: //coursecalendar. mcgill. ca/gps 200910/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/internationaldegre e/ * CGPA = Cumulative Grade Point Average 19

Useful Links §Arts OASIS: After a B. A. degree: What about graduate studies? §http: //www. mcgill. ca/oasis/ba/graduate/ §Mc. Gill Prospective Graduate Students Website §http: //www. mcgill. ca/gradapplicants/ § Ca. PS: Applying to Graduate Studies and Professional Schools § http: //www. mcgill. ca/caps/students/graduate-studies/ 20