McGill Nutrition and Dietetics admission requirements: courses, Top 6 range, French and deadlines

McGill's Ontario requirements page lists one set of prerequisites for Human Nutrition: 4U English or French, 4U Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U), and two of 4U Biology, Chemistry or Physics. The same page says the program is offered on the Macdonald campus.

McGill builds a Top 6 average from six 4U, DU or 4M courses. At least four of the six, and all prerequisites, must be 4U or DU. Only two 4M courses are allowed. Your prerequisites always count in the Top 6. English Second Language and French Second Language courses do not count as prerequisites.

Pick biology and chemistry if you can. The first term of Dietetics includes LSCI 211 Biochemistry 1, and later Dietetics courses list all U0 science and math entrance requirements as prerequisites. Physics is accepted as one of the two sciences, but you will lean on biology and chemistry most.

Map your Grade 11 and 12 choices with our course planner so you don't miss MCV4U.

McGill does not publish a minimum average for Human Nutrition. It publishes typical minimum admission grade ranges from past years. For Ontario students, the Nutrition row reads high 70s to low 80s for the Top 6, and high 70s to low 80s for math and science courses.

The Ontario page has no separate row for Dietetics, so treat the same range as your only published guide for both majors. McGill says these values are a guideline, that minimum grades change from year to year, and that matching them does not guarantee admission.

Aim above the top of the range so a weak term doesn't hurt you. Run your numbers in our Top 6 average calculator and see how McGill compares on our McGill acceptance rate page.

Classes at McGill are in English. Dietetics is different because the stage happens in hospitals and clinics where French matters. McGill's French proficiency page lists applicants to the B.Sc.Nutr.Sc. Dietetics as one of the groups that must show proof of French.

You may be exempt. One exemption is finishing high school where French was the main language of teaching. If you are exempt, you upload a one page signed note that names the exemption. If not, you need B2 or higher (level 6 on the Échelle québécoise) on an approved test such as DELF or DALF, TCF or TEF. You upload the results to your McGill Applicant Portal.

The School also says all placement sites in its network are bilingual and need at least a working knowledge of English and French. The Nutrition Major page lists no French requirement. If your French is weak, Nutrition may be the safer choice.

McGill's important dates page lists February 1, 2027 as the deadline for Fall 2027 applicants to Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from a Canadian high school outside Quebec. The School of Human Nutrition sits in that faculty.

The Ontario requirements page adds these dates: supporting documents by May 4, the Major Entrance Scholarship application by February 7, an optional grade self-report from February 1 to March 1, and a mandatory self-report from April 1 to May 15. The page does not print a year beside these dates, so confirm them in your Applicant Portal.

There is no essay, interview or video for either major. Compare this with your Ontario dates on our Ontario deadlines page.

Students from provinces outside the CEGEP system may start in a 30 credit freshman year, called U0, before their major courses begin. McGill's School describes both majors as excluding the freshman year. So from Ontario, plan on four years for Nutrition and four and a half for Dietetics, unless you bring 24 or more advanced standing credits.

Dietetics has 115 credits over 3.5 years. Courses run in a fixed order over nine terms. Early courses include LSCI 211 Biochemistry 1, NUTR 207 Nutrition and Health, NUTR 307 Metabolism and Human Nutrition and NUTR 346 Applied Food Service Management. Students must finish their immunizations by the end of the first year of the major.

Nutrition has 90 credits over three years. You choose a concentration: Food Function and Safety, Global Nutrition, Metabolism, Health and Disease, or Sports Nutrition. Sample courses include FDSC 200 Introduction to Food Science, NUTR 214 Food Fundamentals and NUTR 401 Emerging Issues in Nutrition.

Neither major is a co-op program, and McGill's pages don't mention co-op for them. Dietetics instead has 40 weeks of supervised stage spread through the program. McGill's course catalogue says the stages give 1500 hours of non-paid internship experience. The admissions page says Stage 2b is in May and June after Year 2, and the university places every student.

The Nutrition Major offers internships, research and field studies, but they are not paid co-op terms. The concurrent Food Science and Nutritional Science degree includes a 3-month stage in industry in its final term.

McGill charges tuition per credit. For 2026-27, Canadian students from outside Quebec admitted since Fall 2024 pay Rate A: $432.85 per credit. That is the Quebec rate of $103.92 plus an out of province supplement of $328.93. Quebec residents pay $103.92 per credit.

Our estimate, not a McGill figure: 30 credits a year at $432.85 comes to about $12,986 in tuition for an Ontario student. Student services, athletics and a $61.35 general administrative charge are extra, and so are housing and food. Dietetics students who take an international stage also pay their own travel and housing, per the School's page.

Every applicant to a McGill undergraduate degree is automatically considered for a one-year entrance scholarship of $3,000, if they meet the minimum academic requirements. No separate form is needed.

Major Entrance Scholarships are worth $3,000 to $12,000 a year, renewable for up to four years, and need a separate application that opens October 1. Selection weighs academics first, then leadership. The $12,000 awards are only for Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

If you want to work as a registered dietitian, Dietetics is the only McGill major that leads there. McGill says graduates can register with the ODNQ in Quebec, which has a French language requirement, and can then apply to other provinces. Regulators outside Quebec ask new graduates who didn't first register in Quebec to pass a national exam.

If you're aiming for medicine, research or the food industry, the Nutrition Major is shorter and more flexible. McGill also offers Food Science and a concurrent Food Science and Nutritional Science degree. For a broader science degree on the downtown campus, see our McGill Science guide.

The Macdonald campus is in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, not downtown. Read our downtown vs Macdonald campus guide before you visit.

Plan for a four year degree from Ontario, or four and a half for Dietetics. Dietetics stages are full time on set dates, so summer jobs may be harder in some years. If your child has little French, start a French course now or choose the Nutrition Major.