McGill University Admissions & Deadlines

How big McGill actually is

Fall 2025 counts · Published for this period

McGill's Quick Facts publish 40,531 students for Fall 2025. This number includes 28,167 undergraduate students, 10,196 graduate students, 649 postdoctoral scholars, and 1,519 residents and fellows. Teaching and research is carried by 1,677 tenured and tenure-stream faculty, 166 Canada Research Chairs, 148 endowed chairs, and 216 Royal Society of Canada Fellows. This is against $749.2M in research funding for FY 2024.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Quick Facts: enrolment, faculties, alumni, research funding · Verified August 16, 2026

Founding, faculties, and campuses

Current institutional structure · Published for this period

McGill states it is a public university founded in 1821. Quick Facts count eleven faculties, including Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, Law, and Management. There are also fifteen schools and specialised units. The university runs a downtown Montreal campus and the Macdonald Campus in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Food Science, Nutritional Science, Bioresource Engineering, and Laird Hall residence sit at the Macdonald Campus.

Choosing a Macdonald Campus program is a location decision, not just a program decision. It is a separate campus roughly 30 kilometres west of downtown Montreal.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Quick Facts: enrolment, faculties, alumni, research funding · Verified August 16, 2026

The international-student share McGill publishes

2023-24 degree-seeking share · Published for this period

McGill's About page states that international students from more than 150 countries make up nearly 30% of McGill's student body. It calls this the highest proportion of any Canadian research university. Quick Facts give the more precise figure: 29.5% international among degree-seeking students in 2023-24. It also says 27% are from international origins overall.

Applies to: All applicants, International

McGill University: About McGill: 1821 charter, international share, research legacy · Verified August 16, 2026

McGill's own selectivity claim

Current institutional positioning · Published for this period

The About page says that 'McGill students have the highest average entering grades in Canada'. It counts 149 Rhodes Scholars. It describes them as nation-leading. It calls the university 'one of the leading universities in the world'. It notes that Ernest Rutherford's Nobel Prize-winning research on radioactivity was conducted at McGill.

This is McGill's own marketing claim about entering grades, not an independently audited statistic. Use the published program-by-program ranges and R-score minimums to plan instead.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: About McGill: 1821 charter, international share, research legacy · Verified August 16, 2026

Rankings McGill publishes about itself

Latest published ranking cycle · Latest published information; newer cycle not yet confirmed

Quick Facts list McGill as #1 in Canada in the medical-doctoral category for more than twenty consecutive years and #30 globally in the QS World University Rankings for 2027.

Rankings move annually and McGill selects which ones to publish. They are not admission criteria.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Quick Facts: enrolment, faculties, alumni, research funding · Verified August 16, 2026

McGill does not publish an acceptance rate

Current published evidence · Published for this period

None of the first-party McGill admissions pages verified for this guide publish one undergraduate acceptance percentage. McGill publishes typical minimum grade ranges instead. These are for Ontario and other school systems. It also publishes R-score minimums for Quebec CEGEP applicants, per program. It also publishes prerequisite lists and estimated decision-release windows.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Undergraduate admission requirements by educational background · Verified October 1, 2026

Fall 2027 cycle status

2027 pending · Fall 2027

Fall 2027 is mostly published. McGill's Important Dates calendar labels January 15, 2027 as the Fall 2027 deadline for applicants studying or last studying in an overseas or U.S. school, and February 1, 2027 for applicants studying or last studying in a Canadian high school outside Quebec. The Quebec CEGEP March 1 date still has no year label, the Ontario range tables show no year, and the CEGEP R-score table covers September 2026 admission. The U.S. testing policy is labelled Fall 2027.

Treat January 15, 2027 and February 1, 2027 as firm for their groups. Treat the March 1 CEGEP date, the grade ranges, the R-score minimums and every dollar figure on this page as the latest published values rather than a Fall 2027 commitment.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Important Dates: Fall 2027 overseas and U.S. application deadline · Verified October 1, 2026

The exact Ontario Top 6 rule

Current requirements · Published for this period

McGill states admission is based on its calculation of a Top 6 pre-university (4U, DU, 4M) course average, that a minimum of six such courses is required, that at least four of the six — plus all prerequisite courses — must be at the 4U or DU level, that only two courses at the 4M level are permitted, and that all programs require a core language, English or French, at the 4U level. An Ontario Secondary School Diploma must be obtained before the start of classes.

Applies to: Ontario high school

McGill University: Ontario high-school requirements and previous lowest grades · Verified August 16, 2026

Ontario typical minimum ranges by program

Latest available (no year shown) · Latest published information; newer cycle not yet confirmed

McGill now publishes typical minimum admission grade ranges rather than exact cut-offs. No year is shown. Its Science groups are labelled last year's cut-offs. Top 6 and mathematics/science ranges run mid to high 70s for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Bioresource Engineering and Food Science. They run high 70s to low 80s for Nutrition, low 80s for Nursing, and low 80s to low to mid 80s for Education. They run mid 80s to mid 90s for Kinesiology. They run high 80s to low 90s for Arts, the B.A. & Sc. and Materials Engineering. They run low 90s for the Physical, Environmental, Math and Computer Sciences Group. They run low to mid 90s for the Biological, Biomedical and Life and Bio-Physical-Computational groups. They also run low to mid 90s for Chemical, Civil, Computer, Mining and Software Engineering. They run mid 90s for Management, low to high 90s for Architecture, and mid to high 90s for Bioengineering, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. The new Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences Group has no range yet.

McGill says minimum grades for entry fluctuate from year to year and that meeting a listed range does not guarantee admission.

Applies to: Ontario high school

McGill University: Ontario high-school requirements and previous lowest grades · Verified October 1, 2026

How CEGEP applications are assessed

Current requirements · Published for this period

Applicants must have obtained a Diplôme d'études collégiales before the start of classes. McGill assesses both the overall R-score and the core R-score average of any prerequisite courses. So a strong overall CRC does not compensate for weak prerequisite performance in programs that publish a separate core requirement.

Applies to: Other Canadian

McGill University: Quebec CEGEP requirements and previous lowest R-scores · Verified August 16, 2026

CEGEP R-score minimums by program

September 2026 admission · Latest published information; newer cycle not yet confirmed

McGill's R-score minimums for September 2026 admission ran from 24.5 for all Education programs. They also ran from 25.0 for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Bioresource Engineering, and Food Science. They ran through 25.8 for the online B.N. Integrated and 26.0 for the B.N. Integrated. They ran 27.0 for Nutrition, Social Work and the concurrent Food Science/Nutritional Science route. They ran 27.5 for Arts (26.0 core English or French). They ran 28.0 for the B.Sc. Nursing, Dietetics, and the Physical, Environmental, Math and Computer Sciences Group. They ran 29.0 for the B.A. & Sc. and the Bio-Physical-Computational group. They ran 29.5 for Kinesiology, 29.69 for Management, and 32.0 for Architecture. They ran up to 34.0 for Physical Therapy, 34.1 for the Neuroscience group, and 34.4 for Mechanical Engineering.

Physical Therapy (34.0 overall, 34.7 core) publishes a core minimum above the overall one. Electrical Engineering (33.1 overall, 33.2 core) and Neuroscience (34.1 overall, 34.2 core) do too. This is easy to miss. McGill says these values don't represent the R-score required for future admission.

Applies to: Other Canadian

McGill University: Quebec CEGEP requirements and previous lowest R-scores · Verified October 1, 2026

The one confirmed Fall 2027 deadline

Fall 2027 · Published for this period

McGill's Important Dates calendar publishes Friday, January 15, 2027 as the application deadline for Fall 2027 admission to undergraduate programs by applicants studying or who last studied in an overseas or U.S. high school, college, or university, covering Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Architecture, Arts (including Social Work and Religious Studies), B.A.&Sc., Education, Engineering, Management, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Science.

Applies to: International

McGill University: Important Dates: Fall 2027 overseas and U.S. application deadline · Verified August 16, 2026

Canadian deadlines: Fall 2027 labelled outside Quebec, CEGEP date unlabelled

2027 pending · Fall 2027

McGill's Important Dates calendar labels Monday, February 1, 2027 as the Fall 2027 application deadline. This is for applicants studying or who last studied in a Canadian high school outside Quebec. It covers Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Architecture, Arts, B.A.&Sc., Education, Engineering, Management, Nursing and Science. The Quebec requirements page still lists March 1 for CEGEP applications. It also lists April 15 for supporting documents. Neither date has a Fall 2027 year label.

Plan to February 1, 2027 outside Quebec. For CEGEP applicants, plan to March 1 but confirm it once McGill year-labels the Quebec date.

Applies to: Ontario high school, Other Canadian

McGill University: Important Dates: Fall 2027 Canadian high school (outside Quebec) application deadline · Verified October 1, 2026

Winter 2027 entry has its own deadline

Winter 2027 · Published for this period

Important Dates publishes Sunday, November 1, 2026. This is the application deadline for admission to undergraduate programs for the Winter 2027 term. It tells applicants to verify which programs are open before applying. It also tells them to verify which applicant pools are eligible.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Important Dates: Winter 2027 undergraduate application deadline · Verified August 16, 2026

The application fee and the second-choice rule

Current process · Published for this period

The undergraduate application fee is $140.16 CAD and is non-refundable. Once the first application is submitted and paid, a second application can be submitted at no extra cost; further applications are charged again. McGill's five published steps are: decide what to study, make sure you're eligible, submit your application, apply for an entrance scholarship, and submit documents and keep in touch.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: How to apply: five steps, application fee, Applicant Portal · Verified August 16, 2026

The Applicant Portal is the authoritative checklist

Current process · Published for this period

After applying, students verify the application checklist in the McGill Applicant Portal. They upload required documents there. They also check application status there. Documents required by a specific program are listed on that checklist. All supporting documents are uploaded there. The exceptions are official transcripts, test scores, and, where required, letters of recommendation.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Submit documents: checklist and program-specific extras · Verified August 16, 2026

English proficiency minimums and exemptions

Current requirements · Published for this period

IELTS Academic needs 6.5, with 6.0 in each component. TOEFL needs 90 on the 120-point scale for most programs. Education and Management need 100, and Music needs 79-80. The equal 6-point TOEFL values are 4.5, 5.0, and 4.0. Duolingo needs 125, or 130 for B.Ed. (TESL) and B.Com. CAEL needs 70 overall, with 60 per component. PTE Academic needs 65. Cambridge C1 Advanced needs Grade B or better. Cambridge C2 Proficiency needs Grade C or better. You can be exempt in some cases. One is four or more consecutive years of schooling in an English-primary country. Another is a DEC (Diplôme d'études collégiales) from an English CEGEP. Others are IB Group 1 English at 5 or better, A-Level English at grade C, and GCSE/IGCSE/O-Level English at grade B or 5.

Applies to: International

McGill University: English language proficiency tests, minimums, and exemptions · Verified August 16, 2026

The ACT and SAT are optional for Fall 2027

Fall 2027 · Published for this period

McGill's U.S. requirements page says SAT or ACT scores are optional for Fall 2027 applicants. These programs are Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Arts, B.A.&Sc., Education, Engineering (including Architecture), Management, Nursing, and Science. Opting out may affect the timing of a decision. But it will not otherwise disadvantage the applicant. Typical ranges are now published by program. For Arts, one example is SAT 670 to 700 in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 610 to 640 in Math. For Engineering, one example is 680 to 720 in each section. The U.S. application deadline is January 15. Supporting documents are due by March 1.

Submitting test scores may lead to an earlier decision, so a strong score can still be worth sending.

Applies to: International

McGill University: U.S. high-school requirements and the current ACT/SAT policy · Verified October 1, 2026

Programs that ask for more than transcripts

Current requirements · Published for this period

McGill states that certain programs require additional supporting documents. These could be proof of French proficiency, CASPer results, recommendation letters, a personal statement, or other items. The current guidance names some programs. For school-leavers, they include B.A. Population and Global Health, Education, Global Engineering, Music, Nursing, and Religious Studies. For university applicants, they include Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Social Work. Social Work applicants upload a completed Social Work Written Submission to the Applicant Portal.

Applies to: All applicants

McGill University: Submit documents: checklist and program-specific extras · Verified August 16, 2026

When decisions are actually released

September 2026 cycle · Latest published information; newer cycle not yet confirmed

McGill gives estimated release windows. For high schools outside the U.S. and Canada, the window is mid-November to mid-May. For U.S. high schools, it is mid-November to end of April. For Canadian high schools outside Ontario and Quebec, it is mid-January to mid-May. For Ontario high schools, it is mid-February to end of May. For CEGEPs, French lycées in Quebec, and designated Quebec high schools, it is end of February to mid-May. For transfer, second-degree, special, and visiting applicants from outside Canada, it is mid-February to mid-July. For mature applicants, it is early May to mid-July.

An Ontario applicant applying February 1 may not hear until the end of May. Budget for a long decision wait rather than assuming an early offer.

Applies to: All applicants, Transfer, Mature

McGill University: Estimated dates for release of admission decisions · Verified August 16, 2026