McGill University

McGill University is a publicly funded, research-intensive, non-denominational, co-educational, international university located in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821, McGill is considered to be the second best university in Canada and amongst the top universities in the world.

Students

McGill's student population includes 21,765 undergraduates and 9,160 graduate students (2004/05). McGill has a higher percentage of international students than any other Canadian university. This is partially due to an admissions policy that reserves a quota of spaces for international students. Although the university is one of two English-language universities in Montreal, 19.6% of students at McGill speak French as their first language.

Related Topics:
English-language - Montreal - French

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The Quebec government has long favored international students from selected countries (such as some members of La Francophonie) to attend their universities over students from other Canadian provinces. Since 1996 it is more expensive for an out-of-province Canadian student to attend McGill than it is for many foreigners from countries that have special agreements with Quebec (e.g., France). This, in addition to McGill's international reputation, partially accounts for why McGill has a high percentage of foreign students. Nevertheless, due to Montreal's relatively low cost of living, some students paying out-of-province tuition find it less expensive to attend McGill than universities in their home province.

Related Topics:
La Francophonie - 1996

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Student life is varied and vibrant reflecting the many cultures and tastes of the students and of Montreal in general. McGill University ranked first overall in the category of "Campus race/class relations friendliest" in The Princeton Review: The Best 357 Colleges. McGill ranked third for "Great college towns."

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Some of McGill's students live in an area informally known as the McGill Ghetto, that lies east of the main university grounds. The area is bordered by Sherbrooke and University streets to the south and west and by Avenue des Pins and Avenue du Parc to the north and east. The neighborhood architecture is mostly made up of historical townhouses built in the 1900s to house wealthy businessmen working close-by in downtown office buildings, before the Exodus and subsequent moves to other boroughs such as Westmount and to the suburbs. In 2003 the University acquired a former hotel on Avenue du Parc and transformed it into an undergraduate student residence thereby increasing the student population in the ghetto. Older residences (respectively named Douglas, Gardner, McConnnell and Molson halls) are located on Mount Royal itself, past the McGill-affiliated Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal Neurological Institute and the university's sports complex. Other undergraduate residences include Royal Victoria College, MORE houses, Greenbriar apartments and Solin Hall (which is off campus.) The limits of the ghetto are historically set but some might say it now extends much further to the east and north, in the Plateau Mont-Royal borough.

Related Topics:
Westmount - 2003 - Mount Royal - Royal Victoria Hospital - Montreal Neurological Institute - Plateau Mont-Royal

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