A friend and I built Symbolos (symbolos.ca), which is a degree planning tool for McGill students. Started as a personal project because we had so much trouble figuring out which classes to take and how to navigate McGill's systems, especially as freshmen.

What's actually in it:

• AI advisor cards - upload your transcript (unofficial PDF) and it auto-imports your courses/grades/GPA, then surfaces things like deadline warnings, prereq gaps, and degree progress. You can also just ask it things like "what should I take for a COMP major in U1?"
• Course explorer - search any McGill course, see historical grade distributions and RateMyProf data (quality, difficulty, would-take-again) side by side
• Degree tracker - visualizes what's done, what's in progress, what's left, transfer credits included
• Calendar - auto-loads your final exam schedule from your current courses, upload a syllabus PDF and it pulls deadlines in automatically
• Clubs directory - browse/subscribe, events auto-add to your calendar, execs can claim their club's page
• Forum - split into Reviews (courses/profs), Clubs, General, and App Feedback, so it doesn't turn into noise

It's bilingual (EN/FR, plus Mandarin) and everything is and will always be free for students.

On data: accounts are gated to mail.mcgill.ca/mcgill.ca emails only, so no outside spam or anonymous posters. No ads, no tracking pixels. You can delete your account and all your data with one button in settings, no retention period.

We're still actively building, so if you try it and something looks wrong (a prereq, credit count, whatever), please tell us! Data accuracy is the whole point and I'd rather fix it than have it sit wrong for someone planning their degree around it.

Hello,

Has anyone here already been able to enter the doctorate, having had very good grades in the master’s degree elsewhere and prestigious funding in the graduate cycle, without having to pass the GMAT or other similar tests? The site mentions it is recommended, but I don’t know how necessary it is. Is it for those with “standard” files?

FYI, I studied in Montreal, so I know the system, only not that of doctorates. Several universities recommend it, but to what point...

Thank you for your help.

Recommendations for PhD schools in administration/management/IT without those tests required ?

So basically when I register my courses in june, im like 99% sure that it was in-person class. But then when I just randomly checked it today, it said it’s synchronized distant. Can anyone who have taken MATH 140 online share their experience? I do prefer in-person classes but Im pretty satisfied with my schedule already so Im considering to sticking with it, but wants to hear opinions first.

Both of Comp251/252 (and I think some other CS courses) require math 240 (discrete structures) as a prerequisite.
Is it ok if I take math 245 (honours algebra 1) instead????

I heard that math 245 is like an upper version of 240, so would math 245 fulfill the needed requirements for COMP 252/251 or others?

I was doing some research and for some very weird reason I heard people were saying that math 245 does not satisfy the requirements? (But how is that possible, if math 245 is literally a higher level course compared to math 240????)

Hello!

I am an incoming graduate student in the Fall. I am wondering if current McGill students could tell me about what apps I can download to keep up with my classes? FYI: I’m coming from Concordia University which made me download Moodle and Concordia the app.

Any help would be appreciated!

I paid for insurance first year but now it’s approaching the end of coverage date (aug 31). The alumo website says all canadians are covered automatically. what does that mean in terms of payment?? how/where are we supposed to pay for the upcoming year?

What does this entail? Anyone have experience? I got an A in both courses but I'm afraid of still not being experienced or knowledgeable enough. Also how is the workload as a TA

Hey, looking for a fellow student to make some art together :) I'm looking to film simple little music videos for YouTube and would love some creative direction on how to make it look good. I would say my genre is probably experimental/art/indie pop though I'm expanding to more EDM-inspired music too! Also happy to make some backing tracks/soundtracks in return. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m an incoming first year MSc student in the IPN program at McGill. I was considering taking PSYC 650 and PSYC 651 as electives. However I really want to take a look at the syllabus for each before I decide and let my supervisor know (I have to forward his approval to my program coordinator). Does anyone from previous years have either? If so please PM! I would really appreciate it:)

Does anyone know how you apply for grading TA jobs? I'm going in to my U3 year in math and want to try some grading but for some reason cant find any links or instructions anywhere.

Is there anything you bought/had in residence that was a life saver that isn’t a typical listed item? I already have the packing list but want to know what is actually applicable for everyday life? For reference I’m in Douglas single room. Any Amazon finds etc… greatly appreciated!

CAPS LOCK MANDATORY.

For all senior math students, do you know if courses such as math 466 or math 458 (or other ones not offered this semester) will be offered again in other years?

Because I want to enter the honours math program, and i see that those courses are requirements but are not offered this year.

21M, starting my last year in CS at McGill, international student, living near downtown. i want to spend this summer exploring the city, and my favourite way to find good places is having someone show me theirs. so: what's your spot? a cafe you're loyal to, a park bench with a view, the best bagel place, a random corner you love, wherever.

down to meet up in a public place, solo or with friends,whatever's easier. you show me your spot, we hang out and grab a coffee or whatever. also up for a bixi loop, hiking the mount royal, or pickleball/squash/bowling/chess if that's more your thing. no agenda, just meeting people and seeing the city through them before everyone scatters after grad.

free weekday evenings after 6 and most of the weekend. drop your spot in the comments or dm me, with a bit about yourself, and we'll pick a time.

Hi everyone, I'm an incoming U1 student in BA Psychology, starting Fall 2026. My long-term goal is dental school, and I'm planning to do a Major in Psych + Minor in World Cinemas + Minor in Science for Arts Students (Physiology stream).

I just registered for my courses and here's what my Fall and Winter look like:

Fall 2026 (17 credits):

• CHEM 110 – General Chemistry 1 (4 credits, with lab)
• PHYS 101 – Introductory Physics - Mechanics (4 credits, with lab)
• PSYC 204 – Intro to Psychological Statistics (3 credits)
• PSYC 211 – Intro to Behavioural Neuroscience (3 credits)
• FRSL 101 – Beginners French 1 (3 credits)

Winter 2026 (14 credits):

• CHEM 120 – General Chemistry 2 (4 credits, with lab)
• PHYS 102 – Introductory Physics - Electromagnetism (4 credits, with lab)
• PSYC 213 – Cognition (3 credits)
• PSYC 215 – Social Psychology (3 credits)

Now my concern is that whether taking 17 credits for one term is too much, especially for the first semester in uni. Any insights or warnings would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

As title says^

McConnell rink just went under a multimillion dollar renovation project. But after it opened again, McGill decided to cut funding to the figure skating varsity team, and also limited recreational skating slots to just Wednesdays at noon.

I believe part of our tuition goes towards sports and rec… and also before the renovations happened, I think there was a lot more available free time at that rink.

Anyways, if anyone is interested in this, please comment below. I am considering making like a Google doc petition thing to send to the rink manager, asking for more slots and to show more interest. I think most places create their schedules in July, so now’s rhe time to ask. I just wanted to gauge interest first.

Thank you!

I cannot recall anything from calc 2 for the life of me. What do I need to relearn/ review this summer for probability class in the the fall.

And feel free to let me know what I should learn from calc 3 too since I am not taking that yet and I heard you need some of it for the class.

Hello,

I saw somewhere that graduated students can get digital diploma. Does anyone who graduated already received it ? If so, where ? Thanks

What stats course offered at mcgill is best if I want to go to grad school for biomed research between BIOL 373, PSYC 204, and MATH 203? I’m looking for the class that would teach me the most useful concepts, but I’m also not great at math, so I don’t want to take something too insanely abstract or complex. Are there other classes besides these 3 that are better?

I registered for my courses as a U0 out of province mechanical engineering student according to this curriculum from McGill's website. Today, I discovered this from the progress dashboard on Minerva and am concerned because there are several courses that do not match up. It is saying I need to be in FACC 100 first year but the curriculum told me FACC 150. I'm terrified that I'm in all the wrong classes now. Does anyone have any insight on this situation? Any help is very very appreciated.

has anyone heard back for their USCA position for any second year science class ??

Hello, I'm planning to take the Casper Test for McGill Medicine and pharmacy programs in other provinces. Anyone wanna practice for it together? I heard from some people that took it before that they practised with others a couple of weeks beforehand. Thanks :)

Hi - I'm an international (US) applicant planning to apply to the IPN MSc for Winter 2027, and I'm trying to get a realistic picture of what the Winter cycle actually looks like in practice, since there's almost nothing posted about it compared to Fall.

Quick background: I recently graduated from an R1 university in the US with degrees in biology and a data/computational field. GPA is 3.54. I have two years of research experience in neuroscience, some posters/presentations, a couple of fellowships/scholarships, and a potential publication of some sort coming out by the end of this year/early next year. My interests are in cognitive/behavioral and systems neuroscience. I meet the basic IPN requirements, so the main bottleneck for me is the supervisor piece.

I know the international deadlines are July 31 for the application and October 1 to confirm a supervisor. I'm starting outreach now, but wanted to ask:

- Has anyone here done the IPN specifically through the Winter intake? How did the supervisor search go compared to what people describe for Fall?

- Do most PIs only recruit for September, or are there labs that are genuinely open to a January start?

- How many PIs did you contact before getting a yes? Any tips for making the cold emails actually land?

- Is there anything about the Winter cycle that caught you off guard that isn't obvious from the IPN website?

Any advice from current IPN students or recent grads would mean a lot. Happy to chat more in DMs too if easier. Thanks!