How to Apply to Psychology at McGill University: Choosing Between the B.A., B.Sc. and B.A. & Sc., and Requirements for Canadian and Chinese High School Students and Transfer Students

McGill University in Montreal offers undergraduate psychology through the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Science and the Bachelor of Arts and Science. Unlike the University of Toronto, where you join a campus and apply to psychology after first year, at McGill you choose your faculty and program when you apply. Admission is based mainly on grades, and psychology needs no essay or reference letters. Here is what you need to know for September 2027 entry, based on McGill’s official information, for students at Canadian high schools (including BC and Ontario students and international students in Canada), students at high schools in China, and transfer students.

1. Three routes: B.A., B.Sc. and B.A. & Sc.

• B.A. Psychology: a 36-credit Major Concentration, plus Honours (60 credits), Joint Honours and a Minor. You must choose “B.A. Psychology” on the application; McGill notes that it requires a separate application from other Arts programs. B.A. students admitted from Fall 2025 must also complete at least one Faculty of Arts program to graduate with a B.A.
• B.Sc. Psychology: a 54-credit Major, plus Honours (60 credits), a Liberal Program core (45 credits) and a Minor. You apply to the Faculty of Science in the Biological, Biomedical & Life Sciences Group.
• B.A. & Sc. Psychology: a 36-credit Major Concentration, with roughly equal course weight in Arts and Science, for students who want a major in each.
• Choosing: All three use the same list of psychology courses; the difference is the number of credits and the rest of the degree. The department suggests that students aiming for graduate study in clinical, counselling or school psychology take the 54-credit B.Sc. Major, or the B.A. Major with the 18-credit Minor in Behavioural Science (only open to Arts psychology majors), or an Honours program. A bachelor’s degree alone does not qualify you to practise; that normally requires a Ph.D.
• Two choices for one fee: Each application is for one program. After submitting and paying for your first, you can submit a second for the same term at no extra cost; each further application costs CAD 140.16. You could apply to B.A. Psychology and the Science Biological group, for example. You cannot change the program after submitting; if you chose wrongly, you need a new application.
• Honours later on: After PSYC 204 (statistics, unless exempt), 211, 213, 215 and 305, you can apply to Honours Psychology. Program courses need at least a C, and Honours students are expected to get a B or better in Honours courses.

2. Academic requirements: Canadian high schools outside Quebec and Ontario (including BC)

• How you are assessed: McGill calculates the average of your top five academic Grade 12 courses, which must include your program’s prerequisites and Grade 12 English (or French, depending on your school). Science and math prerequisites should normally be completed within five years. You need a high school diploma that gives access to university in your province before classes start.
• B.A. Psychology: Grade 12 English only (English Studies 12 or similar in BC). Past minimum admission ranges: top five average in the high 80s to low 90s, English in the mid to high 80s.
• B.Sc. Psychology (Biological group): Grade 12 English, Grade 12 math (precalculus or calculus) and two of Biology, Chemistry or Physics. In BC these are Pre-Calculus 12 or Calculus 12, Anatomy & Physiology 12, Chemistry 12 and Physics 12. Past minimum ranges: both the top five and math and science averages in the low to mid 90s.
• B.A. & Sc. Psychology: the same prerequisites as Science. Past minimum ranges: top five in the high 80s to low 90s, math and science and English each in the mid to high 80s.
• IB and AP: IB students are also assessed on their top five average and self-report marks as percentages; final IB and AP results may earn McGill advanced standing credit.
• Self-reporting: Everyone self-reports grades on the McGill Applicant Portal and uploads an unofficial transcript, listing all Grade 11 and 12 courses. There are two periods: January 6 to February 1 (optional; refusals are generally not issued then) and March 1 to May 1 (mandatory). If you do not get a decision in the first period, you must update your grades in the second.
• Ontario students: McGill uses your top six 4U/4M courses, with at least four of them and all prerequisites at 4U; Science requires 4U English, Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U) and two 4U sciences. Past ranges for Arts were in the high 80s to low 90s for both the top six and English, and low to mid 90s for the Science Biological group. The deadline is also February 1, with self-reporting from February 1 to March 1 and April 1 to May 15.
• Quebec CEGEP students: assessed on the R-Score, with a March 1 deadline. Past minimums: Arts overall R-Score 27.5 and English 26.0; Science Biological group 30.4 overall and 30.4 in math and science. Biology, psychology and statistics are recommended for psychology.
• Fees: McGill has three fee categories: Quebec residents, Canadians from outside Quebec, and international students. Students at Canadian high schools who are not citizens or permanent residents pay international fees, and the status you declare must be valid when you apply; pending citizenship or PR does not count.

3. Academic requirements: high schools in China

• What is reviewed: your Senior 1 and 2 grades and Senior 3 midyear grades, plus all Huikao (academic proficiency test) results in numeric or letter format.
• Minimum grades: normally averages of 85% or higher in each year and in all prerequisites; many programs are more competitive, and meeting the minimum does not guarantee admission.
• Prerequisites: none for B.A. Psychology; the B.Sc. (Biological group) and B.A. & Sc. require mathematics and two of biology, chemistry or physics through senior high school, with Huikao results.
• Pass/fail Huikao: if your Huikao results are qualified/unqualified, add SAT, ACT or AP results (McGill’s preference), or otherwise school graduation exam results or your class rank; students from provinces without the Huikao, such as Hubei, must present external exam results such as the SAT. The SAT cannot replace the Huikao.
• Gaokao: if you write it, send McGill the final official results. If admitted, your school must send a final transcript, graduation certificate and all final Huikao results, and you are expected to keep up your performance.
• Uploads: all academic documents are uploaded to the Applicant Portal.

4. English requirements

You do not need to submit English scores if you have lived and attended school for at least four consecutive years in a country where English is the primary language (Canada, including Quebec, counts). Other exemptions include a DEC from an English CEGEP, IB English A with a 5 or better and A-Level English with a C or better. Otherwise, choose one of the following, sent directly to McGill by the test provider:

• IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall, no band below 6.0. Only electronic results are accepted; no paper TRFs or One Skill Retake. McGill warns that some test centres are slow to send results.
• TOEFL iBT: for tests from January 21, 2026, Arts, Science and B.A. & Sc. require 4.5 overall with 4.5 in Reading, Listening and Writing and 4.0 in Speaking; for earlier tests, 90 overall with 21 in each section. MyBest scores are not used. Institution code 0935-00.
• Duolingo English Test: 125.
• PTE Academic: 65 overall, no part below 60.
• CAEL: 70 overall, no part below 60.

French is not required for admission to psychology or for graduation; optional French courses are available.

5. Transferring from a university or college

• Deadlines: from a university in Canada, apply by May 1 with documents by June 1; from a university outside Canada, apply by January 15 with documents by April 30.
• What is reviewed: all university, college and CEGEP work, plus high school for applicants in their first year of university; courses relevant to the program carry particular weight. Many programs admit transfers only as space allows, and standards vary a lot from year to year.
• Prerequisites: none for Arts; Science requires one semester each of differential and integral calculus and two semesters of biology, chemistry and/or physics with labs.
• Past minimum CGPA: 3.8 (out of 4.0) for Arts in 2024 and 3.8 for the Science Biological group in 2024; both are listed as N/A for 2025 and 2026. B.A. Psychology again requires a separate application.
• Other rules: you are normally not eligible for a subject you have already studied extensively; you must complete at least 60 credits at McGill for a degree; transfer credit is assessed only after you accept the offer and pay the deposit, and most programs accept at most 6 credits of online courses. Study at non-university institutions such as technical colleges may not count, so BC college students should check that their courses are university-level.
• Note: transfer students are not eligible for entrance scholarships and cannot request reconsideration of a refusal.

6. Timeline for September 2027 entry

• October 1, 2026: Online applications open; the fee is CAD 140.16.
• Saturday, October 24, 2026: McGill Open House; the Psychology department is in the SSMU University Centre, room 201B.
• From mid-November 2026: decisions for high schools outside Canada and the U.S., including China, through mid-May 2027.
• January 15, 2027: application deadline for students in China and for transfers from universities outside Canada.
• January 21, 2027: Major Entrance Scholarship and Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong Entrance Scholarship deadline for students in China.
• Mid-January to mid-May 2027: decisions for high schools in BC and other provinces (Ontario: mid-February to end of May).
• February 1, 2027: application deadline for BC, other provinces and Ontario.
• February 7, 2027: Major Entrance Scholarship deadline for Canadian high school students.
• March 1, 2027: document deadline for students in China; application deadline for Quebec CEGEP students.
• May 1, 2027: end of the second self-reporting period outside Quebec and Ontario; application deadline for transfers from Canadian universities (decisions early May to mid-July).
• May 4, 2027: document deadline for Canadian and Ontario high school students.
• After admission: confirm with a non-refundable deposit, CAD 500 for Canadian citizens and permanent residents and CAD 1,000 for international students, credited to your fees. International students need a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) before a study permit; Quebec has capped international student numbers, and McGill expects that admitted international students who choose McGill will not be refused a CAQ because its allotment is used up. High school applicants who are refused can request reconsideration within two weeks.

7. Scholarships

• One-year entrance scholarships: CAD 3,000, considered automatically for applicants who meet the academic minimum.
• Major Entrance Scholarships: CAD 12,000–48,000 in total (CAD 3,000–12,000 a year, renewable for up to four years), with a separate application, judged first on academics and then on leadership (more than simple participation); the CAD 12,000-a-year awards are for Canadian citizens and permanent residents only.
• Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong Entrance Scholarship: CAD 10,000 for one year, for Chinese citizens or Hong Kong permanent residents applying from the Chinese Mainland or Hong Kong; Canadian permanent residents are not eligible. A separate application is required.
• You can hold only one centrally administered entrance scholarship; if offered several, you keep the highest.

Checklist

Students at Canadian high schools:

• Online application, with two free choices among B.A. Psychology, the Science Biological group or the B.A. & Sc.
• Grade 12 English, plus Grade 12 math and two sciences for the B.Sc. or B.A. & Sc.
• Self-reported grades on the Applicant Portal (optional January 6 to February 1, mandatory March 1 to May 1) and an uploaded transcript
• An English test score if you have studied in Canada for fewer than four consecutive years

Students at high schools in China:

• Transcript for Senior 1 to Senior 3 first semester, all Huikao results, and Gaokao results if you write it
• SAT, ACT or AP results if your Huikao is pass/fail or not offered
• IELTS, TOEFL, Duolingo, PTE or CAEL scores
• Scholarship application by January 21

Transfer students:

• Transcripts from every institution attended (plus high school for first-year university students)
• For Science, confirmation of calculus and lab science courses

Sources: McGill University, Psychology (Faculty of Arts); Psychology (Faculty of Science); Psychology (Bachelor of Arts and Science); How to apply; Canadian high schools outside Quebec and Ontario; Ontario high schools; Quebec CEGEP; China (PRC) Senior High School Graduation Diploma; University applicants; English language proficiency; Admission decision dates; Important updates; Entrance scholarships; Psychology B.A. programs; Psychology B.Sc. programs; Psychology FAQ. Information is for September 2027 entry; admission grade ranges are from previous years and for reference only. Check McGill for the latest details.