One-Year Entrance Scholarships

McGill's Scholarships and Student Aid Office offers merit-based entrance scholarships to first-time university students entering a full-time undergraduate degree program. There are two centrally-administered types: One-Year Scholarships (non-renewable, $3,000) and Major Entrance Scholarships (renewable, $12,000–$48,000 total). The One-Year Entrance Scholarship is awarded solely on the basis of academic achievement — no leadership or extracurricular component is considered, unlike the Major Entrance Scholarship. Students who apply for a Major Entrance Scholarship but do not receive one are automatically considered instead for the One-Year Scholarship, so there's no risk of missing out by applying for the higher award.

One-time award of $3,000 CAD (non-renewable)

Recipients entering in September are guaranteed one of their top three residence building choices (provided they apply by the residence application deadline)

Eligible for priority registration for their first year of study

Recipients are considered one part of a potentially larger financial aid package, alongside government aid, McGill Work Study, and external awards

Must be a first-time university student entering a full-time undergraduate degree program at McGill

Transfer, Mature, Diploma, Exchange, Special, Part-time, and Visiting students are NOT eligible

Must meet minimum academic requirements (which vary by educational system — e.g., for Ontario high school applicants: minimum 97% overall average on 3U/3M/4U/4M courses and/or top 1% class rank; for other systems, comparable high-percentile academic standards apply — see McGill's Academic Requirements page for exact figures by curriculum)

Meeting minimum requirements does NOT guarantee an award — final funding depends on scholarship budget and relative applicant pool

Effective Fall 2026: CEGEP students admitted ONLY to BCL/JD (Law), Dent-P (Dentistry), or Med-P (Medicine) will no longer be eligible for this scholarship; students admitted to one of these programs plus another eligible program remain eligible for consideration but forfeit the award if they ultimately accept a Law, Medicine, or Dentistry offer

Recipients can receive only one McGill centrally-administered entrance scholarship (the highest eligible offer, if multiple would otherwise apply)