At the start of the application, we ask for personal information about you. Recognizing that everyone’s journey to graduate school is different, this information helps our selection committees understand some of the influences that helped shape who you are today.

The questions will relate to your:

• Family Information
• Current and Previous Education
• Scholarships, Awards, and Distinctions
• Languages Spoken

McGill Programs of Interest

In addition to applying for the McCall MacBain Scholarships, you will need to apply separately for admission to compatible programs at McGill University. For the 2026 application, most eligible programs will begin in Fall 2027 with a few starting in Summer 2027. Scholarship offers will be conditional upon acceptance by and enrolment in an eligible degree.

You can list up to five McGill programs in this section.

Visit the McGill Graduate Applicants website or the BCL/JD, DMD, and MDCM sites for more information about applying to the university.

Other Programs of Interest

You can also list other graduate and professional programs outside of McGill that you are considering at this time.

Standardized Test (optional)

If you have already taken a standardized admission test (e.g. CASPER, DAT, GMAT, GRE, LSAT) required for admission to a McGill program you are considering, you can include the information.

Career Interests

You can list up to three career interests.

You’ll be asked to share your community activities, extra-curricular activities, work history, and any breaks you’ve taken. We want to understand more about how you spend your time outside of the classroom.

Generally, you will be asked for activities or experiences that have occurred within the last five years. Some of these activities and experiences may overlap.

• Up to 4 community engagement activities, including campus activities
• Up to 3 intellectual, academic, and/or creative works you have (co-)created or developed
• Up to 5 co-op terms and activities during breaks between academic years, if you graduated in 2021 or later
• Up to 5 paid work experiences, such as part-time jobs during the academic year, entrepreneurial endeavours, or full-time employment

Remember, there is no one right set of activities. We want to know about your responsibilities, accomplishments, and motivations. Similar to other parts of the application, we’ll be looking for evidence of the selection criteria in some of the experiences you share with us.

Your activities do not need to be related to your academic interests.

You’ll need to provide verifiers for your Campus or Community Activities, one Leadership Experience, and one Volunteer Role. A verifier is someone who can verify your involvement. Please let your verifiers know our selection committees or staff might contact them.

You must have two reference forms completed before the application deadline:

• One academic reference from someone who knows your academic work well
• One community reference from someone who knows your community involvement well.

Request references via the online application. Once you have added their information and clicked "Send to Recommender," your reference writers will receive an email from [email protected]. The email contains a unique link to access the reference form in our online system. ​​​​

Who should I ask?
The academic reference form should be completed by someone who knows your academic work well. Alternatively, if you are applying for a program that does not require an academic reference (like the MBA), you can send the academic reference request to a work contact.

The community reference form should be completed by someone who knows your community involvement. For example, this could be someone at an organization where you volunteered, someone from school / work, a sports coach, a mentor, etc.

Do not ask family members, fellow students, or friends to complete the reference forms.

How do I choose who to ask?
Please ask people who know you well. A good reference provides concrete examples to help us better understand you, how you meet the selection criteria, current areas of improvement, and how your proposed studies might benefit your continued growth.

When are the reference forms due?
The reference writers must complete their online forms by the application deadline. They will need to fill out the forms directly, responding to specific questions. Please ask them early!

Can the reference forms be submitted in another language?
The responses must be written in English or French.

Can I see or receive a copy of the reference after it has been submitted?
No, the responses are submitted confidentially by your reference writer. However, you will receive an email confirming the submission of the reference form.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your reference completes the online form by the application deadline; otherwise, your application will be considered incomplete.

The endorsement process is different for Canadian applicants (Canadian citizens, Canadian permanent residents, or those with accepted refugee status in Canada) and for international applicants (all other applicants).

For Canadian applicants, current students and recent graduates (those who graduated in 2024, 2025, or 2026) must be endorsed by their university.  In most cases, Canadian applicants do not need to contact their university to request the endorsement. Institution-specific instructions may be provided at the start of the McCall MacBain Scholarship application or on the institution’s website.

Canadian applicants who graduated in 2023 or earlier apply directly without endorsement.

International applicants must seek endorsement if they are current students or recent graduates. 

International applicants who graduated in 2023 or earlier from a Canadian university or a participating university abroad apply directly without endorsement. However, international applicants who did not attend a Canadian or participating university abroad must seek endorsement from their university, regardless of the year of graduation.

International applicants from Canadian universities or participating universities abroad do not need to contact their university to request the endorsement unless instructed, either at the start of the McCall MacBain Scholarship application or on the institution’s own website or other communication channels.

Short-answer questions

1. Tell us one activity or pursuit you used to dedicate a significant amount of time to but no longer do. (105 characters max)
2. Tell us two goals you are currently working towards, outside of your academic pursuits. (105 characters max)
3. Tell us three things about you that tell us about who you are that have not come across in the rest of your application. (105 characters max)

Short essay questions

1. a) Tell us how your community or communities have influenced you, and, if relevant, how they have shaped the choices you have made so far in your postsecondary path. (225 words max)b) Describe why you’ve chosen the specific McGill program(s) listed in the "Interests" section and how you hope the program(s) will lay the foundation for your long-term goals and aspirations. (225 words max)
2. In order of importance, please list up to three leadership roles you have taken on within a team in the last five years (ending January 2021 or later). If you have had more than three leadership roles, choose the ones that are most significant in terms of impact, complexity of the work, team size, time invested, and/or lessons learned. Select one of these experiences as the topic for your leadership essay. For this experience:
   • Briefly describe your role, key responsibilities, and those of your team. (50 words)
   • Were you elected, appointed, hired, or a founder? Has your role changed over time? (25 words)
   • What were the team’s goals and how did you lead the team to achieve them? What were the results? (100 words)
   • Describe a challenge, setback, or failure your team faced and how you responded. (50 words)
   • What did you learn? What, if anything, would you do differently? (50 words)
3. Please list up to three volunteer roles or positions of service to your community in the last five years (ending in January 2021 or later), that have been most significant in terms of the time you have invested and / or the impact you have had. Select one of these experiences as the topic for your contribution essay. Briefly describe the purpose of the activity/organization and your contribution. Who or what prompted you to get involved? What contributions did you make? How has your involvement impacted you and others? (250 words max)
4. Tell us about a significant "course correction" or pivot you have made in your life. For example, this could be a change in how you work with or motivate others, a change in your academic path, a change in how you approach challenges, or a change you made to help you grow. What led you to choose a new course of action and what did you learn about yourself in the process? (250 words max)

Upload a one-page resumé. Your resumé must be a PDF file with a minimum font size of 10. Please do not include photos.

Your resumé provides a one-page summary of what you’ve shared in other sections of the application, such as your academic, professional, and community experiences. Begin your resume with a short bio or professional summary (1-2 sentences) highlighting your background and strengths.

You can use this single page to highlight what is most important to you in your experiences, and to share other information that may not have been included in the rest of your application.

If you are returning to school after being in the workforce, this section allows you to provide a more in-depth version of your work history.

You’ll be asked to upload all transcripts (PDF files) from your university studies. We accept both official and unofficial transcripts.

Transcripts in languages other than English or French must be accompanied by a translation. For the scholarship application, the translation does not need to be certified. Submit both the transcript and its translation as one PDF. You can use free online tools to merge files.

You’ll also be asked to provide your most recent undergraduate cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. Use McGill's Educational credentials and grade equivalencies page for guidance on GPA conversion from the most commonly used grading systems for each country. If your university's GPA equivalency is not listed, input 0.

Keep in mind that we are not solely focusing on your GPA. While GPA is important, we are interested in the fit with your proposed McGill programs, as well as the breadth and difficulty of the courses taken alongside your other commitments. Of course, we recognize that some programs offer more opportunity for breadth than others.

You can provide context (50 words max) for your university transcripts, if needed, under Additional Information.

You’ll be asked to sign an application waiver and review required fields that might be missing.

Take time to review your application before clicking Submit Application.

Applications will be reviewed after the deadline, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted to participate in regional interviews.

Shortlisted candidates will be notified approximately two weeks before the interview date for their region.