How to Get Into McGill From Vietnam: Grades, English, CAQ

What McGill looks at from a Vietnamese applicant

McGill lists Vietnam under other international high schools, with the credential named as “Bàng Tót Nghiêp Phó Thông Trung Hoc (Upper Secondary School Graduation Certificate),” the Bằng tốt nghiệp THPT. The page states the method in one sentence: “Applicants are reviewed on their high school transcript with particular emphasis on yearly averages and results in prerequisite subjects.” And the floor: “While the minimum requirements is the equivalent of a B+ average, most programs will have higher requirements.” McGill does not publish per-program cut-offs for Vietnamese grades, and it does not convert 10-point marks to a percentage on its site.

The national graduation exam (Kỳ thi tốt nghiệp THPT) is not on McGill’s document list. It is how you earn the certificate, and the certificate is a condition of the offer. Since 2025 the Ministry decides graduation half on the exam and half on your Grade 10 to 12 school results, so the school marks McGill reads in February and the July exam that finishes your diploma are the same numbers from two directions. The offer, if it comes, arrives before the exam and is confirmed after it.

One group rule applies: “studies in applied programs or at vocational or technical high schools are not normally considered for admission.” A trường THPT qualifies; a continuing-education route to the same certificate is worth a written question to admissions first.

How to read your transcript against McGill’s table

McGill lists prerequisites by faculty on the same page. For Fall 2027 entry, checked September 2026:

The 2018 curriculum lets you choose electives from Grade 10, and the popular exam combinations drop one science. McGill does not care which combination you sit; it cares which subjects are on the Grade 12 transcript. Choose electives with the faculty in mind.

Students in international programs are read on that curriculum. IB Diploma applicants use McGill’s IB page, where “grades of 5 or better on each Higher and Standard Level subject is the minimum expected for most programs”; A-level students use the A-level page; students in the Ontario and BC offshore schools in Vietnam are read as Canadian provincial diploma applicants outside Canada, on McGill’s calculation of academic Grade 11 and 12 courses.

English: tested, not waived

McGill’s English proficiency page exempts applicants who have “lived and attended high school and/or university, for at least four consecutive years, in a country where English is the acknowledged primary language,” plus IB English (group 1) at 5, A-level English at C, or GCSE English at B. Vietnam is not on the list and a Vietnamese school in English does not count as a country. The minimums, checked September 2026:

• IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall, 6.0 in each component.
• TOEFL iBT: 90 to 100 overall with 21 per component on the old scale, depending on program; on the six-point scale used for tests from January 21, 2026, 4.5 to 5.0 overall with 4.0 to 4.5 per component.
• Duolingo English Test: 125, but 130 for the BCom and B.Ed. TESL.
• PTE Academic: 65 overall, 60 per component. CAEL: 70 overall, 60 per component.
• Cambridge: C1 Advanced at grade B or C2 Proficiency at grade C.

“Results must come directly from the examining institution to McGill; applicants are not able to upload the results.” Order the official send when you book the test, and have the score in before the March 1 document deadline.

How and when to apply for Fall 2027

You apply through the McGill Applicant Portal (future.mcgill.ca/apply) and pay a $140.16 non-refundable fee. For applicants from schools outside Canada the requirements page gives two dates: application by January 15 and supporting documents by March 1. Confirm both on McGill’s deadlines page before you plan around them. Upload the Grade 10 and 11 học bạ and the first-semester Grade 12 marks as soon as your school issues them; McGill says that “when program space is limited, preference may be given to applicants who have submitted all required supporting documents/information earlier on.” Decisions for international applicants arrive in rounds through the spring, and the offer is conditional on the final certificate and on holding your averages: “you are expected to maintain your level of academic performance through to the completion of your pre-McGill studies.”

The part of the file you control

For Arts, Science, Engineering, Management and Arts & Science there is nothing beyond the transcript and the test. No essay, no reference letter, no interview. McGill’s documents page lists the exceptions: Music (audition and extra documents), the B.A. in Population and Global Health (an activities list and three essay answers), Global Engineering (a two-page personal statement and a possible video interview), Education (language tests by specialization), and Nursing, Dietetics and Physical and Occupational Therapy (proof of French, and CASPer for the therapies). Vietnamese applicants almost never hold the French for those three, so they are off the table unless you do.

Where writing does appear for everyone is the Major Entrance Scholarship. Basic one-year entrance scholarships ($3,000) are automatic. The Major awards ($3,000 to $12,000 a year, renewable up to four years) take a separate application through the Applicant Portal, due January 21 for applicants outside Canada, and ask for a three-year activities list, “a general essay either on a contemporary or historical figure that influenced/inspired you, or on a memorable event/experience,” a one-page reference letter you write about yourself in the third person, two references on school letterhead, and a signed class-rank statement where the school keeps one. The $12,000 tier is for Canadians and permanent residents only; the lower tiers are open. McGill’s criteria page sets the bar for an overseas high school at a “minimum A average (approximately 97.0% or equivalent) over last two years of full-time study and/or rank in top 1% of class.” On a Vietnamese transcript that is a 9.5-plus student or a top-of-cohort letter.

That essay is the one piece of McGill writing worth coaching. Paste it into AcceptMe’s essay coach: it returns a verdict paragraph and notes pinned to your own sentences, tagged works, tighten or fix, which is the difference between an essay about a person you admire and one that shows how you think. The scholarship essays and interviews guide covers the self-reference letter, a form Vietnamese students have almost never been asked to write.

Money: tuition, the CAQ figure, IRCC funds

McGill guarantees an international undergraduate’s tuition rate for the length of the degree, set by the year you start. The 2026-27 tables for students admitted in Fall 2026 list annual tuition of $54,000.00 for the BA, $56,000.10 for the BA & BSc, $64,785.90 for the BSc, $65,167.50 for the BEng and $71,687.40 for the BCom, plus roughly $3,500 in fees and international health insurance. The Fall 2027 tables will be posted on the same page and will be higher; the guarantee means whichever number you enter on is the number you keep.

Two money figures matter for immigration, and Quebec’s is higher. McGill’s CAQ FAQ says “Immigration Quebec expects single adult students to have at least $24,617 to cover their living expenses (‘basic needs’),” on top of tuition and a return ticket. IRCC’s financial support page sets $23,448 outside Quebec from September 1, 2026, and for Quebec defers to the provincial amount. Show the Quebec figure.

The study permit, with the Quebec step first

Quebec’s student authorizations page is explicit about order: apply for the Québec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) “as soon as you obtain your letter of admission,” then “submit your application for a study permit to the Government of Canada as soon as you receive your letter confirming the issuance of your CAQ.” McGill puts standard CAQ processing at 25 business days from the day Quebec confirms it has your documents. In the rest of Canada the school issues a provincial attestation letter; IRCC’s document list says Quebec “requires a Quebec Acceptance Certificate instead.” Under the 2026 cap notice Quebec received 93,069 application spaces of the national 180,000 for students who need an attestation, so the province is not the bottleneck; the sequence is.

The Student Direct Stream closed on November 8, 2024; everyone now uses the regular stream. IRCC data reported by ApplyBoard put approvals for Vietnamese applicants at 64% in 2024, above a national rate IRCC said had dropped to 42% by mid-2025. Accept in April, file the CAQ that week, and the permit the day the CAQ letter lands.

Mistakes applicants from Vietnam make

• Waiting for the exam score. McGill decides on school marks in the spring. Upload the học bạ early; the certificate comes later.
• Choosing exam electives before choosing a faculty, and arriving in Grade 12 without the second science McGill wants.
• Uploading test scores. McGill takes IELTS and TOEFL only from the test provider.
• Missing January 21 for the Major Entrance Scholarship because the admission deadline is January 15 and the two get confused.
• Assuming the CAQ is part of the study permit. It is a separate Quebec application that comes first.
• Applying to Nursing or Dietetics without the French proficiency McGill requires for those programs only.

Where to go next

Your transcript reads differently in each city. The UBC admission guide for Vietnamese students covers the 8.0 floor UBC has quoted and the Personal Profile that McGill does not ask for, and the U of T admission guide for Vietnamese students covers the Rotman Commerce and Engineering timed videos. The by-country guide to Canadian university admissions for international applicants is the index for every other curriculum. If a Canadian scholarship or Sauder interview is in your plan, the university video interview questions guide is where the on-camera work starts. For McGill itself, the job is the transcript; for everything else that student is writing, AcceptMe is where the drafts get read.