NYU vs McGill for international students: How different are the undergraduate academic systems?

NYU tends to offer a more U.S.-style undergraduate structure, especially in the College of Arts and Science: students complete a broad core curriculum, explore across departments, and often have room to refine or add majors and minors after arriving. McGill is more faculty- and program-based from the outset, with course sequences and degree requirements that can make the experience feel more academically specialized earlier. The difference is most pronounced in professionally oriented programs, where both universities expect early commitment but McGill often has a more prescribed path.

At NYU, academic flexibility depends heavily on the school. CAS students have the widest latitude to take courses in fields outside their eventual major, while students in Stern, Tisch, Tandon, Nursing, and other schools enter a more defined curriculum. Changing majors within a school can be feasible, but transferring between NYU schools may involve separate requirements and is not automatic.

At McGill, students are admitted to a faculty, such as Arts, Science, Engineering, Management, or Arts and Science, and build their degree through programs such as majors, minors, concentrations, or honours options within that faculty’s rules. Arts and Science offers meaningful exploration, but Engineering and Management, for example, are structured around required sequences. Cross-faculty study is possible but can be less seamless than taking courses across divisions at NYU.