Application.

My place at McGill has been a long time in the works. It began before I even started at university because the option to go on an international exchange was one of the real clinchers when I was deciding whether to apply to the University of Edinburgh.

Applications to be considered for the exchange happened relatively early on in second year. I hedged my bets and applied for Erasmus as well. (I was eventually offered the opportunity to study at Copenhagen.) While the process was relatively straight forward, I had no idea as to what standards I would be competing against. I knew I had strong grades and I've been involved with lots of university societies since day dot, however I assumed the most prestigious places such as Barnard or  McGill would be reserved for demi-gods. 

However, on the evening of December 19th, the night before my final exam of the semester, an email pinged into my inbox offering me a place at McGill University. I was initially in utter shock, amplified by the fact that my flatmate had received an offer to study at the same institution. While I couldn't have been more thrilled, my first feeling was really upset - my other two closest friends had also applied to the exchange system, and had heard nothing.

This offer was only the very beginning of the story, and it was made clear that this 'offer' was actually no guarantee of a place at McGill rather that Edinburgh would now begin the process of recommending me to their partner institution. All in the all it took until mid-April to be firmly accepted by McGill, having had to apply to them through their UCAS-esque system. (That was a hoot in itself, I had to name two sports I'd like to be involved in . . . figure skating, anyone?)

I'm currently liaising with the English Department at McGill as I work to finalise my course choices, at which point I'll be able to sort out my Learning Agreement and get the green light to head across the Atlantic. I won't breathe a sigh of relief just yet . . .