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Foundation U0

What is Freshman/ Foundation U0?

The U0 year is the first component of your B.A. degree, designed to provide a broad foundation for your further studies in the Faculty of Arts.
 

Program Requirements

  • The U0 year is usually comprised of 24 - 30 credits,
  • Incudes of 18 credits (usually 6 courses) of core requirements.

Who needs to complete U0?

 

Course options

You will choose one of the following options:

  1. General Option

    You will choose courses from the Humanities, Social Sciences, Languages, and/or Math and Sciences.

  2. Foundation Year Program Pilot (FYPP)

    Limited enrolment for the 2024/24 academic year. A slightly more structured pathway to the General option.

  3. En Français

    You will choose from a variety of courses conducted in French.

Advancing Standing Exemption

  • If you have received Advanced Standing—such as APs, IBs, ALs, or university transfer credits—you may be exempt from part or all of the B.A. Freshman/Foundation Program requirements (except for the Foundation Year Program Pilot, see below).
  • Courses taken to fulfill the core requirements in either option must be passed with a grade of “C” or better.
  • Courses must not be taken under the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade mode.
  • You are eligible to register in First-Year Seminars, which are small-enrolment classes offered by several departments exclusively for Freshman/Foundation Year students.

Course selection

  • Your courses must be chosen from those offered by the Faculty of Arts or the Faculty of Science.
    • U0 students are not permitted to take courses offered by other faculties.
    • Courses listed under another Faculty’s offerings are considered to be a Faculty of Arts courses if they are listed in the Faculty of Arts section of the eCalendar.
  • Aside from the 18 credits of core requirements, the remainder of your 24 to 30 credits in your first year at McGill (ie. U0 year) must be chosen from the Approved Freshman/Foundation Course List.
  • Your courses should generally be at the introductory level (ie. course numbers listed at the 100 or 200-level).

Further Program Requirements

  • A course taken in U0 - and/or being used towards your 18 credits of core requirements - can also count towards future program requirements (if applicable).
     

Advancing to U1

If you have earned 24 or more credits - including advanced standing credits at the time of admission - after successful completion of your first term (Fall):

  • You are eligible to advance to U1 and to select your programs of study.
  • Ensure that all of your final grades for your first term at McGill are showing on your record.
  • Submit a "Removal of Freshman/Foundation Year Program Request" form to change your year (from U0) to U1 as of the Winter term.
    • You may still request this change even if your 18 credit core requirements are not yet fully met.
       

Freshman/ Foundation courses incomplete warning

  • It's placed on the records of all newly admitted students entering the Bachelor of Arts degree with less than 24 credits:
  • It's featured at the top of your student record.
  • It indicates that Freshman/Foundation Year Program courses are in progress.
  • This is actually a warning, not a hold, and will not block you from course registration.
  • It does not prevent you from advancing to U1 if you have reached 24 or more credits.
  • It does not prevent you from declaring your programs of study if you have advanced to U1.
     

Structure of the Freshman/Foundation program

Option 1 - General Option

  • 18 credits of core requirements:
    • 6 credits in three of the following four categories:
      • Social Sciences
      • Humanities
      • Languages
      • Mathematics & Science
  • A maximum of 18 credits may be chosen from any one category (eg. Social Sciences) but no more than 12 credits may be taken in one department (eg. History).
    • Courses must be selected from the Approved Freshman/Foundation Course List.
    • Some courses may be offered under two different categories. The selected course may be used to fulfill requirements in the category needed.

I. Social Sciences

African Studies (AFRI 200 only)
Anthropology
Canadian Studies (CANS 200 only)
Economics
Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies
Geography
History
Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID)
Islamic Studies
Jewish Studies
Linguistics
Political Science
Psychology
Quebec Studies (QCST 200 only)
Sociology

II. Humanities

African Studies
Art History & Communications Studies
Canadian Studies
Catholic Studies
Classics
Communication Studies
East Asian Studies
English (and English as a Second Language)
Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies
German Studies
Hispanic Studies
History
Indigenous Studies
Islamic Studies
Italian Studies
Jewish Studies
Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Music
Philosophy
Quebec Studies
Religious Studies
Russian & Slavic Studies

LITERATURE AND CIVILIZATION courses ONLY from the following departments and programs:

Classics
East Asian Studies
German Studies
Hispanic Studies
Islamic Studies
Italian Studies
Jewish Studies
Russian Studies

III. Languages

Acquire or improve your language skills. Literature and civilization courses offered by these departments count as Humanities, not as Language courses. A placement test and/or approval from the appropriate department may be required.

Classics (Latin, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek)
East Asian Studies (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
English as a Second Language
French Language & Literature
French as a Second Language
German Studies
Hispanic Studies (Portuguese, Spanish)
Islamic Studies (Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu)
Italian Studies
Jewish Studies (Hebrew, Yiddish)
Religious Studies (New Testament Greek, Sanskrit)
Russian & Slavic Studies
(Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Armenian, Czech)

IV. Mathematics and Science

Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Earth & Planetary Sciences
Geography
Math & Statistics
Philosophy (PHIL 210 only)
Physics
Psychology (selected courses only)
Psychiatry

Option 1a - Foundation Year Program Pilot (FYPP)

The newly designed Foundation Year Program Pilot (FYPP) – offered to a limited number of newly-admitted U0 students (ie. admitted from High School) as of Fall 2024 - provides a modified structure to the usual U0 pathways (eg. General Option, or En Français), but the content is of equal weight, challenge, and complexity. 

FYPP maintains a level of flexibility similar to the General Option, allowing students to select up to three courses of their choice per term from the regular approved list of Foundation Year courses.

Structure: 

  • Required: 
    • Complexity Courses – 6 credits 
    • Writing Seminar – 3 credits 
    • Foundation Year Seminar – 3 credits 
  • Complementary: 
    • 18 credits from the Approved Freshman/Foundation Course List. 
    • Some courses may be offered under two different categories. The selected course may be used to fulfill requirements in the category needed. 
    • 6 credits in each of three of the following four categories: 
      • Social Sciences 
      • Humanities 
      • Languages 
      • Mathematics & Science 
    • A maximum of 18 credits may be chosen from any one category (eg. Social Sciences) but no more than 12 credits may be taken in one department (eg. History). 

Option 2 - En Français

  • 18 credits of core requirement of courses conducted in French.
    • Credits may be comprised entirely:
      • Of language courses; or
      • Of substantive content courses conducted in French; or
      • A combination of the two.
    • You may be required to take a proficiency test.
  • Depending on your level of proficiency:
    • Permitted to enroll in a maximum of 12 credits of intensive French language courses.
      • An intensive language course is a 6 credit term course.
    • If you are at the introductory level, you must take at least 6 credits in French in your Freshman/Foundation year, but you may be permitted to complete the remaining core requirement credits in year U1.


French Language and Literature

FREN 199
FREN 201 Le français littéraire (FLS) 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FREN 203 Analyse de textes (FLS) 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FREN 231 Linguistique française 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FREN 239 Stylistique comparée 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FREN 245 Grammaire normative 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer

French as a Second Language

FRSL 101 Beginners French 1 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 105 Intensive Beginners French 6 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 206 Elementary French 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 207 Elementary French 01 6 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 208 Intensive Elementary French 6 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 211 Oral and Written French 1 6 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 212 Oral & Written French 1 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 215 Oral&Writ French 1-Intensive 6 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 216 Course not available
FRSL 302 Listening Comp & Oral Exp 1 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 303 Listening Comp & Oral Exp 2 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 321D1 Oral and Written French 2 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 322 Oral & Written French 2 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 325 Oral&Writ French 2-Intensive 6 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 326
FRSL 332 Intermediate French:Grammar 01 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 333 Intermediate French:Grammar 02 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 407 Compréhension et exp orales 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 408 Français oral: Textes et Exp 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 431 Français fonctionnel avancé 6 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 432 Français fonctionnel 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 445 Français fonctionnel, écrit 1 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 446 Français fonctionnel, écrit 2 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
FRSL 449 Le français des médias 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer
 
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