Marianopolis College

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Marianopolis College
Motto: Auspice Maria
(Latin: "Under the Guidance of Mary")
Established: 1908
Type: Private
Director: Sr. Françoise Boisvert
Students: 1,800
Location: Westmount, Quebec, Canada
Nickname: Blue Demons
Mascot: Blue Demon
Affiliations: CUSID
Website: http://www.marianopolis.edu
Marianopolis.jpg

Marianopolis College is a private subsidized college nestled against the side of Mount Royal in Westmount, Quebec, Canada. It is one of the few private English language colleges in the province of Quebec, and is also one of the smallest anglophone colleges, with a student body of less than 2,000. While the college primarily offers two-year pre-university programs leading to a Diploma of Collegial Studies (DEC), a few three-year double-DEC programs are also available. These programs allow students to combine music with science, Social Science or arts.

The college's current site is at 4873 Westmount Ave in Westmount, which is in between Vendome and Villa-Maria metro stations. The college was previously situated at 3880 Côte-des-Neiges.

The programs are academically rigorous at Marianopolis, and admission is very competitive compared to most of Quebec's other colleges, especially the science programs, require an overall average of approximately 84% for the entrance.

Contents

[edit] History

Marianopolis College at its previous Côte-des-Neiges location, prior to fall 2007
Marianopolis College at its previous Côte-des-Neiges location, prior to fall 2007
Marianopolis College at new location
Marianopolis College at new location

The school was founded in 1908 by the Congrégation des femmes vierges (Congregation of sisters) as the bilingual Notre Dame Ladies College, the first institution of higher learning for English-speaking Catholic women in Quebec. Initially, it offered degrees through Université Laval, the first being offered three years after the college's founding. The degree-granting agreement was later transferred to Université de Montréal. In 1926, the school was renamed Marguerite Bourgeoys College.

During the World War II era, the English sector of the college was reorganized to be in line with anglophone universities, including programs in general science and honours chemistry. It changed its name to Marianopolis College.

Changes to the education system in Quebec caused Marianopolis to adopt a CEGEP-equivalent program in 1969. The college also began accepting male students during this time. The degree-granting program was eventually phased out in 1972.

[edit] Campus life and environment

[edit] Athletics

The Marianopolis College mascot is the Blue Demon. The athletic department is less than stellar: it doesn't have any winning record and have never captured a single championship. This is most likely due to the fact that top students are admitted purely by academic talent.

[edit] Academic life and success

Marianopolis features its own "Plan for Success", and indeed, over 90% of students are admitted to their first choice programs when applying to university. The typical course load is between 6 and 8 courses per semester. Each program has its required courses, but students are given some flexibility in choosing option courses, comprising technical electives and complementary courses outside their program. The workload is considered to be rigorous, but Marianopolis students will usually find themselves well-prepared for university.

Despite such high statistics of entrance into university, the numbers are misleading and unreliable. There have been reports of teachers passing students when their averages were between 55 and 60. Additionally, though over 90% of the students do make it into university, reports do not mention that only 79% actually make it into university after two years (hence, they did not fail any courses).

[edit] Academic programs

Each Marianopolis student is required to complete a set of general courses in addition to those required by the program into which they have been admitted.

[edit] General education component

  • 4 English (introduction/literary genres/literary themes/course adapted to program)
  • 2 French
  • 3 humanities
  • 3 physical education
  • 2 complementary

[edit] Academic programs

[edit] Academic certificates

Additionally, there are various certificate programs, which interested students need to apply for once admitted to Marianopolis. These are considered honours programs and require additional co-curricular work such as a thesis or research project, and/or that certain classes be taken. The current certificate programs include:

  • Honours Commerce
  • Honours Social Science
  • Honours Science
  • International Studies
  • Law and Social Justice
  • Third World Studies

[edit] Dean's List

Marianopolis College publishes a Dean's List every semester to honor students with high grades in the semester. To be in the Dean's List, a Marianopolis student must have an overall average of 85, take a regular course load and not fail any courses.

[edit] Marianopolis Scholars

This Marianopolis Scholars is to congratulate graduates with an overall average of at least 90 during their stay at Marianopolis.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links