My Exchange at McGill University
I always intended on doing a semester exchange at university, and I waited patiently for the end of covid to finally get the opportunity to go! McGill was actually not my first choice for exchange partners, but looking back, I’m so grateful that McGill is where I ended up !
For accommodation, I signed up for university residences and chose MORE housing. I ended up in an awesome old house that was exclusively for exchange students. There was 30 of us split up amongst 4 floors, and it was so much fun living together with other exchange students from all over the world. I had a large room with a single bed, and each floor had a shared kitchen and two bathrooms. My house was also on Rue University right next campus, downtown and the food halls which was super convenient!
I found the teaching style and workload at McGill fairly similar to UoA. I think McGill is slightly more academically challenging than UoA, but it only took me a couple weeks to adjust. One difference I noticed is that McGill students are very articulate and confident to speak up in class, which is probably because participation in class discussions is expected and marked more so than at UoA. I also noticed that there was more group presentation assignments at McGill. The campus is beautiful, espcecially in autumn and winter, and has a lot of older, europeanish and castle-like buildings.
Some of my highlights from exchange were the several house parties I had in my residence, where we assigned each floor a different theme. I also did a lot of road trips to different cities in Eastern Canada and America with friends from my house, which were all a blast ! The cozy festive vibes of the holiday season in that part of the world was really enjoyable, since we don’t have as distinctive seasons or seasonal festivities here in Auckland. For example, I loved going to the Christmas markets in downtown Montréal and Québec City!
It was mandatory for exchange students in McGill residences to get a ‘meal saver plan’, which meant we had a declining balance at the dining halls and campus cafés. The food was pretty decent at the dining halls and there were multiple halls to choose from. Most nights I would go to a dining hall with a group of anywhere from 5-12 of us from the house, and we would all catch up about our days over dinner which was always super wholesome.
Montréal is a very old city by NZ and North American standards. It’s both historic and very hip at the same time, with a French charm. The city suburbs are denser and more urbanised than in Auckland. People typically live in attached houses and 2 or 3 story apartment buildings that have their staircases on the outside. They look a little bit like NY brownstone buildings. There’s always lots going on in Montrèal, and while I was there, there were actually major province-wide protests happening for better pay in Quebec’s public sector.
Before I left on an exchange, I was told that Montréal has an amazing food scene, but to be honest, I was a little bit disappointed by it. I found eating out more expensive than in NZ because of the exchange rate and tips. Nonetheless, I still had fun experiencing some classic Montréal, Canadian and North American foods, such as Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts, poutine, smoked meat sandwiches, tourtiere, tarte au sucre, mulled wine, Dairy Queen and pumpkin spice lattés!
I was quite apprehensive initially about how cold it would get in Montréal, but I actually found that the temperature in November and December was not as bad as I expected! I think the coldest it got while I was there was -7 °C, but I found the cold quite manageable as I dressed warmly, and the city is built for those negative temperatures. Montréal looked beautiful with snow anyway.
One of the challenges of my exchange was trying to effectively balance uni work with intense socialising and travelling, as well as mundane life tasks like grocery shopping and cooking. Since I had never lived away from home before my exchange, and because it was also my first time doing a full-time uni load, I found balancing these things overwhelming at times, but on the whole it was totally worth the experience of being on exchange.
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
Being able to take courses in subjects that aren’t on offer at UoA. Working in group projects with Canadian students and getting to learn more about their lives living in Canada as well as their views on world issues from Canadian perspectives. I also took free French-speaking workshops through McGill, which was a great way to maintain my French level and immerse myself in the francophone culture of Montréal!
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
Canada is renown for its great outdoors, so I definitely recommend getting out in nature and doing some hikes! In the colder months, I recommend ice skating, skiing and tobogganing. Montréal has several ice rinks downtown that you can skate on. Going to watch your university’s ice hockey team play is also a must 🙂 In the summer months, I recommend hiking and canoeing.
McGill University offered free french language workshops for all levels which is definitely unique to Montréal and Quebec province.
McGill is also located at the base of Mont Royal, which is a beautiful place to go for walks, especially in autumn, as the fall colours are absolutely amazing !
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
Get on Duolingo or take some beginner French lessons before you come to Montréal. Most people speak English downtown, but all public signage and announcements are in French and don’t always have English translations. Saying small polite words like ‘bonjour’ and ‘merçi’ instead of in English will warm locals to you as a foreigner because the Québécois are very protective and passionate of their French language – but make sure to switch quickly into English afterwards, because otherwise they will think you want to be completely spoken to in French.
Be aware of the tipping culture in Canada. Most of the time when eating out, cafés and restaurants will expect a 10-20% tip. GST is also NOT included on the advertised prices of things, which is different to NZ. So when you go to pay, the actual price will be higher than what an item says on its tag.
I don’t think it’s worth wasting space in your suitcase over to Canada with big winter jackets when you can buy better quality and more affordable jackets while you’re in the country. That being said, most of the other exchange students I was friends with just used jackets they had brought over with them, and they were happy with that. So it’s up to you what you would prefer to do 🙂
How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?
The trips I did out of my host city were the most expensive part of my exchange (next to airfares and accommodation). Be conscious of the exchange rates as well – converting from NZD to CAD is not too bad, but USD is much stronger than NZD. Be aware that you are paying almost double what you would in NZ when you go to America. So if money is tight, I would recommend keeping your trips within Canada. I definitely recommend using a Wise card – it’s especially great if you’re other exchange friends are also using Wise because it’s super easy and fast to transfer money to each other, and it doesn’t charge you a transfer fee!
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
The Māori proverb ‘He aha te mea nui o tea ao? He tangata he tangata, he tangata!’
(translation: What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people!’) really rang true for me on exchange. The people you meet, who you become friends with, and who you invest your energy into, can really make or break your experience on exchange, and I think the same thing is true now of travelling in general. I was lucky enough to make some great friends who enriched my experience abroad deeply.
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
All the trips I did with friends outside of my host city was the highlight of my exchange. Montréal is in a such a great location to be able to access other cool cities and places. I visited Parc National de la Mauricie, Tadoussac, Quebec City, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Burlington, Boston, the White Mountains and New York City! I also visited Vancouver and Vancouver Island on my way to Montréal at the start of my exchange.
Tags: 2023, Global Studies, Report