My Exchange at McGill University
My time at McGill was amazing overall. Montreal is a wonderful city, and McGill is a great university! That’s not to say it was all sunshine and rainbows though. My first few days there were rough, I wanted to go home straight away and I got little to no support from the host university. I had been put in accommodation that turned out to be majority post-grad students, and it was quite dirty and old – not what I was expecting! I didn’t meet anyone in my first two days there, but then went to the orientation and met some people who told me they were living in “University Hall,” an all-exchange-student accommodation. I asked the residence office if they had any rooms available and thankfully someone had just moved out. It was a lot more expensive than my original room but definitely worth the extra cost! My advice for anyone going to McGill in the future is to request either University Hall or 506 Pine Avenue for accommodation. These residences had great vibes and were close to dining halls which came in handy. The food at the dining halls was overall good, definitely better than my first-year halls at Auckland. I enjoyed mealtimes as they were an opportunity for socialising and would often lead to hanging out with others afterwards! I did however miss cooking my own food, but not too much as I was too busy doing other things. After the first few hard days, I started to meet people and get out and about. Additionally, support from my family and 360 staff back home was super helpful. I found it really helpful doing touristy things around the city, and other people who had just arrived were keen on this too! We watched an ice hockey game, had a snowball fight, and walked around the city and old port in the first few days.
Then, people who had been there for the first semester started to move back into accommodation and the vibe definitely changed. Another piece of advice for future exchange students would be to go in the first semester of the host university’s year, rather than halfway through. I found it much harder to make friends as groups were already formed, and the orientation was apparently much better and more helpful at the beginning of the year. This wasn’t detrimental to my exchange, but if I were to do it over again I would definitely choose the fall semester instead.
In terms of logistics like studying and finances, I probably didn’t pay enough attention to details before leaving NZ. I should have planned a bit more for my first few days, done a bit more research about the city, and definitely should have made a firmer budgeting plan. I assumed that the cost of living would be less than in NZ, as in most places I’ve visited this seemed to be the case. I was very wrong. Rent was around 360 NZD a week, then on top of that you had to pay 1570 NZD for the semester meal plan which only covered one meal a day, if that. Groceries were more expensive than home, and of course you have to pay tax on everything and then tip if you go out for meals. My advice would definitely be to have more money saved than you could ever possibly need because you’ll probably use it. Especially if you want to do fun activities like skiing, travelling to nearby cities, or even going on a fun reading week trip (I went to Guatemala!). While you’re obviously in your host city to study, it’s also an awesome opportunity to travel around and see and experience as much as you can. But don’t forget about your studies! I probably didn’t spend quite enough time going to classes or revising for exams, and would definitely recommend engaging in classes for your first few weeks in order to form connections. Also, look closely at the class sizes when enrolling in courses, as I ended up in a few awkwardly small classes which I would have swapped out of had I known their size. The teaching style was very different to Auckland, and one thing that really shocked me was the fact that people actually put their hand up in lectures!
Student life at McGill was the best part of my exchange. Almost every night of the week there was something on, whether that be extracurricular sports, a drinking event, or something else. The exchange students were really good at getting stuck in with everything, and it was super fun forming bonds with the people you’d meet at all of these student-led events. A highlight of the student life was this thing called OAP (Open Air Pub), where the engineering students run a mini festival on the university front lawn. Montreal itself is full of life, even when its -30 degrees! People there just know how to deal with the cold and don’t let it stop them from having a good time. And once it got warm, which happened very suddenly halfway through April, the city came to life even more.
I can’t recommend McGill enough, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and would have stayed for another semester or longer if I could have! I am more than happy to be put in touch with future exchange students as I would love to help other people make the most of everything Montreal has to offer.
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
Students at McGill actually engaged with the content of classes and contributed ideas, which I found to be strange. The conferences were quite fun, and I found that teaching assistants were really good at facilitating discussions.
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
In terms of extracurricular activities, the ski club and skiing, the outdoors club, and the Intramural sports were super fun. We made an exchange student sports team and competed in social tournaments throughout the semester which was really fun! As for other university-run activities, Bar Des Arts (BDA) on a Thursday night, and Blues Engineering bar are both really fun events, which you can follow up with a trip to Gerts, the student bar. Also OAP (Open Air Pub), which happens in the summer is so good.
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
- If you’re going to McGill, try to get into either University Hall or 506 Pine Avenue residences. These both house only exchange students which was so much fun and made making friends a lot easier.
- Don’t take too much stuff from NZ, it won’t survive the Canadian winter. Hire a car and take a trip to Walmart/IKEA/a good op shop on the first day you’re there, you’ll save so much money.
- Make the most of Montreal’s location, it’s a bus-ride away from Ottawa, Toronto, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and plenty of other places.
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?
I can’t remember exactly what I budgeted, as I was nowhere near organised enough in this department, but I would say I planned to need approximately 20,000 NZD for all costs including travelling afterwards for around a month. I think this is about right, but I would say you want to have at least 30% more than you think you’ll need for security.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
- Things pass. Even if it feels like the end of the world, whether that be homesickness, physical illness, or other challenges, you’ll make it through.
- Nobody is immune to culture shock, even if you think you like change, change will still have an impact on you.
- New Zealand is so so so far away from the rest of the world.
- New Zealand is so small.
- New Zealand is so beautiful and peaceful.
- Even fully grown adults can engage in high-school-like drama.
- It’s crazy how quickly you can adjust to new things, start getting into new habits, and start to call a brand new place home.
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
Over my spring break, I went to New York and then flew on to Guatemala! It was the most insane experience and taught me so much. Just because the world portrays a certain narrative of a place, doesn’t mean it’s true.