I was completely satisfied with my semester abroad in Canada. The application couldn’t have been easier and you received sufficient information from the university in advance and always had a contact person on hand. All of my emails were processed promptly and all of my questions were answered. It didn’t take long before I was accepted and was able to choose from the wide range of courses at the university. I’m studying law, but I wanted to use this semester to think outside the box and try out other fields. In the end, I chose a mixture of law, psychology and Sociology. At first you had to find your way around the website, but MicroEDU provides detailed instructions so that you can get a complete overview in a little time. I really struggled to choose between all of the courses, but I was also delighted with the choices. Get more student review on Saint Mary’s University on maternityetchic.
My semester started at the beginning of January. You could register in advance for a pick-up service and then be brought from the airport to your accommodation completely free of charge. Of course, I took advantage of this offer. I was expecting an old shuttle bus in which you wait half an hour with your luggage on your lap until all the seats are occupied. But when I landed in Halifax and said my name, I only had to wait 2 minutes and was then picked up by my very own chauffeur. He was wearing a suit and opened the door to the Town Car limousine for me so that I could make myself comfortable on the large, comfortable back seat. We drove for about half an hour and then he dropped me off at my accommodation.
I rented a room from a woman at home. She had a big house and was renting two rooms out to all kinds of people through AirBnB. She herself was an artist, so there were great paintings of her everywhere. It was a 30-minute walk or a 10-minute bus ride to the university. For me that was perfectly fine and I liked the location and area very much. But you also have the option of being on campus to stay. There you can either get your own room or share one. The rents are generally quite high and I was more than happy to have found such a large room with a private bathroom for relatively little money ($ 650). On campus you pay a little more and usually don’t have a kitchen, so you have to eat in the cafeteria every day. Of course, you have to know yourself what you prefer. In case of doubt, my variant was the cheaper one, but of course the accommodation on campus offers the authentic student life and it is also not bad to be cooked for every day.
In general, I have to say that you should know what you are getting yourself into when traveling to Canada in the winter. I think that for some people the summer semester would be more recommendable. During my time in Halifax there was a big snow storm that closed the university for several days. I found it really exciting to witness this time and first run into a wall of snow when you open the front door. The winter semester is more inviting to cozy film evenings with friends than to excessive party nights (although there is still the possibility for the toughest ones). After I really thought on a hiking trip that my toes had died from the cold, I skipped one or two dates and preferred to stay in my warm bed.
Since attendance is compulsory for the courses, you went to the university every day and thus got the necessary portion of fresh air. I was really enthusiastic about my courses. You really bought the passion from the professors and that motivated you again. The system is very schooled in Canada and you often had to write a paper or take part in class. The number of students varied greatly depending on the course, so that sometimes I sat in the same room with 130 other people, sometimes only when I was 40.
In summary, I am really happy to have had the opportunity to study in Canada. I made great friends, I was in good contact with my lecturers and if you try hard, you will be really rewarded in terms of grades.
