Post: #1

Whats up playas. This is my first post and I've been waiting a long time to ask your opinions. I am wanting to study abroad next fall, and was hoping for advice on different schools/areas of Canada that would be cool for a 25 year old white kid from Wisconsin to live for a semester. I have my mind pretty much set on Canada unless someone can convince of going somewhere in usa.

Canadian school options are limited. Here is my list of schools I am interested in: Bishops Uni (Sherbrooke, Quebec), Calgary Uni, Prince George BC, Regina, Sask, a school in Newfoundland opposite of St johns, and Sydney, Nova Scotia.

I think I would most prefer Sherbrooke, as I have heard great things about Quebec and it is a decent size city, but I speak no French. Appart from Regina, Sherbrooke, and Calgary, all the towns have less than 100k people.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Post: #2

What kind of experience are you looking for?

Post: #3

(02-01-2012 04:25 PM)Luckystar Wrote:  What kind of experience are you looking for?

Well, I guess a different experience than I'm familiar with which consists of living and studying in a town of 100k mostly fat white people. Though, I have lived in the Fort Lauderdale are for about a year. I know Canada isnt going to differ much in that aspect. But you helped me answer own of my own questions. I think I need a decent sized city. So now I'm thinking Regina, Calgary, or Sherbrooke.

My interests are obviously meeting girls, but also meeting people in general with different and varied perspectives. I like the outdoors and shit, but if I have a gym to play basketball and a place to practice Brazilian Jiujitsu then I'm good. I dont require much more than that. Oh yeah, I love to party, drink, do drugs, ect. Maybe not so much clubs and shit because I'm not comfortable being all GQ'd. Just not my thing, I feel like a phoney. I have more of the earthy i dont give a fuck vibe. Sexy huh?? Hmm, not sure what else, I hope that give you something to work with.

Post: #4

Hotshit, if you are looking to play basketball and you are looking for a change from being surrounded by white people, you might want to check out Halifax, Nova Scotia. It has the largest indigenous black population in Canada. All though when you arrive at the airport this won't be evident, you will see them in droves in their communities. North Preston etc. I've been up there quite a few times and you should be able to fulfill all your needs of getting drunk, playing ball. Not sure about the jujitsu but you should be abel to take up some boxing while out there.

Cons:

It's overcast there quite a lot and it rains.

Pros:

Lizards are apparently easy. I always went there to visit a lizard I was seeing and she was possessive so I never got a chance to wet mine in others but she used to complain of guys always been able to bang easily there plus others have told me it's a goldmine.

Good seafood. Quite friendly people. They say the Eastern Canadians are the most polite and friendly of ALL canadians.

Maybe scotian can chime in on this as he is a native...?

Post: #5

can you go to europe?

Post: #6

lol its not that I want to be surrounded by black people, but you know, a little diversity never hurt. Im hoping that Canadians in general will have a different perspective than Americans anyways. BUT I would have really liked to go to Halifax or St. John, unfortunately both the schools in those provinces are on the other side of those main cities.

I could go to Europe, but it would be expensive as hell. The program I want to do is a part of something called National Student Exchange, which includes all of the US, some Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. This way I can pay my regular schools tuition while attending another school. I would totally go to Puerto Rico, but you must be fluent in Spanish.

Thoughts on Regina, Calgary, Sherbrooke, or the hick towns in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland?

Post: #7

I hear Mcgill University in Montreal,QC is very good. Montreal is the number one Canadian city, if you're looking for the hottest chicks in Canada.

Post: #8

...

Post: #9

Do not go anywhere in Ontario. Just don't. You should probably also avoid British Columbia.

Montreal should be your goal, and not just for the women. If you can't swing that, according to people on the forum, Winnepeg and Calgary are pretty good.

Post: #10

For Montreal, if you can't get into McGill take a look at Concordia.

I admit that I did not read your post very well the first time. Are you restricted to those schools because of your major or the program? If so, I'd probably go for Calgary since it is the largest city on your list and has gotten surprisingly favorable reviews here.

Post: #11

(02-01-2012 04:20 PM)HotShit Wrote:  Whats up playas. This is my first post and I've been waiting a long time to ask your opinions. I am wanting to study abroad next fall, and was hoping for advice on different schools/areas of Canada that would be cool for a 25 year old white kid from Wisconsin to live for a semester. I have my mind pretty much set on Canada unless someone can convince of going somewhere in usa.

Canadian school options are limited. Here is my list of schools I am interested in: Bishops Uni (Sherbrooke, Quebec), Calgary Uni, Prince George BC, Regina, Sask, a school in Newfoundland opposite of St johns, and Sydney, Nova Scotia.

I think I would most prefer Sherbrooke, as I have heard great things about Quebec and it is a decent size city, but I speak no French. Appart from Regina, Sherbrooke, and Calgary, all the towns have less than 100k people.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Sounds like those schools are your only options?

If that's the case I would choose Bishops. Sherbrooke is a small but crazy town. Only a 2 hour drive to Montreal, which is the best and most diverse city in Canada.


Calgary U would be the only other one I would consider, but its a pretty boring place outside of the city. (unless you ski or snowboard)

Post: #12

(02-01-2012 04:20 PM)HotShit Wrote:  Whats up playas. This is my first post and I've been waiting a long time to ask your opinions. I am wanting to study abroad next fall, and was hoping for advice on different schools/areas of Canada that would be cool for a 25 year old white kid from Wisconsin to live for a semester. I have my mind pretty much set on Canada unless someone can convince of going somewhere in usa.

Canadian school options are limited. Here is my list of schools I am interested in: Bishops Uni (Sherbrooke, Quebec), Calgary Uni, Prince George BC, Regina, Sask, a school in Newfoundland opposite of St johns, and Sydney, Nova Scotia.

I think I would most prefer Sherbrooke, as I have heard great things about Quebec and it is a decent size city, but I speak no French. Appart from Regina, Sherbrooke, and Calgary, all the towns have less than 100k people.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Hot shit homie, you came to the right place for advice on this subject, and I am VERY familiar with all of the cities you've listed as options. First of all, DO NOT go to school in either Prince George or Regina, they're both dumps, so is Sydney NS (to a lesser extent, my dad is from there, he moved for good reasons!).

Now about Sherbrooke, VERY nice city of about 150K in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. I actually lived right beside l'universite de Sherbrooke for 4 months, but I'm assuming that you would be going to the little Anglo university down the road, Bishop's University in Lennoxville.

Its a quaint little English speaking town surrounded by French communities, you'll be able to study in English and most of your classmates will be Anglophones, but when you guys go party in downtown Sherbrooke (Wellington Street), you'll be around French speaking Quebecois people. Its also very close to some good skiing in the winter (Ski Bromont) and one of the best lakes in all of Quebec (Lac Memphremagog). And of course, you're only 1.5 hrs drive from Montreal, I used to use this service all the time to get to Mtl for $10 (http://www.allostop.com/). You will want to brush up on French though if you decide on Quebec.

I honestly wouldn't recommend Calgary for a city to study in, there's various reasons, if you really want me to explain, I can.

Now, the best damn place to study in ALL of Canada is of course my beloved city of Halifax, I miss it so! That city is a city BUILT FOR STUDENTS! It has one of the highest per capita concentration of bars in all of North America, lots of good night life options, easy girls (if you can't pull in September in Halifax, you have serious issues!) and very good culture (by Canadian standards!), check out my Halifax data sheet.

There's a few options for schools: Dalhousie, St. Mary's (my alma mater), Mount St Vincent (80% WOMEN at this school), NSCAD, NSCC.

You will party your ass off in this town, the economy is the shits there so all everyone does is drink, do drugs and sleep around; exactly what you're looking for, right??

Other university options to consider: St FX university in Antigonish, NS, one of the best undergrad schools in Canada, also has great parties (look up the legendary BURMAC hockey tournament)

-Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, also a good party school (both st fx and Acadia are in quaint, nice little uni towns, similar to Bishop's in Lennoxville)

I would also consider MUN (Memorial university of Newfoundland), definitely a good cultural experience, Newfies are crazy and LOVE to party, also, easiest girls in Canada.

Other options to consider: University of Prince Edward Island, Brandon University, McGill and Concordia (latter 2 both in Montreal, big time party city, not too sure how much studying would get done there!)

Hope this helps dude, good luck in your search!

Post: #13

From that list:

U of C - For networking and its a decent city. The campus is connected to the centre with a train, about 15 min away.

Post: #14

wow, thanks for the awesome info guys. yes, I am limited to those specific schools as the options for Canada are limited. Scotian, you are the man, but tell me, would the people in Sherbrooke dislike me for my serious lack of French speaking ability? Also would it make the whole experience much worse, or would you still recommend it with very basic French?

Also I doubled checked and Brandon Uni is on the list. Its in Manitoba is a city with only 43k people, and the school only has like 4k students. Why do you recommend this school/area? Also the school in Newfoundland opposite of St. Johns that I mentioned happens to be Memorial university of Newfoundland in Corner Brook.

So now it appears to be between Bishops, MUN, Brandon, or Calgary. I am concerned about the small size of the cities for MUN and Brandon. What do you think Scotian?

Post: #15

(02-01-2012 10:58 PM)HotShit Wrote:  wow, thanks for the awesome info guys. yes, I am limited to those specific schools as the options for Canada are limited. Scotian, you are the man, but tell me, would the people in Sherbrooke dislike me for my serious lack of French speaking ability? Also would it make the whole experience much worse, or would you still recommend it with very basic French?

Also I doubled checked and Brandon Uni is on the list. Its in Manitoba is a city with only 43k people, and the school only has like 4k students. Why do you recommend this school/area? Also the school in Newfoundland opposite of St. Johns that I mentioned happens to be Memorial university of Newfoundland in Corner Brook.

So now it appears to be between Bishops, MUN, Brandon, or Calgary. I am concerned about the small size of the cities for MUN and Brandon. What do you think Scotian?

Hands down, go to Bishop's, its no contest really if you're looking for a cultural experience, Bishops will be perfect for you. Since its an English speaking school and campus, you'll blend in well with your classmates, you'll easily make friends there, you'll also be a 5 minute drive down the road from a completely different language and culture!

Sherbrooke has a decent party scene at the bars along Wellington (couple decent strip clubs, Quebecois style), just watch yourself in "the living", you will see full patch HA members in there, Lennoxville is home to the biggest Hells Angel chapter in Canada, check out "The Lennoxville Massacre": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lennoxville_massacre

haha, I hope that doesn't scare you away from Bishop's University, its definitely not something you'll read about on their website: http://www.ubishops.ca/

You don't have to speak French at all to attend Bishops, I'd say most students from out of province don't! There are some Franco Quebecois people who go there, the ones who've attended English schools their entire lives (ex: rich ones), as a unilingual anglophone, you'll be ok.

The shitty thing about that is that you'll be living in a little bubble there in Lennoxville, population 5,000! There's only one decent pub in town, the Golden Lion, trust me you and your buddies will be making frequent trips into Sherbrooke to party on Wellington and also check out the campus pub at l'universite de Sherbrooke, the Kudsack. Once you venture out from Lennoxville, it FRENCH, so the more you know, the better. It'll be fun man, learning a new language is cool, as you'll learn from this forum.

Your other options: MUN, Brandon and Calgary

As far as Brandon goes, I have never been there, but I've heard decent things about the place (I know heresy) so don't totally discount it, thats from reliable sources. Its probably similar to where you're from, in some ways.

MUN: if it was the one in St. John's, I would say "GO", but its not, its their satellite campus in Corner Brook. Again, I've never been to Corner Brook, but I've worked with a few people from there. There's really good skiing there in the winter at Marble Mountain, but other than that, it is indeed a small town in Newfoundland. Although it would be an interesting culture experience (check out my thread on Nfld), it doesnt' hold a candle to what Bishops's has to offer.

As for Calgary, definitely NOT a student city, trust me, I lived there for 2 years and I was A STUDENT there at SAIT. Sure, the economy is hot there and you'll easily get a job outta school (I did!), it just doesn't offer the same experience as a small town like Lennoxville would. Its a BIG city (area wise), sucks being a pedestrian there (trust me I know, 6 months without a whip!), and the rents are high.Also, when you're out at the bars, you're competing with A LOT of men who make A LOT more money than your broke ass student self does. Girls in Calgary EXPECT a lot more than a broke ass student has to offer, they've got a lot of oil workers (like me!) throwing money at them on their days off.

Last but not least, to reiterate why you should choose Bishop's over the other schools that you had short listed: ITS A 1.5 HRS DRIVE FROM MONTREAL

A+

Post: #16

I realized that I didn't totally answer your question in the first paragraph; no, French speaking Quebecois people won't hate on you or be hostile, but speaking at least a little bit of French will surely benefit you.

They'll give you a break on the French part because you are American (but WON'T give a break to Canadians who can't string along a sentence in French despite 6-8 years of Mandatory classes!), just don't expect too many breaks for being from the USA.....

.....the good people of Sherbrooke Quebec are used to American pisstanks coming up for a weekend from the border states like Vermont and NH, trust me, I've seen my share of them puking their guts out along Wellington! Its all good though, the people are cool....I just hope you're not following one of those paleo diets, cuz you're gonna be eating lots of poutine mon ami, mmmmmmm I've seen some SMOKING HOT Quebec hotties down plates full of this stuff after the bar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDY-V0CcJLY

Post: #17

That's feel badly.

Post: #18

Brandon is a dump, stay away from that place man you'll hate it. I am sure its got some girls in the Uni but the town is a mess with nothing to do. I was unfortunate to have to spend a weekend there. The downtown looked like a dust bowl hit it with nothing but drunk Indians all over the streets.

Your an American and can't speak a lick of French? Skip Quebec, dude, if you hit out west you'll be swimming in pussy.

Sask the broads are easy, winters are cold as hell, the bar scene is pretty shitty but if you've got your own spot near the uni you will have girls coming through day and night. I have spent tons of time between Alberta and Sask with family and living in Edmonton and Saskatoon, and I've been to Regina a bunch of times. If your there for a short period ( a year) of time you will fuck women every night. But the City is really slow, you will most likely get bored easily.

Calgary is a big City, its spread out but the UofC is near downtown (sort-of) and connected to the C-train. The only shitty thing with Calgary is if you meet a girl who lives in Shawnessy or some shit it will take you a decade to travel to her house to bang if you ain't got a ride or access to a ride (make her pick you up). Calgary is sort of fucked up tho, its very 'stiff' and underwhelming for its size. I always thought Edmonton was way better and the UofA scene in Edmonton is way more Student friendly.

Don't bank on "diversity" in Canada. Remember this great land is still nearly 80%+ white. Some places such as Halifax, Quebec, Vancouver, or the GTA to offer diverse environments where different cultures exist, but outside of those areas Canada IMO is largely the same aside from geographical and regional cultural differences. If you are from rural Wisconsin then The Prairies may be a bit similar to what you are used to at home (which could be good or bad).

So I guess out of process of elimination then maybe Sherbrooke is a option. You would at least hopefully pick up French while you are there and like the poster above stated Montreal is close by and easy trips back to the States also. And if its this fall you are heading out then start to learn French like a mad man now.

Post: #19

Scotian has describe really well Sherbrooke . A really nice student town with many hot women by the way . But yes you will be in your anglophone bubble in Lenoxville but outside it's french you will have to try learning the language . But you will not regret it . Listen to what I just said if you show you try to learn the language , Quebecers will adopt you . Beside of Sherbrooke you have a lot of nice town ( Bromont,Orford,Grandby) for skiing and outdoor activities . Magog too it's a nice place and Victoriaville too . It's not far from there and really good place to go out with a lot of beautiful women . I haven't talk about Montréal it's less than a 2 hours drive .


Scotian , you have point out a point with The Hells . They have a big presence in all the province . They run a lot of club, it's never a good idea to start trouble when your an outsider in general but especially here .

Post: #20

Awesome info guys. Sherbrooke it is! Just hope I can get in. I dont think I will bother with any other of the schools I listed because the schools/areas seem to be pretty lame. Now time to get a copy of French Rosetta Stone, sucks because I happen to be studying Spanish at the moment. Do you think I can get my patch from the Hells Angels in a semester?

Oh, one last question. What would be a better time to attend Bishops? Fall semester (September-December) or Spring semester (January-May-ish)