McGill University
2015 semester 2
BA majoring in French, BTheol majoring in Christian History
My exchange semester at McGill was an incredible experience! It was amazing to
be able to use my French in everyday situations and I gained much a lot of
fluency from being immersed in the language outside of class settings. Montréal
is a really fun and vibrant place to live – there’s always a festival or party on! I
really enjoyed my classes at McGill as they were super different to what’s offered
at Otago but the workload was a bit of a shock.
Academics
I took two Theology papers and two French language papers in my semester at
McGill, both of which fall under the Humanities faculty.
My Theology papers were very interesting, and consisted of 3 or 4 one hour
lectures a week. The content happened fairly quickly and there were a lot more
readings than I’m used to here – and it matters if you do them! Both classes
required reading summaries before each class. I found my lecturers very
engaging and perhaps more academically prominent than their NZ counterparts
– we got a field trip to a famous Chapel by the waterfront because my lecturer
knew the Museum owner!
My French papers were a lot trickier! As a 300 level student at Otago, my oral,
aural and speaking skills gave me no trouble, but I quickly realised my written
French wasn’t quite up-to-scratch! Unless you’re already fluent and fairly
confident in French, you should take FRSL papers. This wasn’t too well explained
on the website so when I arrived I had to do a lot of switching – cue me crying in
the McGill Arts office to a very unimpressed French prof! Upon arrival, you’ll take
a French placement test (don’t stress, it’s just to find your level!) and then the
system will allot you into classes. I ended up taking a straight grammar class
which was so good for my language skills but very difficult, and a more cultural
paper like the ones at Otago. However, while the course load was pretty intense,
both my profs were extremely kind and supportive if you had questions or were
struggling. It also helped that I made exchange friends to swap homework tips
with!
Another tip for the sign-up process – sign up for as many papers as Minerva will
allow. It’s typical to do that at McGill, and then attend only one or two classes of
each during Frosh before pulling out/changing courses. Don’t panic if you’re on
the waitlist either! Lots of students pull out so you’ll probably get in, and if you
really need it email the prof.
One other warning – many full year papers have exchange student limits, as was
the case with one of my FRSL papers. It really pays to go and talk to the lecturer,
she was very kind and pulled some strings for me! Get onto this as early as
possible and be friendly to the Humanities office ladies!
Accommodation
I lived at the EVO building on Rue Sherbrooke. It’s a hotel converted into
apartments primarily for exchange students for lots of the Unis in Mtl. I chose not
to have a roommate, though that would make it cheaper as it was pretty
expensive. I liked it because it was safe, the location was amazing – right in town,
three blocks from campus – and it was easy to organise from Dunedin by email,
leaving me more time to travel on my way over! I didn’t make particularly good
friends there, nor were the management super switched on – I had multiple
problems with my bills not going through on their side – but managed happily
enough and it was a good time-saving if expensive option.
My Candy themed Frosh group at Mt Royal chateau for picnic breakfast!
Tips!
 Go to Frosh! This is the McGill version of OWeek and it is epic! It’s a bit
pricey for the ticket but the events are incredible and you will meet some
awesome people – they’re not all US freshers, I promise! My group went
on a sunset DJ boat cruise on the St Laurent, to Beach Day which is a
highlight of the McG calendar, on a pub crawl down the Main, and to a
cute breakfast on top of Mt Royal. Sign up as soon as it opens – you don’t
want to miss out!
 OAP – a complete McGill staple, stands for ‘Open Air Pub’ on campus,
which is just was awesome as it sounds!
 Eat all the poutine – the best spots are La Banquise in the Plateau or
Pattati Pattata on Boulevard St Laurent. We also went to the Poutine Fest
at the Vieux Port so look out for that too.
 Get an OPUS metro pass – the easiest way to do this is through school. The
STM will come to campus in around week 3, so look out for the posters.
You will have to queue for hours and you need proof of your fulltime
enrolment (which is frustratingly harder than it sounds with Minerva) but
the minor drama and cost is worth it to jump on any bus/metro for your
semester!
 Travel! Montréal is so well placed for lots of exploring – I managed a
birthday trip to Québec City, pre-exam trip to Boston, MA, Thanksgiving
with a Canadian friend in Toronto, a canoe-camping adventure to Poisson
Blanc Regional Parc and a chilly trip to the adorable ski town of Mont
Tremblant!