I’ll admit it. I was totally taken with St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The campus is beautiful, the facilities are all being renovated or were recently renewed, and the people were, as one first year put it, “freakishly friendly”. I’m gushing, I know. There are so many interesting and unique features, it’s hard to know where to begin or end my ramble! But here I go…

Of the total population of 4200 students, just under 50% of the students live on campus, but virtually everyone else lives within a 2-3 minute walk, or has a home in Antigonish (55% of the students come from Nova Scotia). There are strong ties to the local community through service learning opportunities, shared use of athletic and classroom facilities, including the artificial turf and only pool in town, and experiential education opportunities in classes. For example, the department of Earth Science embeds local area studies in their coursework because the town is situated on the spot where the continents broke apart. That’s a unique claim to fame that other universities can’t boast. Another community tie to note is the Coady Institute. While not technically offering a programme of undergraduate study, it does bring in 75 community leaders from around the developing world to live, study, and interact with the campus community, and it offers internship opportunities to undergrads to do service learning in the developing world. 

By its own admission, the university is looking to create big thinkers with social awareness across the disciplines. They have a strong liberal arts focus but offer the flexibility to explore a variety of subject matter and allow students to individualize the programme to suit evolving interests. At St FX, you can study and combine areas such as business, development studies, nutrition, human kinetics, nursing, engineering…and the list goes on. I haven’t yet found out which programmes these four notable alum chose – Brian Mulroney, Seamus O’Regan of Canada AM fame, Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys, and the chairman of the US Communist Party, Sam Webb – but the very grouping of them tells you something about the diverse nature  of the university environment.  

And, it’s only a $5 cab ride anywhere in town…

Sackville is a very small town nestled in rural New Brunswick, about thirty minutes from the Moncton airport. The town doubles in population when the university is in session and everything is within walking distance. In fact, there are no buses, but our student tour guide assured us that it was only a $6 cab ride to go anywhere. The town is not without entertainment though: CBC rates Sackville as among the top ten places in Canada to hear live music and Moncton has the shopping. 

On campus, the brick and stone buildings span a couple of blocks and have a cohesive feel. There are a variety of university residence options both on campus and in the town. For example, you can choose to live in a university residence that is in town and partnered with the SPCA: all the students who live there commit to looking after the menagerie of animals (without any obligation to take them home to mum and dad at the end of the academic year). There is also a “sustainability house” which requires students to live green” as well as take part in the education of all things environmental on campus. A few interesting tidbits about on campus res life:

• “Books on bed”: pre-order your textbooks in the summer and they will deliver them to your university dorm room for you
• There is an academic mentor in every residence and it is a paid position for a current student. No, that person won’t do your history paper for you, but they will help you to find the academic support and resources you need to get through your programme
• 60% of the rooms are double, but an early deposit and high scholarship make it much more likely that you won’t have to listen to your roommate’s music

Mount A boasts an impressive 70% of its students going on to some kind of graduate studies or further education. Students report close connections with their professors (the largest lecture space holds 200) and this undoubtedly helps with those master’s degree applications and research grants. Also, the 150 profs have their specializations but they also support students who want to pursue independent studies in a niche area. A full one third of the student population is employed by the university, many of them as teaching or research assistants. I had the sense that students received a lot of individual attention here and were very well supported.

If you want to hear more about Mount A, please ask any of the University Counsellors – we have all visited the campus!

Over the past four graduating classes, we have had an average of 47 students apply to McGill University each year (that’s a little less than one third of each grad class!). There are usually at least 16 students per class who decide to attend, which means that currently at McGill,there are probably 60 SMUS grads at any one time doing undergraduate studies. I had the opportunity to tour the campus and meet with two current SMUS students who are studying there, Victor (Management) and Tom (Arts).

As a large institution, McGill has no shortage of programmes to choose from in their Faculties of Arts, Science, Management, Education, Engineering, Agriculture & Environmental Studies, Religious Studies, and their School of Music. In fact, they offer most everything, with the exception of visual arts. The buildings sprawl over numerous city blocks right in the heart of downtown Montreal, yet there still is a definite campus feel to it thanks to stone walls and green spaces.

First year classes are large and that was a whole new experience for our grads! For example, an introductory psychology class was simultaneously in 2 lecture halls, each with 600 students, one with the live prof, one with a video feed. Students report that academics can be intense and, in the School of Management, there is a competitive spirit among the students. It is definitely a place where you would want to be self-sufficient and assertive in order to make your way among the throngs of students and courses.

The buildings themselves are a mix of old and new. We didn’t get to see inside a residence, but the students I met reported that some have been recently renovated, while others are still waiting for their makeover. Both boys reported that it was easy to stay in the “McGill bubble”, even for all four years, but that if you were adventurous, you could find your way out. Tom had met some Quebeckers and had experienced some of “real” life, while Victor was quite content to try and stay warm in the bubble for the time being. Both of them are involved in things beyond their main area of study, Tom as a local DJ and VP of the Arts Undergraduate Society, Victor through his percussion playing in two ensembles on campus. The well rounded student is alive and well at McGill!

If you want to hear more about our recent trip to McGill and Montreal, please come see me, Ms Casey, or Ms Laughlin!

If your parents are concerned about you getting enough vegetables while at university, let them know that Concordia University offers a free vegan lunch, Monday to Friday, at The People’s Potato. If that doesn’t win them over, you could talk up the plethora of interdisciplinary programs, as evident by the design of the high rise building that houses the Faculty of Engineering (17 floors) and the Faculty of Fine Arts (12 floors), or the LEED certified one that has the John Molson School of Business and the Department of Music.  There is also the Hex Lab, where technology and media arts intersect. This university is a place where flexibility is promoted in the academic requirements across the faculties. Even in the application process, students are encouraged to make three programme choices and they will be assessed by each Faculty individually. The university recognizes that students may start in one programme and then switch into something else, even one they hadn’t been admitted to originally but are now eligible for, the following year.

This seems like a university that thinks outside the box. If you want to study fine arts and be in Montreal, this is the place to do it, particularly if your focus is contemporary or visual art. For example, there is a very well regarded school of cinema, an electroacoustic music major, and a computer game design specialization. The Faculty of Engineering has the only building engineering programme in Canada, as well as a flight simulator.  There are green houses where you can soak up some vitamin D while you study for exams during the winter months, while you volunteer to tend the garden, or while you analyze something for your biology class.

The two campuses, separated by a 20 minute shuttle (that runs every 15 minutes) or a 6km bike ride, offer lots of options to the 45 000 students that choose Concordia. Services are replicated on both campuses, including housing, but the main athletic facilities are at the Loyola campus. There are only 500 beds for housing with half reserved for those with an 85% or above average, which makes it a hot commodity for first year students. However, even if you live off campus, the very active and engaged student society will draw you into the fold. The housing beds will increase to 900 in 2013 when the nuns move out of the other side of the Grey Nun residence, but they aren’t sure yet whether the crypt (and ghosts) will stay…

Feel free to ask Ms Laughlin, Ms Casey, or Ms McCallum for more information after their recent visit to the campus.

 

What do Johnny Reid, the premier of PEI and the inventor of the “smart board” all have in common? They all went to the same small, liberal arts university where they likely wore a lot of purple. Bishop’s university is located 2 hours from Montreal, 10 minutes from Sherbrooke, and within an hour of 9 ski hills. It is a collection of brick buildings on a big, green campus that houses 2300 undergraduate students, half of whom come from outside the province. It is known for its business program, performing arts, as well as its general arts and science offerings, with the flexibility to pursue interdisciplinary programmes.

This is not a school where you can remain shy, or be anonymous. The largest lecture hall, which used to be the university chapel complete with stained glass windows, holds only 160 students. We heard from students that unlike most Canadian universities, profs really might just email you if you don’t show up for a class. Having recently completed a renovation of the science facilities, the university is about to begin a $30 million renovation and expansion of their sports complex which will benefit the numerous competitive teams and the wider community. Students are encouraged to do it all: volunteer, keep active in the fitness centre, and paint their faces purple to support the women’s basketball team.

The university’s aim is to create students who are capable of “informed intelligent action” and I think their smallness, their liberal education focus, and their campus spirit all work to support this admirable goal. Experiential education is now built into most of the programs, including having students fill the assistant research positions that only grad students would be offered on other campuses.

Applications and student population are increasing, helped along by their interesting promotional materials. Feel free to speak with Ms Laughlin, Ms Casey, or Ms McCallum if you want to hear more. This might just be a great spot for you!