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Vancouver Island University

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Hubsta
Posts: 1279 - Karma: 156

So I'm from the UK and I am currently looking into the possibly of going to Vancouver Island University. For someone looking internationally it's a big step and I'd like to get some opinions for anyone that might know of the place or even better, study there!

I'm interested to know on a whole what the area is like as well as skiing options and the uni on a whole.

Thanks!

Oct 12 2009 6:16PM
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Hubsta
Posts: 1279 - Karma: 156
Bump
Oct 13 2009 11:20AM
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sstricky
Posts: 1876 - Karma: 111
you ever think about giong to University of British Columbia dude?

i dont know anything about Vancouver Island... but check it out.
Oct 13 2009 11:37AM
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nickyp
Posts: 5673 - Karma: 215
I'm in a similar position, I really want to move from the UK to a US grad school, but all the places I've applied to are on the East Coast.

I have a few friends however who've been to UBC, and have not a bad word to say about it.

Also, depending on how good your undergrad degree was, maybe look at McGill or Concordia, both really good unis, with good nearby skiing.
Oct 13 2009 11:46AM
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jason...
Posts: 9006 - Karma: 780
University of Victoria, aka UVic is the biggest party school around. You will definitely have lots of fun if you go.
Oct 13 2009 12:41PM
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KatyPerry.
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 23

definately go to uvic. it's in victoria as opposed to VIU which is in nanaimo. uvic is also a sweet school and victoria is a good city...only downside is that vic is 3hr. from mt washington (which is up in courtenay) and nanaimo is only 1.5hrs away....

then again nanaimo is kind of a dump and you should definately go to uvic instead. there's tons of ski busses out of vic anyway.

Oct 13 2009 3:12PM
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Hubsta
Posts: 1279 - Karma: 156

Thanks for the comments.

Basically I'm going to be attending a Uni over here in the UK but then I have the option to go internationally to study for a year, therefore I can't just pick what Uni in Canada I'd want to go too;

However I have some other options such as;

Bishops University

Concordia University

McGill University

Malaspina University-College

Okanagan College

Opinions on the best one from that list taking into account things like the Area, uni and ski travel times.

Oct 13 2009 3:53PM
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Hubsta
Posts: 1279 - Karma: 156
Anyone?
Oct 14 2009 2:35PM
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afrocentric
Posts: 707 - Karma: 29

Out of those choices listed above, without a doubt Mcgill. It will be hard to get into though, but far and away the best education you can get.

Mcgill is widely held as Canadas best University with U of T and UBC coming in second and third respectively (i do believe).

Montreal is an amazing city for a young person. Tons of bars and the night life is 100 times better then that of Vancouver (where i live). People are also much much friendlier in Montreal then Toronto or Vancouver (known as Toronto west for our coldness to foreigners)

I was actually looking at transfering to mcgill next year, but I think im just gonna stick with UBC and maybe study abroad in my third year.

I was actually looking at Universities in the UK and in France. More notably

Sciences Po Paris
University of Edinburgh
Univeristy of Glasgow
U of Manchester

Do you happen to know anyone/ any info about Edinburgh or Glasgow (since you are from the UK)? Or Sciences Po, but I realize that may be slightly more of a stretch.
 

Oct 14 2009 2:51PM
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afrocentric
Posts: 707 - Karma: 29

Forgot to mention, my second choice out of those listed would most definetly be Concordia.

I have like 6 friends I went to elementary and secondary school that now go to Concordia and they love it there.

Im not sure about Bishops, Malaspina would be a smaller school I'd imagine, somewhere on the Sunshine coast of BC (kinda close to Vancouver). If you are looking for alot of nightlife and activities to do outside of school, I would definetly stick with the Montreal schools. Malaspina and Okanagan College will be situated in much much smaller cities or towns.

Oct 14 2009 2:55PM
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dbstar
Posts: 2038 - Karma: 20
if you like girls go to montreal
Oct 14 2009 3:04PM
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Hubsta
Posts: 1279 - Karma: 156
With Montreal what's the closest decent skiing? Also my French Pretty much sucks, I'm willing to learn but it'll probably take me a while. Is it a French based providence with English as a second language or the other way round?
Oct 14 2009 5:48PM
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afrocentric
Posts: 707 - Karma: 29

Montreal is pretty much an english speaking city. Almost everyone in Montreal speaks english. They also teach courses in Both English and French at Mcgill and Concordia i believe (mcgill im sure they do). Quebec is a French speaking province, but Montreal is more english then french i would say.

If you go to Quebec City, prepare to be snubbed by the Quebecois if you don't speak french.

What university are you going to in the UK?

Oct 14 2009 5:53PM
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*rkp*
Posts: 8198 - Karma: 257
It hasn't been Okanagan College for 5 years.
It's the University of British Columbia Okanagan (when you get your degree, there's no differentiation between one earned in Kelowna or one in Vancouver).

I'm from Kelowna, and attended UBCO for two years. If I were you I'd definitely consider it above almost all others.
The campus is undergoing a 1 BILLION dollar (over a series of years) expansion at the moment. Growth is unprecedented and student population is steadily rising from this year's number of approximately 7500.
This means you get state of the art NEW facilities on a beautiful campus in the "california" of Canada (Kelowna is THE vacation/outdoors/party/chill city in BC/Canada).
Class sizes are relatively small, which results in a more intimate learning experience. You'll do better at UBCO than if you're in a class of 750 at UBC Vancouver.

Which brings me to the most poignant reason of you considering Kelowna....the skiing.

Within 45 minutes -1 hour of the campus are Big White, Silver Star and Apex mountains.
Since you're located in the middle of BC, you can pretty much get to any resort (such as Whistler, Revelstoke, Louise, Kicking Horse, Fernie, Sunshine ETC ETC ETC) within 6 hours.

Personally, I would try to come out to Western Canada if skiing is a large factor in your decision.

UBC Vancouver is an amazing school in an amazing city, but it is HUGE (100 000 students +) and highly competitive.
The only school I would consider on the Island is UVIC, but access to skiing is complicated and Mt. Washington isn't anything special.

www.ubc.ca/okanagan

check it out!
Oct 14 2009 6:12PM
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linepowder
Posts: 246 - Karma: 20
i go to uvic.. yes its fucking sweet. but the problem is the lack of quality skiing nearby. mt washington is your best bet but its really a hit and mis mountain. i'd suggest interior if your really interested in the skiing aspect. like UBC okanagan in kelowna

hope u find what ur looking for
Oct 14 2009 6:23PM
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Hubsta
Posts: 1279 - Karma: 156
Thanks Ryan, So [url]http://www.okanagan.bc.ca/courses.html[/url] is actually UBC? When I first saw the name I thought that but then I googled it and it has its own site, Which has confused me a slight bit. Thanks again.
Oct 14 2009 6:37PM
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*rkp*
Posts: 8198 - Karma: 257
That's Okanagan College. It's also in Kelowna. it's more of a technical school/ less prestigious, older college (usually that's where you go if you don't get into UBCO)
I wouldn't recommend it.

But yeah, if you go to www.ubc.ca and click on the "campuses" button on the top of the page (or just go to ubc.ca/okanagan) you'll find everything you need. It's really an amazing thing they've got going on there.

At UBCO, there's a huge freestyle scene (well...kind of the whole interior of BC has a huge scene), but it's super easy to get rides to the mountain with people and buses run on weekends as well.
Everyone is so tightly knit on that campus too. In my two years there, I had the time of my life, knew EVERYBODY, managed to ski 70+ days a year, and do amazingly well in school. The profs there really care about their students, unlike some bigger universities where they have to tend to a massive auditorium filled with 750 "numbers".

Anyways, that's my advice to you. If you have any more questions about UBCO or Kelowna, just pm me or post in here.
Oct 14 2009 6:46PM
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dbstar
Posts: 2038 - Karma: 20
concordia and mcgill are the english school, but montreal is for sure not an english city. If you go party on st. denis or pretty much anywhere east-ish of downtown it is pretty much all french, and if you go really east it is literally like france. wouldnt worry though ive lived here for a while and my french is terrible and its no big deal
Oct 14 2009 6:50PM
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