Details

• Canada
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

For future outgoing students, my first advice is: don’t stress yourself too much. The application process can look overwhelming at the beginning, but it is definitely manageable. When choosing your destination, the exchange reports helped me a lot. From my perspective, the life and culture of a place are more important than the university itself. However, you should still make sure that the university offers the kind of courses you want or need to take. For the interview, I recommend filling out the question sheet carefully and using it as a basis for your preparation. The interview itself depends a lot on the professor, but if you are well prepared and just be yourself, it is really not that difficult. At first, all the deadlines, documents, and forms may seem like a lot. Try not to panic and stay organized. It also helps to stay in touch with friends who are applying as well, so you can exchange information and support each other. Once you have been assigned to a destination, try to get to know your fellow exchange students early on. This makes the start of the exchange semester much easier, and you can prepare everything together. I also strongly recommend contacting former exchange students. This helped me a lot, and they gave me very useful and honest advice. Overall, the preparation phase can be stressful, especially because you don’t always have all the information right away. Still, don’t worry too much – everything will work out, and you will have a great time abroad.

2. Accommodation

At the beginning, it was quite difficult to understand which accommodation options were available in Ottawa. The university offers support for finding off-campus housing, but from my experience, I would clearly recommend staying on campus or at least in a student residence. This is where most of the social life happens, and you are right in the middle of everything, so you don’t miss out on activities or meeting people. That is why I want to share this recommendation right away. Most international students lived in student residences, either on campus or off campus. I personally stayed on campus, and for exchange students there is only one option: Marchand Residence. The building itself is not the newest, but overall it is absolutely fine. There are single and double rooms, and the bathrooms are shared with the whole floor. In my opinion, this is the easiest way to get to know new people, both exchange students and Canadian students. There are common rooms on every second floor, which are often used to meet before going out or to have a relaxed evening together. In Marchand Residence, there is a mandatory meal plan of either five or seven days. At first, this felt a bit restrictive, but it actually makes socializing much easier, because you often go to eat together with your new friends and meet many new people there. I chose the five-day meal plan and went out for dinner on the weekends. This was a bit more expensive, but I would definitely do it the same way again, because it gave me the chance to try many different cuisines. There are also kitchens in the residence, but they are not used very often, since everyone has to take at least the five-day meal plan anyway. Also, even though the residence is close to a big street and train tracks, you really don’t hear the noise, so that is nothing to worry about. Another option is off-campus student residences. Many international students stayed at ALMA in the ByWard Market area. This building is definitely newer and offers a lot, such as a party room, gaming room, and a gym. However, it is more expensive, and you have to cook for yourself. Some students also lived in private apartments or Airbnbs. This can be nice if you want more privacy, but from my experience, they often had more difficulties integrating into the exchange student community. Since Ottawa is not a very big city, all accommodation options are relatively close to the university. The on-campus residence is directly next to the lecture buildings, which makes it very convenient to just step out of your room and go to class. All student residences, both on and off campus, have security, and Ottawa is generally a very safe city. There are some homeless people in the city center, but they mostly keep to themselves and never caused any problems.

3. Academic life at host university

The University of Ottawa is a rather large university with around 50,000 students, and this is also reflected in the size of the campus. The campus is quite spread out and offers a lot of infrastructure. The buildings are very different in style, ranging from older ones to more modern ones, but overall it is not really comparable to the WU campus, which is more modern. uOttawa offers many sports activities and opportunities. Students have access to two gyms for free, as well as many sports facilities such as a swimming pool, gymnasiums with drop-in activities, and several sports fields. Since college sports are very important in Canada, the university also has its own teams. I would highly recommend attending some games, especially the ones against Carleton University, which is uOttawa’s main rival. These games are a great experience and very popular among students. On campus, there are several cafés and fast-food options, such as Tim Hortons and Subway, as well as a small grocery store and a Circle K nearby. The Telfer School of Management is located in the Desmarais Building, which is very close to Marchand Residence. Telfer only offers business-related courses, so there are no economics courses like macroeconomics or microeconomics, which is an important point to consider when planning your course selection. Regarding the academic culture and teaching style, most classes are traditional frontal lectures, and some of them require attendance. Compared to WU Vienna, there is much more continuous assessment throughout the semester. You usually have several assignments, quizzes, and midterms instead of one final exam only. In my opinion, the courses were generally a bit easier than at WU, especially the exams. However, it is still important to stay organized, because you can earn many points through assignments and regular work during the semester.

5. Every day life in the host country

As mentioned before, Ottawa is not a very big but lovely city, and most important places are located in Downtown and the ByWard Market area, where uOttawa is also situated. The city has two tram lines and a bus system. One ride costs around 4 CAD, which is fine, but if you live in a student residence, you often don’t need public transport that much. When you are out with friends, using Uber or Lyft is usually the faster and mostly even cheaper option, and it works very well. In general, Ottawa is a very safe city, and we never had any problems. As the capital of Canada, Ottawa offers a lot in terms of culture. One special aspect of the city is the mix of French and English, since Ottawa is located right at the border between Ontario and Québec. There are many interesting museums, such as the War Museum, the Canadian Museum of History, and the National Gallery of Canada. The political side of the city is also very interesting. You can visit the Parliament, watch debates, or join a free guided tour, which I can really recommend. For going out, there are mainly two areas: ByWard Market and Elgin Street. There are several clubs like The Show, Sky Lounge, Gridwrks, Berlin, and pubs such as The Lieutenant’s Pump and Happy Fish. The most popular pub is definitely Heart & Crown, which has karaoke on Wednesdays, live music on Fridays, and a DJ on Saturdays. Close to the university, there is also the pub Father & Sons, which is especially popular with students and also offers karaoke on Wednesdays. For late-night food after going out, places like 3 Brothers, Zak’s Diner, or Pizza Pizza are very popular. The city’s main shopping mall, the Rideau Centre, is also close to the university. It offers many shops, fast-food restaurants, grocery stores, and a LCBO (liquor store). It is open every day and also provides a warm indoor shortcut to ByWard Market during the winter. At the beginning of the semester, the university organizes several welcome events, such as uOShow, which are great for meeting people. Sports events are a must-see during your exchange. On the university level, the biggest event is the Panda Game, a football match against Carleton University at TD Place Stadium, including pre- and after-parties organized by the university. It is definitely a highlight of the university events. There are also many other games like football, basketball, and hockey that are fun to attend. In terms of professional sports, I can highly recommend watching a football game of the Ottawa Redblacks and especially an NHL ice hockey game. We went to see the Ottawa Senators in Kanata, just outside of Ottawa, and it was one of the best experiences of the whole exchange semester. The atmosphere in the stadium was amazing. Just across the Ottawa River is Québec, the French-speaking part of Canada. Gatineau Park is located there and is perfect for a day trip. There are free shuttles from Ottawa, and especially in fall, the colors are beautiful and perfect for a long walk. Besides that, you should definitely travel as much as possible. Popular destinations are Toronto and the Niagara Falls, Montréal (my personal favorite and a must-see), and Québec City. For nature activities, we rented cars to go skiing in Mont Tremblant, visit Parc Omega, and see the 1000 Islands. There is also a one-week reading week during the semester, which many international students use for a longer trip. Some travel to Vancouver, California, New York, or even further south. We used this time to travel to Mexico. I also traveled before and after the exchange semester, and if you have the opportunity, I would strongly recommend it. Traveling made the exchange experience even more special and had a big impact on the overall semester.

6. Testimonial

Even though I didn’t fully believe it beforehand, I can honestly say that my exchange semester was probably the best time of my life so far. I would encourage everyone to take this opportunity and go abroad if they get the chance. In the end, it does not matter that much where you go, but rather the people you meet and the experiences you share with them. Ottawa is not as popular as bigger cities, which has its own charm, because you can really get to know the city during your stay, and it feels more welcoming rather than overwhelming. I didn’t focus too much on my studies and instead tried to spend my time doing new things, visiting new places, and not worrying too much about money. Of course, the bigger trips were a very important part of my exchange, but it was also the small moments that made it special: trying different foods, meeting people from many different cultures, and simply living in the moment and taking every opportunity you get. Four months pass much faster than you expect, so it is important to enjoy every day and not think too much about what you could have done differently once it is over. Overall, I am extremely grateful for this experience and feel like I really made the most out of my exchange semester. I would definitely do it again!