Details

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

1. Preparation

Once your exchange placement at HEC Montréal has been confirmed, you should plan ahead to avoid stress. Check early on that you have all the necessary documents (passport, visa, insurance, study permit, etc.) and that they will remain valid during your stay. Otherwise, don't stress too much and enjoy the time leading up to your exchange. If you have all your documents in order, there's not much to worry about. If you are unsure about anything, the exchange university is always available to offer advice and assistance

2. Accommodation

I had no trouble finding accommodation. I searched on AIRBNB and quickly found suitable accommodation at a reasonable price in a nice area. But I wouldn't do it again. I was quite unhappy with my accommodation because I had to share the bathroom and kitchen with constantly changing strangers who didn't care about long-term tenants and didn't leave the apartment clean at all. I lived in Le Plateau, a beautiful, safe, and cozy area with a wide range of cafés, restaurants, bars, and so on. The distance to the university was also very manageable. At the beginning of my stay (when temperatures were above 0 degrees), I could reach HEC Montréal in less than 10 minutes, by bike. When the weather changed (below 0 degrees), I could still reach the university on foot in a reasonable amount of time. I wish I had known that the apartments on getyourplace.com are only shared by exchange students from the same exchange program. During my stay, the shared exchange apartments were the main places where everyone met.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus is very easy and straightforward to reach. It is a large building with all classrooms on the ground floor and the library on the upper floor. I took four courses, all in English. The teaching style and structure (assignments, presentations, and exams) reminded me of the style at WU Vienna. Now that I have finally completed all my courses, I would say that the amount of work required in relation to the graded results is also really comparable.

5. Every day life in the host country

There are several bus and subway lines that run throughout Montreal. Ideally, this means you can be very flexible. In addition, there is an inexpensive city bike rental service (BIXI) that I used frequently and that allowed me to get anywhere I needed to go in less than 15 minutes. In theory, you can be very flexible and mobile in Montreal. However, due to the drastic weather changes and constant strikes in public transportation, I often had difficulty getting around Montreal. Montreal is a very safe place; I never felt threatened or intimidated by anyone. I often went jogging in the dark and always felt safe. There are many social activities to participate in. The HECChange committee at HEC Montréal organizes parties for international students almost every Wednesday. In addition, there are many bars and clubs that are worth visiting, especially on weekends. I did a lot of sports in Montreal. There is the CEPSUM gym, the official gym of the University of Montreal, which also includes HEC Montréal. The gym is located near the university and offers a discounted membership for 15 euros per month for four months.

6. Testimonial

Although I had a problematic living situation and wasn't always 100% satisfied with everything, I still say that my time in Montreal was truly enriching. I met lots of new people, discovered new cultures, lived in places I had never been before (alone), and achieved all my academic goals. I visited several places in Canada and the US, I believe that this is what made my stay so valuable, because it broadened my horizons so much. So when I look back on the last four months, I am very happy and a little proud that I took the step of leaving my regular, comfortable life in Vienna behind to experience something new and uncertain.