Details

• Canada
• BBE-18
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

This is emphasized a lot every year but please, before you construct the priority list of unis you want for your exchange semester experience, try to read a few reports about them and check out the list of previously recognized classes (the Excel), could be the case that you have absolutely no interest in the classes that are offered to incoming exchange students.

2. Accommodation

I lived in Résidence Maria-Goretti and honestly the experience was 50/50: it was very cheap copmared to both Vienna and Montréal prices (approx. 500 CAD a month), but the rooms are rather small and you get 2 bathrooms per floor, there are 2 kitchenettes (stove + microwave) and one big kitchen that you need a sceduled appointment for (which most likely you will never ever use as a student but oh well). So if you are used to living in a WG or with your parents, this might be a bit inconvenient. The location is awesome, though – more or less 10 minutes on foot from HEC and walking distance to essentially any supermarket/café you might need. I had to book this one a few months to half a year in advance since some kind of charity organization owns this place and they have a long waiting list (students, refugees, single moms, etc.) Also, they won't tell you right away if you got a room for the exact period of your exchange, for me it was 3 weeks before the flight, so if you hate this level of uncertainty, well, what can I say? Try to find someone to share an apartment with, HEC always organizes a WhatsApp group chat for students in like June, so you will most likely find somebody down to live together for those few months even if you don't know the people from WU that are going to the same place.

3. Academic life at host university

This might be due to my own choice of classes, but I'd say it's pretty relaxed compared to WU. The teachers are nice but serious about punctuality (the German/Austrian 15 minute rule does not apply at all, they view it as disrespect). Classrooms look pretty similar – modern, two screens, sockets (don't forget a portable adapter!) for students, etc. For most subjects it's not required to do much homework or readings before class (thank God!!), but active participation in discussions is really emphasized.

5. Every day life in the host country

Montréal is VERY clean and safe, even in the touristy places. Not as diverse and full of attractions as Paris, Vienna or New York, but enough to keep you entertained between classes. I'm not really a social butterfly so I can't say much about partying culture and that kind of stuff, but HEChange organises something pretty much every week.

6. Testimonial

What made my experience at HEC Montréal special apart from this being my first time outside Europe, was definitely the relaxed vibe among incoming exchange students. It was clear everyone's here to learn from each other and have the time of their life, there was no competition, at leastnot as much of a rat race as at WU, because this time was so detached from the rest of everyone's academic career. Would recommend <3