Details

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

1. Preparation

The application-interview went quite well overall. One of the more challenging questions was when I was asked to talk in English about the current political situation in Austria. Most of the other questions were in German and rather general. They mainly wanted to see how the candidate in this case, me handles stress. However, it was not too difficult to be accepted by the university, mainly because there were fewer applicants compared to other universities. Therefore, the chances of being admitted are quite high. It is important to know that you need an English certificate proving a C1 level, such as a Cambridge or IELTS test. This must be submitted on time. Additionally, it is important to register early for housing, health insurance, and other administrative matters.

2. Accommodation

If you apply for accommodation early, it is possible to get a room directly on campus. I would 100% recommend living on campus, because the campus is located on a hill outside the city, and otherwise the commute to the university takes quite a long time. The residence I stayed in was called Courtyard Residence. It is one of the more modern accommodations on campus — in fact, the most modern one. You apply for it through an external platform called MyHousing. The building has ten floors, and each floor has multiple rooms. Every student has their own private room of about 12 square meters. On each floor, there are shared bathrooms and washing facilities, as well as a study room and a small lounge area. One important thing to know is that if you live in this residence, you are required to purchase a meal plan for the nearby dining hall. There is no kitchen in the residence or in the building. With the meal plan, you can go to the dining hall 24 hours a day and get all-you-can-eat meals whenever you want. The food was very good, and the system was convenient. The location is excellent: it’s a four-minute walk to the lecture halls, one minute to the dining hall, three minutes to the library, and also about three minutes to the bus stop. I also found the residence to be very safe — there were no serious incidents. One last thing to note: when you move in, the room is basically empty. It only comes with a desk, a chair, a fridge, and a bed with a mattress. You need to bring or buy everything else yourself, such as a desk lamp, bed sheets, blanket, pillow, cleaning supplies, and clothes hangers.

3. Academic life at host university

Overall, the campus has everything you need. There is a restaurant, student housing, all your friends nearby, a library for studying, a fitness center, and sports facilities. Basically, you can’t complain about the campus itself. The only slightly annoying thing is that the campus is quite remote. Getting to downtown Vancouver can take up to an hour. You can reach Burnaby, the nearest city, in about 10 to 15 minutes by bus, but going to downtown takes much longer. That can be frustrating, especially because downtown is where the clubs and most of the social life is. In the evenings, the campus can feel a bit quiet. Most people spend time in the dining hall or hang out with friends in their residences. Still, overall, it’s a really cool campus. As for the courses, I found them quite different from those at WU. Instead of having one big final exam, there are several smaller exams throughout the semester. In one course, I even had three exams within three and a half months. There are also more assignments and group projects, but it’s not particularly difficult. In fact, I found it slightly easier than courses at WU, mainly because the workload is divided into smaller parts rather than being tested all at once at the end. The teaching and facilities were solid — good lecture halls, everything well organized, nothing to complain about.

5. Every day life in the host country

Regarding public transport, there are two different buses that leave directly from the campus and go in various directions. One bus goes straight to downtown Vancouver. As mentioned before, the trip can take over an hour at times. That is quite long, but still manageable. The bus even runs late into the night and early in the morning. However, my friends and I often preferred using Uber. We usually shared an Uber by four people, which was faster and more comfortable. Because of that, we ended up spending quite a bit of money on Uber rides. In terms of safety, there were no incidents at all. There is one street in Vancouver, Hastings Street, where many homeless people gather, so it’s better to avoid that area. Apart from that, there were no safety concerns. There are many clubs at the university that you can sign up for, such as an Investment Club, a Hiking Club, or a Calisthenics Club. I registered for several of them but didn’t end up attending any meetings, mainly because of time constraints and because the clubs were not exactly what I had expected. It was sometimes unclear when they met and what activities were planned, and the communication through newsletters was a bit confusing. Still, there is a wide selection, probably around 30 to 50 clubs and it’s definitely worth trying them out. All student clubs are free to join. In addition, you can sign up for paid sports courses, such as climbing, grappling (which i attended, was very cool), or even join a football (soccer) team. These activities cost a small fee, but it’s very affordable. There were also many university sports events where our university teams played against others, such as volleyball, basketball, or football matches. As a student, you could always watch these games for free. There is also a fitness center included in the student fees, and it has everything you need.

6. Testimonial

My semester abroad was definitely an unforgettable experience. I would recommend every student to take this opportunity and truly go for it by applying. What made my exchange special were, above all, the friends I met — people I spent every day with and shared so many experiences, including trips to different countries that I had never even imagined visiting before. Vancouver has an amazing location. You can easily travel to the USA, explore other parts of Canada, or even go to places like Hawaii or Japan. Everything feels relatively close and surprisingly affordable. That makes it a perfect base for traveling, and I would absolutely encourage future exchange students to take advantage of that opportunity.