Details

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

1. Preparation

The application process was well organised and consisted of a ranking in regards of your GPA and your ranking at the interview. My interview was in a relaxed setting and I got asked questions about my motivation, my experience with different cultures and about my personality. I had to imagine a scenario of a group work at university with people from different backgrounds and had to describe my solution proposals in case of differences in opinions due to our cultures. For preparation, I would just read through the exchange reports and try to go to the recommendations named there.

2. Accommodation

The accommodation search was pretty easy since all housing options were on campus. There are different options like townhouses, Courtyard Residence and West/ East/ North Tower. The whole campus was really safe and all housing options were within 5-10 minutes walk to the classrooms. You have to apply for housing in advance, so I would recommend checking on it early on. The townhouses are really nice because you get to stay in a house with a few people, but almost none of the exchange students got assigned to a townhouse. I recommend applying for Courtyard since it is the newest building. Try to get a room in the upper floors, it has the best views. The rooms don't have bathrooms, so be prepared to share those! You can get used to everything, and after a couple of weeks we did not mind. There are about 12-14 shared bathrooms on every floor. There won't be any sheets or pillows for sleeping provided, so have a plan ready to get these beforehand.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus itself is on a mountain and about 45 minutes by car from downtown. It has a big dining hall with a lot of different (and healthy) options, also for vegetarian and vegan people. We all loved the dessert station. I found all the locals to be very focused on their studies. The classes I took were more engaging than my classes at WU. We had assignments and little tasks every week, but therefore I had some classes where I did not have an exam. I liked that the professors named a lot of practical examples and tried to make the classes not too theoretical. In general I would say it was a bit easier to get a good grade than at WU.

5. Every day life in the host country

There is a gym and a running track on campus, it has a supermarket about a 10-15 minutes walk away and a few small eating places. There are some small trails through the forest around the campus and you can easily enjoy the nature around. There are cars on campus that can be rented by students, which was really good for going to the city or anywhere around. We sometimes got a day pass and took them for hiking trips or skiing. There was not a lot of partying going on on campus, so don't expect anything crazy here. However, there are a few bars and clubs we liked downtown like Portside, Celebrity and Metropole. You can take a bus downtown every 30 minutes. While the campus was very safe, be aware that the main road to downtown is full with homeless people and it is probably better to take the uber at night. There was a driving range nearby, where we went to a lot. The bar we always went to was Birdies, because they had some cheap cocktails. There are a few sport events going on on campus. There were no social events like on WU where you can easily meet people, but they sometimes had a basar with little shops on campus. Mostly we tried to go on a lot of hikes on weekends because Vancouver is literally perfect for that.

6. Testimonial

While my university might not have been the most social, was located further away from downtown and just did not have a lot going on, I still had an amazing time and would choose it again. I was prepared for that beforehand because I read the other exchange reports. If you don't care about partying too much, want to explore the nature and like the outdoors, Vancouver is perfect for you. The real reason that made my exchange so special were the people that I met there. By the end of the term we managed to have our own traditions and did not care too much about the things named above. When it was raining in Vancouver, we just travelled around a lot and collected memories I will cherish forever. I am grateful for the friendships and experiences I was able to make. It was a once in a lifetime - experience and I recommend going on exchange to everyone. You will have a great time regardless where you end up at, so don't worry too much about it.