Details

• Canada
• MASCM-21
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

It's important to check which courses are available and talk to your programme coordinator or check the online accreditation Excel file from the international office to make sure you will receive the required credits. As well as taking care of all the administrative tasks, I would recommend checking out the extracurricular offers at the partner university. Northern American universities have loads of different clubs and activities, so it's worth thinking about what you're interested in before you go to the club fairs at the start of the semester.

2. Accommodation

There are plenty of on-campus accommodation options at the University of Alberta. I lived at the International House (I House) and had a positive experience. At I House, you live in private rooms with your own bathroom, but share a kitchen. The I House hosts lots of events and activities for residents to get together, which is a great way to get to know fellow students and international students. Another really good option on campus is Nîpisîy, one of the more modern accommodations.

3. Academic life at host university

Like most American campuses, the campus is huge. The highlight is probably the large recreation centre, which includes an ice skating rink, two swimming pools, a gym, volleyball courts and more. I would definitely recommend watching a hockey game on campus – the atmosphere is great. The courses are quite interactive. While the workload is usually quite high (midterms, weekly assignments, etc.), the courses themselves are not too difficult. I particularly enjoyed a course called 'Decision Support Systems', in which we learnt to write macros with Excel VBA.

5. Every day life in the host country

Edmonton is a big city, but the city centre is not very exciting. Also, the city seems to be designed for cars. Most exchange students really started to miss the small, European shopping streets and alleys. There are some nice café's near campus and if you want to go out, Whyte Avenue, which is also close to campus, is a popular destination.

6. Testimonial

I really enjoyed my semester abroad. Here are three things that made it special for me: - The friends I made: since almost everyone lives on campus, you see each other all the time. We often got together to cook or watch movies which I enjoyed a lot. - Figure skating: I started figure skating a couple of years ago and Canada's the perfect place to really get into it. I joined a figure skating club and I spend many hours a week at the ice rink. - The trips we went on. Canada's got stunning natural beauty. The Rocky Mountains are about a fours hours' drive away, but it's totally worth the journey. Renting a car and fuel is pretty cheap, so we went multiple times and were absolutely stunned each time.