McGill

You’re wondering what college to go to right about now. You’ve obviously heard a lot about McGill, seeing as it is considered to be Rochambeau North. So you think it’s just too plain and anyway, you’ve been seeing Rochambeau-ers for part of your lycée life and possibly some of your college life as well. Time for a change right? Who would want to wait all this time to get away from your current entourage just to step into exactly the same thing? I thought it would be interesting to look at things from a person actually attending McGill’s point of view and so I did.

Me: Why did you go to McGill in the first place?

Person: Because first of all, it’s not very expensive, it’s a good school it’s not too far from the rest of my family. It’s the best college in Montreal. They accepted me in a program that I liked and that corresponded to my aptitudes. What more could a girl ask for?

Me: What’s the worst part of this whole process?

Person: Moving a way from home and all my friends... Sniff. No just kidding. Making your own food. That was terrible. There’s a whole lot of homework too. The weather gets sort of cold but when you really think about it it’s not that much worse than what you get in DC.

Me: What’s the main advantage you get?

Person: It’s a university. You learn stuff. I don’t actually take part in the social part of the school but most of my friends tell me they enjoy that a lot. I just happen not to have enough time to spend on non-school issues. You have to work on your priorities too and mine do not involve extra-scholar activities.

Me: You lived in a dorm for your first year and in an apartment this year. Which one would you recommend?

Person: For the first year I would say… Actually it really all depends on who you are. If you want to make friends and socialize a lot, try a dorm at least for the first year, then switch. That’s what the majority of people do. If you’re shy however, you might want to get an apartment straight off if you can afford it. Try not to isolate yourself too much though because once you miss the socializing of the first-year-and-everybody-is-new thing then it’s much harder to make friends.

Me: Do you see your fellow ex-Rochambeau comrades a lot, too much or not at all?

Person: Not at all. Actually, I see them once in a while but never on campus. I only see them if I actually call and make plans to do so not just out of the blue. Don’t be fooled by the “North Rochambeau” stereotype. It’s much too big for you to hope to cross someone in particular unless you’ve carefully planned it.

Me: Are the classes anything like those that we are enduring here?

Person: First off they’re in English. As you can imagine, they’re harder than those at the Lycée but you manage. The classes are huge and it’s practically impossible to make contact with the professors. It takes a bit of getting used to it but once you get used to it you can get by pretty well. 

- ThE