Bitter Sweet experience of Life in Canada

Thompson Rivers University

7.0(10 Reviews)

Lakehead University

6.7(7 Reviews)

Reason for choosing my college

• Simon Fraser had the course I was actually looking for. It cost me less than half of what other schools charged because they charge domestic fees to all master's and PhD students. It's located in Vancouver, which had the ideal weather conditions for me.

• I also added research papers that I worked on to show that I don't shy away from hard work, though it was optional, but if you have some documentation that has been marked as optional, do submit it; it really helps. Reach out to the profs over LinkedIn or the program manager over email/call; they are more than happy to help you!

• I was particularly drawn towards the program, it was of my liking and would give me better opportunities at work. Moreover, it followed a hybrid model, with in-person classes only once a week in the evening which gave enough time for part-time work. Focus was on assignments which helped build my portfolio and upskill myself. There were no exams and the program was solely based on individual and group assignments.

• The best was it was small classes of max 20 students, so there is more personal attention given to you. Classes were in the evening for 4 hours once a week. About 8-10 hours more are required for assignments. I had just one more Indian in the class, which helped me open up to people from other backgrounds and not just stick to those of my kind.

• All my profs were amazing and very helpful, they are very approachable. The ratio was never more than 10:1, so the faculty knows you well. Dr. John Nesbit helped me land my first job (part-time) and also hired me later for a teaching assistantship. I am looking for a full-time opportunity now, and all my profs are helping me out.

• They have 3 campuses, and each of them has a library and medical facility. Only the Burnaby campus has a gym and recreational area. Because it was far from my campus, I never used it but still got charged a fee for it. There are many extracurricular activities and events like Dog therapy, and recruitment events but all at Burnaby and mostly focused on undergraduate students.

• I noticed most Indians preferred working off campus, at stores and restaurants. The pay is usually minimum wage. Part-time work is not very difficult to find, but it's best to go to the stores with your resume and apply to jobs by directly handing the resume to the managers. On-campus work can be applied for online on the university's portal.

• TA and RA jobs usually pay about 25 CAD an hour, but the hours are limited to 16 hours weekly for TAs, for an RA it depends. You can work at the residences and the restaurants at the Burnaby campus, it is fairly easy to get the job, but you have to research, and network to find where the jobs are on campus.

• It's been hard looking for full-time jobs, I have been looking for over 7 months now, but it seems the economy is quite uncertain. Networking is the key to finding jobs with a lot of patience! The lowest is never below minimum wage and the highest goes up to 80k annually. Most of my cohort already had jobs and they received a hike, but the others are yet to find some work.

• The university accommodations had a waitlist and were away from my campus, so I referred to a website affiliated with SFU residences and found a cheap and homely private room near my campus. I didn't face any challenges. I would recommend you do thorough research and reach out to 4-5 people before you land in Canada so you have a choice.