McGill University: the Pros
Campus and Location
A unique part about McGill is that the school has a nice and spacious main campus, despite being in the heart of downtown Montreal. The metro system and other shops on Rue St. Catherine are across street from the main gate, giving students easy access.
On the opposite end of campus is Mount Royal, a small mountain at the center of Montreal, which surrounds the school with it's various parks and running trails. Saint-Laurent Boulevard, where a lot of the city's clubs and bars are located, is only a 10-15 minute walk from campus - a fact you will be thankful for at 5am in the morning.
Social Scene
McGill as a school embodies the mentality of work hard play hard. You can hear students going out every day of the week, especially early in the semester. Despite this, you can also find the same students in the library next morning at 9am because they have an exam coming up. The school does not throw any big parties or tail-gates, but there is a mentality of partying embedded in the student body. School spirit is not prevalent, but everyone is generally friendly and open.
Drinking Age and Legalization
One of the biggest pros about Montreal is the fact that 18 year olds can purchase alcohol, and more recently also purchase cannabis. Coming from the US this was a great quality of life change that I quickly grew accustom to. For those that partake, legalization is a nice plus if you are coming from outside of Canada. Quebec does impose some restrictions on purchases. Beer and wine can be bought from grocery stores and convenience stores (depanneurs), while liqour can only be purchased from government run SAQ stores. Cannabis can only be legally purchased from government run SQDC stores.
Student City and Cheap Rent
Montreal is home to four major universities (McGill, Concordia, UQAM, UDEM), making it a student friendly city. Rent is very cheap compared to cities like Toronto and New York, and it only gets cheaper the further you get from campus. I lived 20 minutes away from campus with two roommates and paid around 650 CAD a month.
Your neighbors are likely to be other students as well, especially if you live close to campus.
Cost
Tuition for McGill is relatively cheap for international students and extremely cheap for Canadian or Quebec residents. I was paying less than 5000 CAD for one year at McGill, which is insane when compared to schools in the US.
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