1 The application process
My decision to study at the University of New Brunswick in Canada was made very quickly. 5 years ago I was already in the beautiful small town of Fredericton and then I immediately fell in love with the city, the atmosphere and the people. MicroEDU has given me very good help with all of my further planning. There were a lot of little things that I had to take care of (translating my high school diploma, language certificate, etc. ). Everything could be arranged relatively quickly, but I still recommend that you plan enough time if you are also looking for BAföG abroad, scholarships, etc. must take care of. MicroEDU was always on hand to answer any questions I had and I got helpful answers quickly.
2 Arrival and on-site support
I started at the end of August. Fredericton is a very small town with only around 50,000 inhabitants, but it is the capital of New Brunswick and therefore has everything a city needs, such as its own airport. However, there is no direct flight from Germany to Fredericton and I had to change trains in Montreal. I landed late at night, so a friend picked me up. However, International Student Services offer every student the option of picking them up from the airport. I have on campus in a residence used and moved in a few days before Orientation Week. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone because the House Committee and the Proctors have already lived there and planned all of our events. If I had any questions, the staff at the International Student Advisor’s Office could help me or at least tell me where I can get help. As the cliché goes, Canadians are really friendly, polite and helpful people.
3 studies and courses taken
Orientation Week was clearly the busiest week. There was a program from morning to evening and if you wanted to take part in everything you hardly had a free minute. The whole week was designed according to the motto “Freddy Beach” and there were parties, BBQs, comedy shows and much more. My favorite of all events was by far the blast-off. The whole day we practiced cheers with our residence and in the evening all residences gathered on campus to present their cheers one after the other and to be the loudest in order to collect points for their residence. We also had a lot of private events within our residence, which was great for getting to know new people very quickly.
The courses finally started in the second week after my arrival. I am studying media and cultural studies, but in addition to the media courses, I also took courses from other areas because I was able to get credit for everything in the elective area at my home university. I would not recommend taking more than 5 courses per semester. Unlike in Germany, the final grade in a course is not just made up of the final exam. Assignments, essays and midterms, which are all part of the final grade, are distributed over the entire semester. Then it can also be that you either don’t write a final exam at all or this only counts 20% for the final grade. What I really liked about my courses was that everything was pretty practical.
4 leisure and excursion options
I stayed at the Joy Kidd House on campus, which was a great experience. We had a lot of first year students and also some international students. That was a really good mix because I met a lot of Canadians and now I have new friends in all parts of the world! We have always done a lot together. Downtown are many nice restaurants, which were always a nice change from the Meal Hall. Uptown is the Regent Mall, where there are not only shopping opportunities but also a cinema. Fortunately, the nightlife also offers a few options. Downtown there are a few bars, billiard bars and night clubs. There isn’t a large selection, but a good time is guaranteed nonetheless. If you don’t want to leave the campus in the first place, there is the Cellar Pub and the Social Club in the SUB.
In addition to the leisure activities in Fredericton itself, I can only recommend making other excursions. Every now and then the International Office offers excursions at low prices. For example, I took part in a camping weekend with canoeing, hiking and a campfire. As a weekend trip, it is always a good idea to rent a car with a small group. Among other things, I’ve made trips to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
5 conclusion
Overall, I was more than satisfied with my stay at the UNB featured by answerresume. I had an amazing time, had impressive experiences and am happy to say that I now have friends all over the world. That’s why I’m personally very happy to have lived in the residence on campus because I had my friends around me and we were always able to spend a lot of time together.