Confessions of a Student in Canada

[just_do_it]

Having been a visa student in Canada for 6 years, i thought it would be a good idea to share experiences for prospective students to help them clear any misconceptions etc and get a better idea of what to expect.

I came here back in 2002 when the trend was to go to Australia for education. I would have done the same if it wasen't for family pressure to send me somewhere i had relatives to keep an eye on me. Being a 18 year old male has its consequences i guess.

So i started my journey at University of Victoria. Canada, in the beginning, was exactly what i expected, although a little too cold for april.
It was beautiful, CLEAN, friendly people, beautiful women who smile at you if you stare at them. What is going on? Nobody is giving me dirty looks if i look at them longer than the customary 1 second glance. Its easy to get carried away and think a beautiful 'Gori' may be interested if she smiles at you. But that's just the warm and friendly culture canadians have, nothing else.

University was interesting, sometimes easy and sometimes frustrating. You had to be on the top of your game at all times. You slack for a little too long and end up at the bottom of the roster. Trust me, been there done that. If you are here to study, focus on it and make sure you get good grades because your life after graduation will be eventually affected by how you do in school.

It was fun and worth it to pick up on campus jobs working in the student cafeteria or services offices. It's not a lot of money but its valuable canadian work experience which again will prove to be beneficial later on. Also, don't bank of working your way through your education because its just not feasible. If you somehow are able to work enough to make up your tution fee, you wont be spending a lot of time in classes. So whats the point.

I was a little apprehensive about the co-op/ internship program at first. Having never had applied for a job or went for an interview, it was very intimidating at first. But thank god for the support available through student job centres, advisors etc. even if i didnt get a job offer in the first semester, it was a good experience in job interviews which will play a very important role later on.

At times, i missed home (even though i lived with relatives) but it was more of hanging out with friends and people from your neck of the woods (punjabi speakers in my case). Not having a lot of indian students at my university, i spent most of my time with canadians which again works to your benefit as i will explain later.

It's important to visit home at the 2nd year anniversary mark to re-charge and get motivated again by visiting your family. If nothing else, being told that you are doing a great job with your life instills that ever important purpose and drive to your efforts. It also gives you a chance to knock back and blow off some steam with your old friends. Life is not all about work and money since they are both renewable but time lost is not.

so long story short, i had a blast during my years as a student. Had a lot of good and bad experiences and they all ultimately led to me being who i am, what i am and who i will be.

so things to take from this mindless rant are:

1. Don't expect too much and you will not be disappointed.

2. work hard in school and get good grades as they will help you later on in securing jobs/ internships etc and even scholarships. go for a university if you can. they usually have better resources and more employers willing to hire students on work terms.

3. Go for the co-op/ internship program. Interview experience with employers is very important and helps prepare you. If you get a co-op job, thats even better. I had a 16 month paid internship; i got canadian work experience out of it and made enough to cover for my 2 years worth tution fees. Dont be limited by geographical restrictions, take a chance. If you get a job offer working in Northern canada where there is nothing but snow, take it. Its an opportunity and you are building up experience (and will probably get paid more if you work in those areas).

4. Take advantage of all the resources available to you to succeed at university. Student advisors, math labs, english labs etc and your professors are excellent resources. I would also recommend TA's but in my experience they are jerks (being post grad students with a big chip on their shoulders and expect you to magically know everything).

5. Don't bank on working your way to pay for your education. you will be ruining your chances in the long term by focussing on the short term. Trust me, i have seen enough guys do that to graduate with either really bad grades or meaningless degrees/ diploma's that wont help you get a job at Mcdonalds.

6. Spend time with canadians, helps you improve your english and lose that ever present indian accent. also helps in networking and getting assimilated into the canadian culture.

7. enjoy your time here; it can the very best in your life if you want it to be. Don't worry too much about the distant future and things like Permanent residency. focus on your present and everything will work out in the future.

 

[just_do_it]

feel free to share your experiences and such...

 

[wfsoomro]

Thanks a lot for the insight bro. Gives a clear picture of what to expect from life when we get there IA.

 

[chraza]

Excellent info bro..... im sure it will be very very helpful for the new commers.... I would insist you to add more into it.....

 

[Nish555]

Thanks a ton for the insight! Very rarely people share their experiences and so well.

Does give a good outlook as others mentioned for prospective students like us.

And all the very best in your future endeavours!

 

[just_do_it]

Excellent info bro..... im sure it will be very very helpful for the new commers.... I would insist you to add more into it.....

If you have specific questions, concerns etc.. feel free to ask

 

[just_do_it]

How to be cheap and save $$ while not looking the part of being a cheap-a$$

For someone new to the country and living on their own or with room-mates, it helps to know how and where to save $$. It sucks to waste money untill you learn to be a bargain shopper. so hope this makes it easy (based on being a cheapster in BC).

FOOD
food prices are pretty much the same across all available stores. i only buy the basics at regular price such as milk, eggs, bread, cheese etc. Other stuff like frozen food, meats etc i shop only on sale items. the best place to look for deals are the flyers (advertisements for newbies. we get them every friday and sales usually start the same day). Most stores will have the flyers by the entrance as well. so you can see whats on sale. the cheapest places are probably walmart, safeway, save-on-foods etc. Some stores offer club memberships for free. Get it. Save on foods will put items on sale for club members only. so it's worth it. If you live in desi-heavy areas like surrey, vancouver, toronto, missisuaga etc... or close by, shop at desi food stores. They are usually cheaper than big box stores.
If you live with a bunch of room-mates, its economical to shop at costco. You just buy stuff in bulk which ends up being cheaper in the long run. You can split the memership cost ($55 a year) but its well worth it.


CLOTHING
I'm a real cheapazz when it comes to clothes. Never bought anything on regular price.. ok, maybe a couple of times. You can get good clothes on bargain prices if you look around. Buy off season. T-shirts are dirt cheap in winter. Aeropostale sells t-shirts for like $5 each couple of times a year. That's when i buy 10-15 each time. Lasts a long time. The bay (a big all in one store) although very expensive when regular price, will have specific sales throughout the year. they have a sale around august when they get rid of old styles and make room for new shiznit, thats when yo can buy branded $hit for dirt cheap. Think CK jeans for like $30. I dont bother with old navy crap, its cheap all year long and will only last so long. I find it better to shop around and wait for deals and buy good stuff. Buy winter clothes around feb/ march when the spring $hit is coming in. Believe it or not, tommy outlets here on the west coast are frikkin dirt cheap but you gotta look for sales and clearance stuff.

SHOES
Shoes are usually expensive and in the 100-150$ range. It's hard to wait since the kind you like may not go on sale. so look for BOGO (buy one get one) deals at stores like foot locker, athletes world, sportcheck etc. You can usually get 50% off the second pair when you buy the first regular price. I see BOGO 70% off every now and then. so you get to pick 2 pairs you like and pay less for both in total.

ELECTRONICS
Aaah... the good stuff. One word... Boxing Day.. perhaps that was 2 words. mark the date on your calendars. December 26 every year, crazy boxing day deals. Tv's, camera's, laptops, computers, tablets etc go very very cheap (although really cheap stuff is borderline crap but still). the thing is, you have to make an effort and be in store's really early. Cheapsters will stake out a store over-night if they have to to get at the good stuff before anyone else. There maybe other sales during different parts of the year but you have to keep an eye out. Stores like Future Shop, Best buy, Staples is where it's at.

TEXTBOOKS
I always bought used unless i couldn't. these things are f ucking expensive. Books for a semester will set you back around 4-500$ based on your program. Universities/ colleges will usually have a classifieds board in almost every building or online where students are selling used books. Now there is a scam going on by the official college/ university bookstore. You buy a new textbook for say $150. after the semester, if thats textbook is being re-used again, the bookstore will buy it back from you for a fractions...say $60... and sell it used to others for more.. like $100. If you want to save money, go down to the bookstore and figure out if any of your old textbooks are being re-used. if they are, put them up for private sale for 10-20$ less than what the bookstore sells them for.

Another thing to look for is see if you can find a previous edition of a required textbook. 99% of the time, the new edition is no different than the previous edition but the prof will ask you to get a newer edition. Its another scam to boost book sales. If you can get the same material out of an older edition textbook, why pay out of your ass for a very expensive newer edition when you can pick up an older edition for next to nothing. whatever pages are different (its usually very few), just photocopy them from the new edition if you have to.

Another trick i learnt was that the library will always keep the latest textbook for students to borrow. I would borrow it, photocopy a chapter if i have to. I got away without having to buy a textbook for a number of courses. you can always share with your friends who are in the same class or look for ebooks (trust me you will get really good at using google).

did i miss anything??

Ask me if i did..

Peace!

 

[Nish555]

Thanks a ton... one quick thing what about travel??

 

[aman khinda]

woww what a nice and informative post..one mor think mainu 22g specks lagia hoyia ki main axtra pair lai ke avaan je visa lag gia..te along with contact lens which i always use..

 

[Vicky_786]

hey bro ! very nice information, what about house rents and average student monthly expense.And how much a average student earn out there

 

[dd1989]

Nice..Really very inspirational for an international student..Appreciated...

 

[just_do_it]

Thanks a ton... one quick thing what about travel??

By travel i assume you mean travel back to India

It depends.. peak season is usually expensive if you plan on buying tickets right before you go (peak season being October to Jan).
It is better to plan well ahead (like 6+ months). Once you have a travel date/ idea, start looking for deals. What i do is i will start calling up travel agents (desi travel agents in vancouver or toronto or wherever you are) and asking the current rate every 3-4 weeks. I know its tiresome but it pays off.

For travelling locally as in to-from university etc.. bus system is pretty good. Depending on where you will be going, big cities have better transport options than smaller ones. Easier to live close by and bike to school. you would normally get a bus/ transit pass included in your tution fee so that option is always there. Keeping a car is convenient but expensive. You will need to sort out your driver's license. You will have to write a computer knowledge test (very easy if you study the guide) and then pass a driving test. But being a new driver in canada you will pay out of your a$$ for insurance. Parking is also usually not free and expensive.

One word of advice, do get your driver's license if you can even if you wont be driving. It will build your driving record as being flawless i.e. no infractions. So by the time you do get a car, your clean driving record will mean you get better insurance rates

 

[just_do_it]

woww what a nice and informative post..one mor think mainu 22g specks lagia hoyia ki main axtra pair lai ke avaan je visa lag gia..te along with contact lens which i always use..

Hanji 22 ji, better to bring your specs and stuff. also bring your prescription in case you have to get new one's here. Eye exams can cost $90 + . There are websites where you can order glasses if you know your prescription and current frame size. check out clearlycontactsDOTca. They give you your first pair free and also sell cheap contacts.

 

[just_do_it]

hey bro ! very nice information, what about house rents and average student monthly expense.And how much a average student earn out there

accomodation depends on a lot of things.

If you stay on student rez on campus, it can be very convenient since you dont have to worry about travelling to campus and as an international student you can pick up on campus jobs without a work permit (last time i checked) untill you get your work permit. But on campus may not necessarily be cheap.

The cheapest i think is shared accomodation off campus. You can find ads all over the campus for people looking for room-mates. What you pay will depend on the rental property and how many share it. General rule of thumb is the more room-mates you have, the less you pay in rent. For e.g. 2 room-mates sharing a 2 bedroom apartment can pay around 400-500 each, more or less. If 4 room-mates rent out a 4 bedroom place, each can pay as less as 300-350. Again this depends on city, current rent, location etc. But its definitely cheaper in shared accomodation. the downside is that you may not really enjoy your room-mates since you have to share the kitchen, bathroom, living areas etc.

It will be harder to find rentals around september since students come back to school after summer. Summer time is a very good time to find a new place if you are looking and negotiate a good deal since lots of rentals are available and landlords are more desperate. So if you find a good place on a good price in a good location, sign a lease.

As far as earning, it all depends on the job. On campus jobs usually pay decent starting at around $15 an hour. But they are part time and they might even want to look at your schedule and give you hours accordingly so it does not interfere with your classes. Once you get your off campus work permit, you can work 20 hours a week. You can usually find a part time job in retail stores where you can do 4 hours in the evening or work full time on weekends. The wages are again going to be on the lower end. Expect to be paid around $10-15 an hour. Good thing is you can work full time during breaks such as reading breaks, christmas breaks etc. If you work on public holidays such as christmas, new years, thanksgiving etc, you get 1.5 times the pay. so if you get $10 an hour normally, working on a holiday you get paid $15/ hour.

My suggestion would be to find something part time only if it fits your schedule and still allows you to focus on your classes. It's good to have canadian work experience on your resume, even if it is flipping burgers at burger king. But definitely go for co-op/ internships if available through your school.

 

[yuyu]

this is a very useful thread thanks!!!

for those who have no family in canada. when u first arrived, what are the temporary accommodations that are cheap available?