University: Saint Mary’s University

City: Halifax

Country: Canada

Continent: North America

Field of study: trade management

Study type: Summer Sessions

I did a semester abroad or summer sessions at Saint Mary’s University. In summer there are two summer sessions, each lasting about 6 weeks. These Summer Sessions are optional for Canadian students, so there is not much activity on campus during the summertime. I decided to stay abroad for 8 months, i.e. summer sessions and another semester. Check iamaccepted.com to see top 6 chemistry schools in the USA.

MicroEdu helped me a lot in organizing my stay abroad. There were no problems with the application for the university and if I had any questions I was helped quickly, regardless of whether it was about housing options or course selection. I can warmly recommend MicroEdu and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the great help and support!

Halifax

Those who come from a big city will find Halifax to be very small. However, the city is really beautiful and there is a lot to see here, especially in summer. There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the city center and most bars are busy even during the week. For shopping, it’s better to take the bus to Halifax Shopping Center or Mic Mac Mall because the mall downtown on Spring Garden Road is really small.

There is a public garden in the city center that is really beautiful and definitely recommendable.
Point Pleasant Park is only 10 minutes from the university. Those who like jogging or just going for a walk will be delighted.

University

The university is not very big and there is not much activity on campus in the summer, as most students take their holidays in the summer. I’m currently doing the semester and there really isn’t anything to compare… In the summer it was pretty quiet on campus and you didn’t see many students, and now that the semester has started you see 10 times more students on campus.
Those who like it a bit quieter will love it here in the summer… Not that many German students study here in the summer. There were 9 Germans in total, 2 of whom left after 2 months, i.e. after the first summer session.

The orientation event was kept rather small, a few things were discussed and we were shown the university. The orientation event in September, on the other hand, was gigantic, you could not only get to know the many Germans, but also students from all over the world.

Courses

In summer everyone is generally considered a part-time student. But since I needed confirmation that I was studying full-time, it was quite a hassle to get it. You have to be registered for at least 3 courses in the two summer sessions.
In each summer session I took 2 courses, ie. 4 courses in total during the summer. You are busy enough with 2 courses per summer session, in retrospect it was the right decision.
In the first summer session I took Natural Resource Economics and International Economic Issues. Both courses were ok, but the professor in International Economic Issues is Indian and his English was very difficult to understand, you get used to it over time, but in hindsight I regret having chosen this course.
In the second session I chose Money and Banking and Human Resource Economics. The Money and Banking course requires a lot of effort, but it is still doable.

Dorm

I stayed at the Loyola Residence in a senior suite. In the summer there is no meal plan so having a kitchen was pretty handy. My room was quite large – compared to others who have also lived in the Loyola.
If you stay here for a semester after the summer, you have to move… so I had to move from the 9th floor to the 4th floor and this time I wasn’t so lucky with the room and got a pretty small room. I’ve opted for a senior suite again because I think it’s pretty handy when you have a kitchen. Nevertheless, I also signed up for Meal Plan, because if you don’t have a car, the lugging around is a bit annoying and I think that in winter, when it’s cold, it’s very convenient to just eat in the canteen instead of every few having to go shopping for days.

Overall it was very nice here, but I would recommend studying here in the normal semester. But if you like it a bit quieter, you will have enough fun in summer.