prowler74

Everything Depends on Your Rez!

The dorms (or "residences", in Canadian-speak) at McGill are amazingly different from one another. Only first-years (AKA "freshmen") live on-campus; afterwards students move off for the freedom and cheaper rents so plentiful in Montreal at large. Living in rez is a great place to meet people, especially at a big school like this.

Upper Rez (Gardner, McConnell, and Molson Halls): the oldest dorms on campus, traditional tiny room/bed, almost exclusively singles. these share a dining hall (Bishop Mountain Hall) and have nice common areas on the lower floors. people love the sense of community enforced by (co-ed) communal bathrooms and the open doors that line dingy old-school hallways, but complain about the hike up the hill.

Douglas Hall: the favorite hall, though these kids also have to walk up the hill. looks like something out of Harry Potter. very tight community. small, mostly single rooms.

Royal Victoria College: not up the hill, nice and convenient to the buildings lining Rue de l'University. has the best caf on campus. formerly an all-girls dorm. apparently a big discrepancy in quality between the tower and wing rooms, though i've not seen them myself.

Prez Rez & University Hall: tiny. i've never met anyone from these buildings, but apparently they have a great sense of close community since there're only about 30 kids in each.

the MORE houses: for more independent-minded

New Residence: somewhat of a misnomer, as it isn't actually the newest dorm. it is however the largest, which has led to the reputation of both a party dorm, and a place full of clicks where it's impossible to meet people. a converted hotel, the rooms here are much larger w/ queen-sized beds. usually double rooms. a good caf w/ great grill section, though the lines are long and one can't eat the grilled stuff every night without rapidly running out of money.

Carrefour Sherbrooke: the newest rez (for now, there will be another soon) so doesn't yet have a reputation, also a converted hotel. really close to campus, but also the downtown area. huge rooms and queen-sized beds. the only rez with its own (small) gym. the highest rent, especially if you get one of the 'suite' rooms, in which one roommate gets a closed door (so you both kind of get the best of both worlds: a roommate, and privacy). the worst caf.

Solin Hall: 3 metro stops away from campus, in the St.-Henri area. many students get really attached to this neighborhood/community feel and end up getting apartments in St-Henri when they move out of rez. no caf, you have to cook for yourself.

Legal Drinking Age = 18!

Quebec's drinking age is 18, so everyone goes out to clubs and bars on the weekends. Especially in the first weeks, expect to get dressed up and hit all the big-name clubs (and see some Americans and Canadians from provinces with higher drinking ages discover their alcohol tolerance), but after a while it settles down; you and your friends will find whatever kind of scene you want.

Pot is cheap and good quality.