Originally Posted by xavier1955

I fail to see your preoccupation with the weather?

Yes it can be frigid but you can dress for it and least the homes are well heated

It is not exactly as it you were feeble and ancient

in Montreal we are cursed with hot humid virtually tropical summers and that has been the case since the nineties. I do not think that is the case in the UK. I think you should be more concerned with summer rather than winter.

Originally Posted by reddflamingo

It's not my physical reaction to winter I'm concerned about, it's my mental one, and nor was it really the temperature I was thinking about - it was the length of winter and the amount of sunshine compared to in the UK, which luckily people here have cleared up for me. I am significantly affected by winter here and if I thought it was going to be worse in Montreal then for me that would be a huge drawback to think about before I considered moving there.

And since the school year is September to April, I would barely be in Montreal during the summer so that's not a huge concern.

Originally Posted by xavier1955

I was last in London in late 1998 and early 1999

I remember that it was a while before I got to see the sun. Montreal winters are not dreary and overcast and when it gets mighty cold the sky is completely blue.

My last winter visit to London was a surprise to me as the dampness went to my bones even though I was wearing my warm Montreal winter boots.

On balance i figure our winters are more pleasant than those in London (although we do not really have a Spring as in Europe) and i have gotten quite used to the frigid arctic days we do get in winter.

Originally Posted by Oink

Its just what I've heard from colleagues who worked there. They said they moved about in tunnels or took the metro everywhere in winter.

Originally Posted by reddflamingo

It's a combination of lots of things really but the most important one is that McGill seems to be a really good (and well-known) uni but is still affordable. I don't think I would be eligible for much if any financial aid but even so it is barely more expensive than studying in Britain, and I am lucky to be able to afford it.

Other than that I like that it is in a big city, that Montreal is bilingual so I would be able to learn French without studying it at uni (I already speak some French and it would be good to be able to practise often), I like that I could (and would have to) take multiple majors, minors and electives so I wouldn't have to narrow down too much but would still be able to avoid doing maths or science which doesn't seem to be the case at other North American unis, and from a much shallower perspective I like that the drinking age is still 18 there! And from what I understand I could also get a work permit after graduation so it's nice to have the option to stay in Canada if I still want to after four years, which would be much harder to do in the USA.

I would definitely be open to other unis in North America but the bottom line is that most of them are just too expensive and McGill seems to be a good combination of prestige, fun and affordability - the only major drawback I can see is the weather, which is why I was asking about it.

Originally Posted by xavier1955

I meant every word of it...

Originally Posted by Souvy

You can certainly do that downtown but not everywhere.

Originally Posted by BristolUK

I didn't doubt it. It was the contradiction - shouldn't be concerned about the weather but should be concerned about the summer - that amused me.

Originally Posted by viajero

University of Toronto and University of British Columbia are about as highly-ranked as McGill but located in milder cities (though in the case of UofT, only somewhat milder and not considerably noticeable). Something to consider.

Originally Posted by dbd33

A colleague of mine, from Macao, has a daughter who had the choice of UofT or McGill. The colleague, and her husband, did all they could to persuade her to go to McGill. Their logic being that McGill is an anglophone island in a francophone city, there will be a community feeling to the university. UofT, by contrast, they saw as being "too Asian, all the kids commute, there's no social life, it's just a degree, she might as well go to Waterloo". That's not the only time I've heard the UofT so described.

Originally Posted by viajero

McGill certainly has more of a social atmosphere. Indeed, it is considered quite the party school (which does not detract from its academic excellence).

Bear in mind that U of T is a massive institution - 60,000 students attend the downtown campus. Even if only a minority of those students live downtown, that's still more people than the entire student body at most other Canadian universities. Even if UofT doesn't party as hard as McGill, there should be more than enough opportunity to find one's niche and socialize/get plastered.

Originally Posted by dbd33

Various of my children attended McGill, Concordia, Ryerson, King's College ( a liberal arts attachment to Dalhousie) and UBC. None of them reported getting plastered. I'm shocked to hear such behavior occurs in Canada, I thought we Brits had the monopoly on loutishness.