Short Story From University of Mumbai to Dalhousie University in Canada.

Lakehead University

6.7(7 Reviews)

Reason for choosing my college

• Dalhousie University was a prominent choice among other universities due to its excellent faculties holding PhD in their respective domains of skills such as ML. AI and Cloud Computing Technologies provide an upper edge in the selection of Dalhousie as my Alma Mater.

Queen's University

7.7(24 Reviews)

McGill University

7.3(25 Reviews)

Reason for Rejection

• Though I had very good industry experience, I secured an overall 7.83 CGPA in my Bachelor's Degree while the above universities were looking for a CGPA overall greater than 8 or 8.5. The rejection reason for these universities happened to be the same citing low academic scores.

• Strong LOR from Work (Manager) or College ( Dean or HOD) will be an asset to enhance the application.
• Paid Internships in startups and MNCs will be an added advantage.
• Research Papers Publication in IEEE and other forums along with an overall GPA of more than 8+ will boost application.

• Canada was undoubtedly the first preference for higher studies due to its rich diversity in academics and work opportunities. Also, I was aware that most Canadian Institutes focus on practical applications rather than theoretical knowledge. The Halifax Location in the Atlantic region was not the preferred choice but had to take up due to Dalhousie University's rich reputation.

• The MACS course offered classes four days a week along with labs for practical applications. Some semesters had classes in the early morning, while others had classes from afternoon until evening.
• The average strength of the class was around 70-80 since many students enrolled in the MACS course. 90% of the students were categorically from India while others were from South Asia and Canada.
• Apart from regular classes of 4 hours, 8-10 hours go into assignments and self-study at home or library.

• The faculty at Dalhousie are supportive and help individuals to unlock their full potential. Faculty student ratio was good and staff were easy to approach and aid in solving problems efficiently. Personally, staff from the Machine Learning and Cloud Computing Course were funny and delivered quality lectures to engage students overall. Yes, the faculty helped us by providing references to the companies that they already knew in their capacity.

• Dalhousie University has 4 campuses namely Studley, Sexton, Truro and Carleton Campus.
• Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) played a pivotal role in helping students find part-time opportunities and other extracurricular activities in Dance, kayaking, Sailing, Fencing, and Football. Dal After Dark Events help in showcasing live music, food, and arts culture.
• Dal Tigers was the student sports body representing Dalhousie in various sports across the Atlantic and national sports.

• Most Indians prefer working at Walmart, McDonald's, Subway, Atlantic Super Stores, and Malls as part-time work. They either apply through the Company portal or a friend's reference. In Halifax, the part-time opportunities were comparatively good to other states such as Ontario and Quebec. In 2021, the hourly wage in Halifax was ~ CAD 13.
• An average part-time working 20 hours/week can secure 260$ CAD. I was lucky enough to secure a TA'ship in my University wherein the no of hours was fixed but the pay rate was ~%25 CAD for teaching lower grade students and sometimes marking assignments to reduce the Professor's workload.

• Since there are limited seats for TA/RA/Marker, it's quite competitive. The typical pay for a TA'ship was CAD 25 with a restricted no of hours and the students involved in the course. Some courses had 5 TAs while others had 2 depending on the no of students enrolled for the course.
• Other on-campus jobs would be to work in University Recreational centers or BookStore which has the same hourly wage of 13 CAD. During 2021 and 2022, the maximum no of hours allocated was 20.

• Overall, Dalhousie has excellent Student Internships mentors, and staff who onboard multiple companies as part of the Co-op Program. The Dal International board along with Co-op officers provides a wide range of study guides, resume and cover letter reviews, and workshop sessions to boost student morale in finding their dream job.
• 95% of the students convert to internships and full-time opportunities after graduating from the university. The average Salary offered by the MACS course was ~75,000 CAD per year in the financial, retail, banking, and e-commerce sectors.
• Students find jobs using the Dalhousie University Portal as well as Linkedin platforms. The highest salary would be CAD 1,50,000 and the lowest would be CAD 50,000.

• My search started with the university's WhatsApp group. After finding the group, we added our accommodation request. Luckily, we saw the Kijiji and Facebook marketplace postings on the group, to which we responded. Since alumni from the university were leaving the city, we found the perfect time to pitch in our request and paid all the rent to secure the spot. The lease was signed online, and we found the perfect house close to Dalhousie University.