Didn't go to HEC, but will leave some general thoughts about life in Montreal since I had my exchange at another university there. 1) Montreal residents are a mixed bag. For every decent person who treats English speakers with appropriate courtesy and respect, there is the Francophile who insists on being snobbish and aloof in the process of interaction. Extremely unacceptable if you receive treatment like this in shops. I have in the past refused to leave tips for servers who exhibit this sort of unwarranted attitude. 2) Food is generally overpriced and not worth the money for the quality you get. Now you know why most of these Westerners contract Yellow Fever when they head to places like Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and Singapore. The only time I had something which I felt was actually bang for buck was a dinner at a fancy restaurant, but the bill set me back CAD$50 - phuck me dead! 3) City is pretty boring and pace of life is slow. Interesting architecture in some parts of town, but you'll get over it after your first week here. While it's not in the shitters like a Kingston, for example, you will find that the city doesn't have much in store for you unless you are a partygoer, or you like gambling. Casino here is not great shakes compared to Vegas either, as the rake at the poker table is insane. Would say that the strip clubs here are the best you can find in the world, if that is your thing. Overall I cannot with good conscience recommend someone to come here for their exchange. I almost never look forward to returning to Singapore while I'm abroad, but this is one of those rare instances. Fair play if you still want to come here, just take all the rave reviews about food and sights with a pinch of salt. Last words of advice: poutine is vastly overrated, and Montreal women are the best in the world lookswise.

The city life and campus life are both very laid-back, and the people there are very friendly and open. Nightlife in Montreal is also quite exciting as there are many bars and clubs to visit. An added bonus is that it isn’t very dangerous at night. The whole city is generally very safe. I mostly got around by train. The campus is about 10 train stops from the city centre. I had lots of fun on my exchange, and had the opportunity to try many things. I also learnt about the culture and practices of living in a foreign country, especially through interacting with the people there. All in all, I would really recommend doing your exchange at HEC Montreal!

Montreal has a slower pace of life that I really enjoyed. Even though winter was very cold, the nightlife in the city was still lively. The culture there was also very interesting as it was a combination of French and Canadian culture. However, the cost of living is very high, healthcare especially so. Overall, I spent almost twice that of the estimate given by the university. To save money, I shopped at Dollarama and The Dollar Shop, where groceries cost 1-2CAD.

The city of Montreal has an interesting mix of historical and modern architecture. It is also imbued with culture. There are many galleries for you to visit or plays to watch. It is also very safe, as there are police patrolling at times. I didn’t have any fear going out at night or by myself. Something I had to adjust to upon arrival was that everything in Montreal was in French. I had to quickly adapt to this and learn to speak a new language in order to communicate with the locals. Campus life in HEC Montreal was vibrant. There were many activities organized by the student body. Class sizes were also quite small so we got to interact a lot with the local students and work together in projects and presentations.