Things to consider for upcoming exchange students to UPEI

I've collected some important stuff here for potential future exchange students going to University of Prince Edward Island.

Accommodation

I spent the semester in residence, Bernardine Hall, which is intended for freshmen and exchange students. Now if you want to book your room from residence, do it right after you have received required documents for applying, which should be early in the summer if the semester starts at fall. The rooms crowd up fast. One thing that surprised me was the rent, which was approximately 700 CAD per month. So be aware. You could also apply for Blanchard Hall (I'm not sure about Andrew, I think it's only available for older students) which is a lot more spacious and a bit more expensive than Bernie. Blanchard Hall is your choice if you want to have your own separate bed room. But life in Bernardine is very easy if you get along with your roommate (and if you don't, you can apply for a change) and want to pay less. If you live in residence, you have a quick access to campus facilities such as the dining hall, lecture halls and the sports center, and of course, other students and friends.

Apartments outside campus are probably a lot cheaper, but further away. If you choose this option, make sure your transportation to the university is smooth. There's also a fairly large student village next to campus called Brown's Court. You might wanna check this out, too.

Meal plans

Unless you are a natural born cook, I highly recommend taking a meal plan. With one you have an unlimited access to the dining hall depending on the plan you have taken. There are 5-day and 7-day options. At first, I took the 5-day plan but then switched to the 7-day option because I realized that I was to spent quite a lot of time in Charlottetown, and less weekends out of town than I had planned, so I didn't mind having a weekend-access to the dining hall. You probably want to have a meal plan especially if you live in Bernie, because the cooking facilities are not very good. In Blanchard, again, every dorm includes a kitchen. The dining hall is also a social meeting place most of all. I do not enjoy eating alone - so eating and socializing is the way to go!

Getting to Charlotetown

For heaven's sake, don't fly to Charlottetown because it's ridiculously expensive. Charlottetown does not have an international airport so the only way to get there by plane is to take an internal flight, which means that your first stop would probably be in Toronto, Montreal or Halifax. If you want to save a lot of money (and loose a bit in time), fly to Halifax and take the shuttle or bus from there. By doing this, in comparison to few other students I saved hundreds of euros!

Wireless network in Bernardine

The wireless connection is often a bit slow and laggy so you might want to buy a cable for your laptop. That's what I did. If you don't want to bring your own, they aren't too expensive to buy from Walmart.

With these factors in mind, on you go.