"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." - Joseph Heller

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From a Facebook note:


During my 3-4 months in Montreal there is only one question that people have asked me more than the question “Are you Indian?” and that is “How do you compare McGill to NUS”. Well since the answer to the first one is pretty short, “No, I am Pakistani; Bitch!!”, I thought I’d save myself some time by posting the answer to the second question on Facebook. So here it goes.

STUDENT SOCIETIES

McGill is definitely far ahead when it comes to student societies and the freedom enjoyed by them. I’d guess that there are maybe five to six times more student groups/societies in McGill than there are in NUS and all of them are far more active than any of the societies in NUS.

Moreover, the student societies at McGill seem a lot more proactive than they do in NUS. In NUS you get the feeling that everyone at an event has still got studies on their mind, even if they are not sitting at a booth doing a Maths tutorial. Here its quiet the opposite, student societies not only conduct more events, but the events also seem more enjoyable. But I think the lack of enthusiasm in NUS can be blamed on the fk*** CCA points system, which NUS needs to get rid of soon.

The student union in McGill, SSMU, enjoys far more power and freedom than its NUS counterpart, NUSSU. So while NUSSU is busy licking the balls of the university administration SSMU actually serves a purpose in McGill. I still remember NUSSU’s decision to protest against the tuition fee hike by wearing black shirts. Here it was quiet a big rally that walked through the heart of the campus and proceeded slightly into downtown. Though the rally was not totally an SSMU venture, it just goes on to show the freedom and autonomy enjoyed by students in Canada as compared to those in Singapore.


STUDIES

curriculum
While the curriculum of an average module in NUS emphasizes more on the breadth of topics than on the depths of the topics, in McGill it is quiet the opposite. For the topics we covered in MA1505 (basic math), McGill engineering probably has 2-3 courses covering the same topics. So McGill is in the favour of covering a few topics in detail than a lot of them with minimum detail. Now am not sure if this means that NUS’ curriculum is harder or not but it is the next aspect of studies in NUS that makes u say ‘Gosh! My ass hurts’ a week into the semester.

competition
In terms of competition in classes McGill is light years behind NUS and a statistic that best reflects this bridge in competition is that 4-5 Pakistani engineering undergrads got 4.0/4.0 last semester alone, while hardly any of the Pakistani undergrads in NUS has ever achieved this in any faculty, let alone engineering. Moreover the marking in NUS is always (always!!) relative, but from what I get, its not in 3/4th of the modules in McGill. Assuming the papers are of the same difficulty in both universities, this can either mean that the undergrads in NUS produce such exceptional results that they need to be curved for them to hold any meaning, or that McGill is happy with giving each student what he/she deserves, which in effect reduces competition.


STAGNANT vs VIBRANT

During my time in McGill there has hardly been any new development except squabbling over the tuition fees, endless discussions over whether the McGill principal should continue her tenure and complaining about the lack of research funds in McGill. However since I have not spent much time in McGill I cannot say if there were any significant developments in the recent past, but the impression generally is that there is not much going on.

This is in stark contrast to what is currently going on at NUS. During my 3 years at the university the university has built a new administration building, a new music faculty building and a new campus for the law faculty. Developments in the not too distant past include the construction of PGPR (Prince Georges Park Residences) and the commission of the internal shuttle buses. Developments in the near future include the construction of an impressive new residence.

NUS is also much more active in providing students with the tidbits that spice up a degree. These include the NUS Overseas Colleges, Student Exchange Program, Technopreneurship Incubation Program etc. Though these programs exist in McGill they don’t seem to be as active as they are in NUS. For example it is rumored that NUS intends for half its undergraduate population to have gone on exchange by the end of 2009-2010 and judging from the fact that I alone personally know 10 ppl who are currently on exchange, I’d buy the rumor.

NUS' vibrancy is also reflected in the large amount of bursaries, scholarships and loan opportunities available for its students. The resources available for research and development, in NUS, are also famous by now and according to some have been the primary factor in NUS' high ranking. The Notebook Ownership scheme for the students in each university also goes on to show the resources available at NUS' disposal. While Mcgill only offers 1 notebook (atleast to my knowledge), the Toshiba Tecra, under the notebook ownership program, NUS offers various models from five different vendors at subsidized prices and with the opportunity to take a loan when buying them.

The Career centre at McGill is its only saving grace. Though I have not interacted with them much they seem to be doing some decent stuff. But again, NUS’ career centre has experienced somewhat of a resurgence in the past sem.


IT INFRASTRUCTURE

Well, like anything else that is high tech and requires a bit of money NUS is far ahead in IT infrastructure when compared to McGill. The IT infrastructure in McGill, to be quiet frank, is pathetic.

There is no centralized printing system, apparently each lab has its own balance and you need to buy balance at that lab to be able to print from it. In NUS the printing system is centralized, with the same cash card being used in every lab. The paper quality for the printing is pathetic and it is fk*** expensive.

McGill does not have any webcasting facilities, whereby lecturers are recorded and then uploaded on the course website, which NUS has in most of its lecture theatres. But I am willing not to be too critical of this because few universities around the world have this facility, but for the love of god at least try to upload the sound files properly. McGill does have a rudimentary voice recording system in some of its Lecture Theatres but you never know when you click on a particular sound file if it is gonna work or not.

The software that allows students to register for modules is known as Minerva in McGill and CORS in NUS and guess what Minerva gets the razzie for the site with the worst interface by the McGill professor who teaches the module Human Computer Interaction (HCI). So I don’t need to waste my time comparing them.

The software that displays and keeps track of course contents for students and lecturers is known as WebCT in McGill and IVLE in NUS and while they are essentially the same the only difference is that WebCT stops working before exams because McGill doesn’t have the money to buy storage space. Pathetic! I wasted 2 hours a day before the exam only to be greeted by a screen that told me that the system is overloaded, and that I should try gain later; maybe after the exam.

Moreover the storage space allowed for an email id on the McGill domain is 10 Mb while it is 1Gb in NUS now.

There is, however, one aspect of the McGill IT infrastructure that is far more superior to that of NUS and that is its wireless internet. The internet is truly wireless in McGill as opposed to being pseudo wireless in NUS. While the wireless Internet in NUS performs variably at different locations, the wireless internet in McGill is avaiable throughout the campus even extending slightly beyond its boundaries to places such as coffee shops, where I spent many lazy evenings surfing the net and sipping a cup of coffee.


CAMPUS

The difference between the two universities is nowhere more visible than in their campuses. The NUS campus is what would best be described as a suburban campus whereas the McGill campus is smack in the middle of the city, a minute’s walk from downtown. This difference in campus’ manifests itself in totally contrasting university experiences for the student population.

Due to it being further away from the city centre, the NUS campus is much bigger that that of McGill, with almost five different Internal Shuttle Buses operating within the university. In McGill you are almost always on foot, unless you own a bike. The location of the two campuses also means that in Mcgill, you can buy almost everything from food to sex within a five minute’s walk from the campus. In NUS, however, everything needs to be planned before going on a leisure or shopping trip outside the university which is quiet effed up.

In McGill, there are no college residences on campus: the university has bought a few buildings around the campus and converted them to residences, but they are not sufficient. This has lead to the small area of condominiums and flats encapsulating the university being known as the McGill Ghetto, because of the large number of students living in it. This in turn has a huge impact on the lifestyle of the McGill undergraduates. Since every student lives in an apartment and since most of them live nearby, house parties, dinner parties and all sorts of other parties are very common in the ghetto. With a sufficiently large social network you are guaranteed to have 2-3 parties in your calendar every week.

As compared to McGill, NUS has a large number of university residences with more than 9 different residence units scattered around its campus and since most of them have single rooms it means no house parties, no dinner parties, nothing!

Architecturally the NUS campus does not come anywhere close to the McGill campus. While every building in NUS looks box-like, bland and monotonous, buildings in McGill look more individual, posses more character and exude a more dominating aura. Of course I am talking about the general architecture here which excludes the architectural gems in NUS such as the new Music Conservatory etc.


SPORTS

As far as sports go, NUS cannot even be mentioned in the same league as McGill because it is not only the facilities that are superior in McGill but also the enthusiasm for sports, which is a spillover from the diverse culture existent in Montreal in and McGill.

As far as sports facilities go Mcgill has two big fields despite its small size. They are more of football fields which can be used for other purposes. While NUS can match Mcgill in terms of the outdoor facilities as it too has two big playing fields, has alot of tennis courts and alot of basketball and futsal courts, it is the McGill Sports Complex (or Gym) with all its indoor facilities that beats NUS to it.

With squash courts, basketball courts, an ice hockey rink, tennis courts (i think), a swimming pool, two gymnasiums and a whole lot of other facilities under one roof, the McGill Sports Complex is very impressive indeed. The Complex, however, is more of a necessity than a luxury for McGill considering that it is covered under snow half the year and since such complexes are a norm in Northern America.

Intramural Games (games where anyone can form a team and register for a tournament) are quiet common in McGill while they are non-existent in NUS. At the same time Inter Varsity sports, in McGill, are followed more closely by the student population, the rivalries run much deeper and the victories are much more sweeter. All this means that being on the Varsity Team is a much bigger source of pride for a student in McGill than it is for a student in NUS, and this fuels the passion for sports in McGill.


CULTURE

The culture existent in the student population of the two universities is also as different as the aspects discussed earlier. While every decision taken by an NUS student is aimed at achieving the singular purpose of increasing the efficiency with which he absorbs the sacred knowledge being taught in University lecture theaters, decisions made by McGill students include such aspects as quality of life etc. So while a Singaporean moves out of his home to live in college residences to save the daily commute, a Montrealer moves out because his parents cannot put up with all the partying, and he might well end up renting a place close to the clubs to save his own daily commute.

P.S. The note is based on my own personal experiences. Since i have spent very little time in Mcgill than in NUS, i can accept that there might be some discrepancies up there. But the general picture is not far from what i have written