Polytechnique Montreal - Ratings, Reviews & Ranking

" As an international student who does not speak French. It is truly difficult to study at Polytechnique. Because there are cases in which professors do not speak English at all and it will make learning more challenging as it already is. However, the environment is friendly and welcoming and staff and professors try their best to support you and make it easier for a non-french speaker to learn. Comparing to Mcgill, Concordia, and ETS universities Polytechnique is not close to downtown Montreal and it makes it less appealing for those who want to enjoy the flashy and live nature of downtown and the relaxing and calm milieu of the university. On the other hand, public transportation in Montreal is amazing. I recommend Polytechnique for sure. "

" Polytechnique's greatest advantage is probably also its greatest weakness. The student body is relatively small, since it's essentially the engineering wing of the University of Montreal, at around 8 000 students. Because of this, class sizes are always very reasonable (even in 1st year courses, class sizes never exceed 60 students). What's more, the student body is arguably one of the best in the province, with a huge amount of engineering societies (sociétés techniques) that gives you the opportunity to get hands on experience in many fields, from robotics, to rocketry, building design, automotive design, etc. Poly is also really well known within Quebec for its party life and vast array of social clubs. That being said, there are two things that might deter potential students. 1) Campus facilities are VERY limited. Polytechnique technically has 3 buildings, but one of them is reserved for research and entrepeneurship, so students (both undergrads and postgrads) share 2 buildings. That's 8 000 students in two buildings. Because of this, we only have 1 main cafeteria and several other small kiosks for food. The school library, unlike other bigger universities' engineering faculty libraries, does not have its own building but is spread out on 2 floors. During midterms and finals, it's very common that you have to resort to studying in clubrooms/go to one of the University of Montreal's libraries to find a table to sit at. There is a serious lack of space on the campus at the moment, and renovations are a few years away. 2) The style of teaching is very theoretical. Compared to some other engineering schools (like ÉTS for example), Poly emphasizes mathematics and theory in its curriculum. This really depends on the type of person that you are. Some love it, some hate it. Practical, hands on labs are quite rare. When labs do happen, it's usually in the form of programming at the school's computer labs, computer simulations, etc. "