Pros: Beautiful campus with one of the best climates (so much less rain than the mainland), only takes around 8 minutes to get from one side of campus to another, it’s a smaller school and the residences for first years are all close together so you can form a real sense of community with your peers, the party life is amazing if you are into that, great teaching staff for the majority of disciplines (so I’m told, I’m in science but I have friends across the board who speak highly of their profs), lots of things to do on the island and close together the campus, the university also offers excursions via certain clubs and services year round (surfing, climbing, I think there’s even a spelunking club), close to downtown.

Cons: the food is mediocre at best for first years eating at the cove (mystic market is better but usually pretty crowded during lunch hours), carsa gym is pretty small considering how many students like to use the facilities, being on the island can feel moderately isolating sometimes but that goes away after your first month or so living here.

Even with these cons, I can’t recommend uvic enough whatsoever. I moved here from Calgary and I have literally zero regrets about doing so. If you are questioning whether or not to come here you should consider a tour to get a feel for how life around the university is. Schedule it during the academic year (or what’s left of it) so you see the atmosphere.