Some people's general dislike for Kingston

[Vector]

During the interview weekend I noticed that some first years weren't too happy with Kingston as a city. I've received acceptances from Queen's and my home province's med school and am wondering whether it's worth it to go somewhere else (Queen's) on account of obtaining 'new' and 'broader' experiences. I can't help but wonder, however, that some students were unhappy with the city and possibly with the university. I didn't have too much time to delve into this during the interview weekend.

 

Also, I'd appreciate some thoughts on the quality of education at Queen's versus the expense of studying and living in Kingston. Ultimately, would you say it's worth it for twice the cost of staying in your home province?

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this matter.

[kahone]

Here are some relatively recent threads of relevance:

 

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20199

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18958

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19389

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19920

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10718

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10718

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10722

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10730

 

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17685

 

 

k

[unknown user 7]

I hope he doesn't hate me for saying this, but maybe PM The_B, I remember I spoke to him in the chat about this same topic and he was VERY VERY insightful.

[bayervillager]

Kahone has already provided a lot of useful threads, but just in case you are interested in hearing another opinion from someone who have lived in Kingston three years as well:

 

Yes, a lot of people dislike Kingston. Certainly, the majority of students that I've met in undergrad at Queen's complain a lot about Kingston. However, I am really fed up with people saying bad things about Kingston because personally, I LOVE KINGSTON!

 

Yes, it's a small city so there isn't much to do in terms of entertainment or shopping.

Yes, there are prisons around the area and there may be halfway houses located close to your apartment. But you know what? I lived very close to a halfway house for two years and I've never had trouble.

Yes, you might on occasion hear some of the older Kingstonians who have not had very much prior experiences with visible minorities use slightly impolite words and phrases in your presence if you happen to be a visible minority. The first time it happened I was really upset, being from a more multicultural city. However, after talking about it with a friend who is originally from Kingston, she helped me realize that they don't mean any harm and most likely, it's because they don't actually realize that they are being impolite. And sometimes they are just curious. So like when I was at the Limestone Garden Grill store last Saturday and this elderly (and slight drunk) gentleman out of the blue strikes up a conversation and asks me whether Indians(he meant Aboriginal) and Oriental(his choice of words, not mine) people are related and then proceeded to tell me that he thinks I look very pale for an Oriental girl, I realize that he's just genuinely curious and I don't freak about it.

And yes, some of the housing in the Queen's area is definitely substandard. But the majority of the world live in conditions much worse than what any Queen's student has to go through, so I say 'whatever'. And if you put in effort, you can find good accomodation.

 

But on the other hand, Kingston is a beautiful city. The lake is gorgeous and there's nothing like walking by it on a lazy summer evening as the sun is going down.

Accessiblity is very good if you live close to Queen's - restaurants, grocery store, the university, movie theater, bars all within walking distance. You probably will never need a car. There's also a farmer's market selling local produce close by so if you are into environmentally sustainable lifestyles, you will find living in Kingston to be a blessing.

I personally LOVE old-style architecture and decoration, which is plentiful around Kingston. All throughout the downtown area, you see all these adorable older houses with round towers and pretty trims. You can live in a very adorable house more than 100 years old if you rent one of those. I live in one and even though the electricity wires are kind of messed up so the lights flicker randomly and the house is slightly ran-down, the cuteness of the house more than make up for its slight flaws.

Restaurants are fantastic. In particular, the cambodian-thai-vietnamese restaurants in the downtown area are delicious and very affordable too. There's nothing like pad thai from the Wok Inn... mmmm... so good. I would stay in Kingston just for the pad thai.

 

So yeah, I'm tired of people hating on Kingston which is why I wrote this long-winded rant.

Really, Kingston is a great city to live in!

[heathcliff]

Queen's is an excellent school, and Kingston is a great city. It is smaller than most university towns, so many people coming from larger cities have trouble adjusting, and that probably leads to the type of sentiment you've described.

 

Queen's has an excellent, excellent med school. The people you will meet, and many of your teachers (who teach undergrad also) are incredible, and will do anything to help you out. You will make a lot of good friends at Queen's.

 

Also, the limestone garden grill is so, so, so awesome.

[f.b.kal]

Hi, I have been accepted at Queen`s and U. of M. and I am having difficulty deciding between the two. I am wondering if a Queen`s education & experience is worth the large amount of debt that it necessitates. I could probably navigate through U. of M. medicine untouched by debt.