Queen’s University is located in Kingston, Ontario. Situated in the middle of a triangle between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and on the edge of Lake Ontario.
It is a top university attracting students from all over the country (and internationals as well) for its high rank in terms of academics. While this is a big part why students pick Queen's for their studies, the appeal also comes from its rich social life!
The Student Ghetto
The Student Ghetto (also called University District) refers to the residential area surrounding Queen’s campus.
You can think of it as a large square with Princess Street at the north, King Street at the south, Victoria Street at the west and Division & Barrie Street at the east with the campus being the center.
What makes the student ghetto so unique and creates an almost unreal experience is that the majority of people living in it are students. Now you get why Kingston can be referred to as a student town!
The university district is also a nice area to live in because everything a student need is located at a walking distance. In the district or close to it you will find sport facilities (the Athletic and Recreation Center on campus), culture (museums, art galleries), the campus (classrooms, libraries), but also grocery stores, cafes, bars and club!
What's it like to live in a house in the student ghetto?
All students live in Queen's residences during their first year of University. At the end of their first year of school, people make groups of 5 to 7 people and start looking for a house together. Usually that will be their house for the rest of their school career.
When moving, students build a family with their flatmates. Living together, you learn to become independent and respectful of people areas.
Because students build such a strong connection, there is a habit of doing activities "as a house". That means that people organize activities to do with their housemates, hang out and organize their routine based on each others' schedule.
Weekends are the most fun part of the week because all the house is finally free from their school work and therefore get ready to go out to parties. There is a habit of having a pre before going to house parties or clubs on fridays and saturdays. Usually a house decides to host a pre, and thus have other houses over and they all play games together and have some fun before going to the real party. Then everyone leaves to go to the house that is hosting the party.
Leaving on the student ghetto allows you to know most of the students leaving around, which means you are often invited to parties and have always something to do on weekends. And it only takes a few minutes walking to reach the other house, which allows you to wear party outfits and only have to suffer the extreme cold for a few minutes before getting to the warm crowded house hosting the party.
Check out our instagram profile to look what the student ghetto looks like!
Queen's Party Life
Queen's University is not only known for being a high academic standing school, but also for its partying skills. When you first join Queen's, you might find it hard to find a balance etween your classes and the school work and the parties and events happening.
From the beginning of September and throughout the semester, you will probably take part in street and house parties for Frosh Week, Homecoming (and FOCO), Halloween...
Despite its relative small size, Kingston still counts quite some party spots: clubs (Stages, Ale House, Trinity...), bars (The Mansion, Brass Pub...).
Kingston Pier
The pier is the perfect hang out spot for the last days of summer and good weather.
As soon as the sun is out, the place is packed with students sunbathing on the grass listening to music with their friends, swimming in the lake and playing games such as the very popular Spikeball!
Sports Events
Queen's students are very proud to be part of their university and show it amongst other ways by supporting the different sports teams.
On the weekends you will be able to attend football games (with appearances of the cheerleaders, pompoms, marching band),
soccer / rugby / hockey games.
Good news! Tickets to those games are free for Queen's students (including exchange students!).
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