Thompson Rivers University — Local services in Kamloops

I won't call it a University, it is more like a business center. They sell degrees without any support, guarantees or warranties. I have heard graduates from the university complain about not even able to get an entry level type non-academic job that the university posts even after 60 applications. Their career services are a big joke. Their primary objective is to conduct programs that look good on paper so that they can keep their jobs. It is better to shut that department and just open a webpage with links. Some courses in programs are there just to milk money from students, and recently they have started systematically segregating international students from domestic students through blocking them from common course registrations, and whoever successfully passed this idea through a committee is a genius cause it's a beautiful way to cultivate structural whiteness from top to down; they also retain professors who can't teach, washed ups, and who are highly hostile in a passive manner for the money they make for the university (and let god bless them for that). TRU's LEAP program is fun, but handled unprofessionally. Even if they are limited, waiting in lines won't always work, cause some students who handle it treat it as their own program and add their friends name and give passes to them, the inflated ego show when they take your names is almost toxic, line cutting is a problem too (no matter how one responds to it one will regret it), if preferential treatment and giving multiple tickets to one person is avoided, it could be a better program. I am not going to talk about the housing problem TRU has single-handedly created in Kamloops due to their business mindedness, and about the associated social ills.

However, everything is not bad, good library services, they can choose to be hostile or carry a bad attitude but they are not and are highly helpful (sometimes the books they buy for the collection are not that great, and sometimes they just do it for virtue signalling), some TAs are really good (including the writing center students who assist) - some deserve to be hired as tutors. Class rooms are also nice, and sometimes they are open for study, and you can get your work done in that silence and lighting.

I wish the university had internationally competent post-baccalaureate programs that qualifies for local registrations and further studies in psychology (UK conversion type), nursing, computer science, fintech, and data science. I wish the university had courses in driver education, typing, best practices in personal financial management (that includes paper trading, how to buy a house, how to do taxes by oneself with clear explanations rather than the snooty tax club way of telling to go to this column and follow that code no.), personal management skills with case studies that provide the science of handling emotional events, etc as a part of some skill development training cause it is very hard to find uniform, qualitative, and pocket friendly learning experience, most entry level jobs require them (even if they are not required for doing them jobs-silly filters). Learning some academic courses alone won't cut it for successfully engaging with the job market. TRU has to build these kind of stuff systematically instead of...I would happily spend C$1000 for all these courses together. I also wish there was an innovative structure where I could take courses in small packages that would say in paper that this person is job ready for this or that skill from multiple academic areas and build it towards a general diploma or a university degree with extra credits so that I can showcase it to employers my academic experience is of worth and counter any genuine disillusions they would have. Finally, I wish they would provide classes to professors that would embed values in them to impact their students in a positive, growth oriented, and healthy manner (even if they won't follow later on, at least it should prevent them from being toxic per modern research and a start for building new...

Hello, guys. If you are going to be international students or you just looking for universities or maybe just checking google reviews, I can tell you only one thing: BEWARE OF THIS PLACE BY All MEANS!!!! 1). The town itself is small and boring. There is absolutely nothing to do there. Nothing happens. Locals are bored and just gossip about each other all day long, for example you can’t even go to the local gym without them talking bad things behind your back after. After few months of living like this you just get tired of all these things and stop going out . 2). You can not live and exist there without a car. The Public Transport system there is extremely bad and there are only two taxi services in town. They both are incredible bad so you will be like a prisoner there and every time you will be tied to a local bus schedule. 3). Never ever do a home stay or rent a property from private landlords, because your life will turn into a terrible nightmare. So called "friendly" locals professionally rip international students off, create strange "fines" and "penalties", intentionally derange other people and intentionally try to make your stay at their place unbearable. For example mine were intentionally drilling the wall at 5 am on a Sunday morning during “sudden construction work” or were painting my room with a toxic strong-smelling paint exactly at the same moment when I had to go to bed. It ended up with me just moving to the motel from these sociopathic people, because I was really afraid for my mental health and for my safety. The strangest part is that later I heard very similar stories from many other international students who were living in a home stay too but in other houses. 4). Poor quality education. Some professors are really weird and have a prejudice and bias against particular nationalities. 5). “International advisers" in TRU don't do their job. Absolutely. For example, the male adviser is rude and unfriendly, often talks to people with arrogance and almost doesn't help students but at the same time runs and snitches to the immigration services over every smallest thing. I don't know why do they pay him his salary. 6). “Residence managers” or guys who are responsible for a dormitory are real scammers. Literally. They just take people's money via internet payment systems without any warranty (and of course without any rooms or booking later) and then just keep silence and disappear. The staff of TRU knows about it but does nothing. 7). In general they treat international students like a second grade cattle which were brought there just to bring them money or to solve their problem with underpopulation in their small towns. It was definitely one of the worst long-term experiences in my life: due to the chronic stress I’ve lost like years of my health: both mental and physical. I even didn’t sell anything from my belongings like chairs, table etc. and left this terrible nightmare as soon as I could. Guys, Don't give your money to such sketchy no name commercial universities in strange small towns. For the same amount of money you can choose any other normal university in Europe or elsewhere. It doesn't worth your health, happiness or time. Even if you are planing to receive your permanent residence in future or to find a new better place...

Hello folks, here is my comment about my experience as an international student at TRU over the last 2 years in Kamloops BC.

First ! I want to mention that I lived one year and a half in Vancouver. where i study in a "private college" so here are some of my thoughts about TRU and Life-experience in Kamloops.

TRU has an amazing faculty, professors that are willing to help in your journey as student no matter if you're domestic or international. i got lots of emails about events and lectures, clubs about, how to improve your writing, taxation club "how to do your taxes" career service as many many others. the academic and professional help is out there. it depends of you if you want to attend those meetings and ask for help. TRU Provides lots of resources for you from the first to the last year of studies.

"no mention the campus facilities are modern and always renovated"

now let's talk about where the school is located "Kamloops".

here is where I personally i found most of the issues.

Kamloops has terrible housing issue where the local municipality has to fix it , for the price of one single room is in my opinion insane, you would find places literally in middle of nowhere around 45 minutes from school if you're lucky! with the average around 1k not furnished. Now most of the "on-campus residence" are full with a endless waitlist so "Be prepare" and do your research on time if you'd like to find off campus options.

no mention public transportation is inefficient specially in winter.

if you are an international student from a "sunny and Hot climate" Again "be prepare" my advise is DO NOT COME. instead find other cities where the transit infrastructure is more developed.

I experienced many times during winter waiting for the bus around 30, 40 minutes with freezing temperatures of -15, -25 Celsius.

public transit in Kamloops in Kamloops there are the TRU and downtown exchange these two bus stops where there are just benches in the open air. mostly in the whole town the bus stops are like that

many students with money purchase their own vehicles due of the inefficient third world transit system they have up there to be honest.

the people "this is just my perspective", compare when I was in Vancouver. I find that folks in big cities are nicer and open mind with immigrants and other cultures.

"Climate"

Kamloops is not the easiest place to adapt with an extreme climate conditions.

basically are like 7 or 8 months of winter from October to May with an unique extreme climate. believe or not Kamloops has somehow the same climate conditions as the valley of death in California perhaps with more snow and summers that can reach +38 Celsius.

i hope this helps to other international students who are thinking to come to...