When I was trying to choose one of three universities to which I had been accepted, I ultimately chose the one that was in the most desirable city. And while may not be the most sound methodology, nor the most popular, what I’m trying to say is that where a school is located does hold some sway.
Which brings us to AppJobs’ “The World’s Best Cities to Be a Student” ranking, which does exactly what its name suggests.
“We have analysed the world’s top cities to study and ranked them according to key factors we believe are most important to students,” explains an intro to the data. “This included average monthly rent prices, the number of universities in the area, the number of part-time jobs, the number of concerts and shows, and of course, the average cost of a pint.” Of course.
Let’s get to it. According to the research, the world’s best city to be a student is Prague. Alright then! Prague scored high in low rents and pretty much free beer. If that isn’t the student dream, I don’t know what is. Moscow was recognized as the second-best city in the world for students, while Berlin scored third.
Canada’s top city to be a student is Montreal, which placed fifth overall. Like Prague, Montreal is cheap while scoring quite not bad in all other categories. Toronto, meanwhile, ranked 13th overall with Vancouver finishing 20th. That’s because no one – let alone students – can afford to live there.
What Toronto and Vancouver lack in affordability they make up for in part-time jobs – the fourth- and sixth-most of any city on the list, respectively.
It’s a good thing they didn’t factor tuition prices into the equation.