How Western stays on top

When Nadine Ramrattan went looking for a university, she quickly narrowed down her choices to a handful of Canadian schools with top business programs. Then she picked the University of Western Ontario for one reason: student life.

"That was the difference, the community," says Ms. Ramrattan, 21, a native of Trinidad who did most of her scouting for a university online. She liked what she read about the school's mentorship programs and its residence life.

Three years later she is co-president of the university's day traders club and works as a residence adviser and as a team leader for the peer mentoring initiative for first-year students.

"I don't regret it," she says, even if it took her some time to adjust to the climate. "I have had a different experience than my sisters [at university] in the States and Britain."

That student experience — the chance to be involved in activities on and off campus — is a major selling card for the London, Ont., university and one that it puts front and centre in its recruiting material and website.

"The best student experience among the research-intensive universities in Canada" — it's a phase president Paul Davenport has made his mantra and that staff and student leaders have heard more than a few times.

So does it work? Students say yes.

For the sixth year, The Globe and Mail asked university students across the country to rate their schools on everything from the food in the dining hall to the quality of teaching, class sizes and the ability to get face time with their professors. The survey, conducted in partnership with The Strategic Counsel and the Educational Policy Institute, included more than 43,000 students at 53 schools — the largest sample group yet.

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