Columbia International College

16 student reviews of Columbia International College

• Oumuntay says:

  October 7, 2019 at 1:02 pm

  It’s interesting to see people rate CIC either 5 or 1, two extremes.
  I’d say CIC is not perfect, but it gets the job well done – I met my BEST friends from all over the world, matured a lot and got into University of Waterloo’s computer science, one of the best in the world. I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t have been so successful at Waterloo today without the academic and teamwork skills I’ve learned at CIC.

  Overall Score: (4.55/5.00)
  
  

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• Desmond Tay says:

  August 15, 2018 at 1:44 am

  Here is an important story: Nobody love working the weekends. One of my classmates in CIC accidentally got detergent powder spilt into his eyes. He was obviously taken to the ER. That happened Friday night. Guess when did they call his parents to let them know that their only son was in the ER back in Nigeria…… Monday morning. Parents have to know that this crap does happen. They simply do not care that mach. And any attempt in demonstrating security and or diversity is all superfluous. This is just a school with an average curriculum (it really isn’t bad), insincere international-student-catering-features, and an expensive fee.

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• anon says:

  May 26, 2017 at 4:22 am

  As a former student, I must say it is actually a decent school for me. Yes it is true that some students, especially Chinese students, got accepted into the school without any knowledge of English language, however the school does have an ESL (English as a Second Language) programme to support those students, but it is an accelerated-like programme that only teaches basic English, hence the inability of the students to speak fluent English. And of course, the programme requires extra money. Judging from the comments, there have been a lot of improvements in the residences. All the residences have had wifi connection now, and all the buildings have been renovated. Unfortunately as some have mentioned before, the food there, provided by sodexo, was pretty much still awful by the time I left, which was honestly the biggest issue for most of us students. Another major issue is if you plan to live in Pine Boys and can’t handle bad smell DO NOT GO THERE, especially the north wing.
  An extra piece of advice for the parents, if your child is under 16 yrs old, they will be regarded as a YAA student, basically a student who needs more attention that will waste more money.

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• Femi says:

  August 28, 2016 at 9:17 am

  As parent who has seen two A – Rated Students of an Ivy League Secondary School through the Pre – University program of Columbia International College, i will never expect any less a standard from any post – secondary educational institution. I and my wife therefore sought for the best in progression for our two daughters and we found CIC to provide that platform to ensure our dreams and that of the children. Indeed is was initially scared because they had never been to a boarding school nor left our home all of their lives before the CIC experience and we have never regretted this decision. In an era of free speech and competing interests, it will be surprising not to hear or find negative comments about standards of the school. However, what i have discovered is that majority of the seemingly hate comments either come from lazy students who were not focused on their purpose of coming to CIC, people who probably never had any real experience of the school or those who for reasons best known to them believe that negative statements about CIC is what is required to competitively persuade people to consider other schools were they presumably have vested interests. In some cases, the reality is that the standards of secondary schools where the children are coming from does not adequately prepare them for the obviously high academic standards available at CIC. Fortunately, this is taken care of by the unique TotalCare System Of Education offered by Columbia International College, Hamilton, Canada. In addition to this, the moral and spiritual foundation laid by parents for their children is the guiding light required to hone their total development. Discipline is the bedrock of success so in any society including an academic environment there must be rules. Infringements must also attract sanctions. This is what endeared us to CIC and we have never ever regretted our decision. Our daughters are a testimony to the excellence which Columbia International College symbolizes. CIC prepared them to compete and excel in cerebral courses in top rated Universities in Canada. One graduated in flying colors from University of Waterloo and the other is doing impressively well at Western University, London Ontario. We have interacted with different people in the school cutting across the various levels at Columbia International College, Hamilton and our experience has shown that it is the place to be. Quality does not come cheap both in terms of cost and dedication. Parents and students must always realize that there is a reason for being in school and that reason must always remain the focal point of pursuit. I have experiential knowledge of CIC and contrary to claims by a few, the quality of education at CIC is indeed cheap for the total offering when compared to some other schools in Canada. More pleasing to me is that i have personal experience and knowledge of parents and students who share the same satisfaction we have of Columbia International College. I also know a few parents whose children lost focus and refused to identify with and allow the training provided them guide their path. Luckily, early identification of these tendencies by parents with sincere analysis of the situation and in collaboration with the school helped in putting them back on track. Finally, we should always remember that pre – university program prepares our children for real university life. It therefore provides an ambience for self discipline within an environment that takes cognizance of the fact that students are gradually being groomed to face the challenges and realities of future undergraduate life in the university. Go, CIC, go. Keep on the good work. We are with you all the way on this journey of human capacity development.

  Overall Score: (5.00/5.00)
  
  

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• awful, terrible, lies says:

  July 5, 2016 at 3:33 am

  The worse school I’ve ever been to. I started studying in Columbia International College last year and I’m staying there this year too (sadly). They keep so much information away from you until you actually get there, No one cares about you there all they care about is money, some house parents are really nice and talk to you about your issues, but others only talk to you because they have to and it’s their job to and when a house parent gets close to the students, they get fired and it’s awful because we are away from our parents and we have them but the school doesn’t want them to get attached to the students so they leave. The amount of money this school wants is ridiculous, the fees itself is 30k-32k, the 32,000 is for the yaa’s children who are under 16 and the rules SUCK they are so strict you can get punished for the dumbest things. The punishment is acts if you get an act 3 you pay $50, if you get acts 4 you have to pay $800 and you’re grounded for a month, if you get acts 5 you have to pay $1600 and you’re grounded for 2 months. We have casual day every other thursday and we have to pay $2 and they say the money goes to charity but it doesn’t they keep it to themselves. We have fundraisers like the terry fox one, students who participate have to raise a minimum of $25 and i’m not sure if they give the money to the charity or not. This school just tells us too many lies, they tell us the food is good, nutritious, cultural but all three is a lie. The food is AWFUL! its not nutritious at all, it makes everyone gain weight, because they order food from outside, because they can’t eat the schools food. The food is not cultural, they make the same thing everyday, fried rice and unflavoured chicken. Being yaa is terrible, not only do we have to pay $2,000 extra, its not worth it, but you don’t have a choice if you’re under 16 you have to be yaa. They make our parents pay for these field trips (which they say are so much fun) they aren’t. They take you to boring places and no one goes so the money goes to waste, everyone would rather do something else then go and that makes our parents money go to waste. The wifi is awful, it’s so slow that you can’t even open google. It’s hard because we have homework to do and we can’t do it because of the wifi we can’t even talk to our parents without the connection disconnecting every 10 minutes. The teachers don’t care about your education, your future, or anything. We can skip school, classes anytime they won’t care, they would even still pass you in the course. Many students who come here will struggle in university, because they cannot speak english they don’t understand anything that happens in class and they still pass the course, they are struggling right now imagine them in university. This school accepts anyone and anything they just want money they don’t care if your struggling they just want your money thats it, and there’s no refunds in anything. The teachers are awful too, many teachers have favourites who they pass in everything and give special treatment and help them and other teachers who won’t repeat themselves twice, if you need help they would say “you should’ve been paying attention” there is legit only one teacher that is good there only one everyone else is a bore. Many teachers aren’t even educated properly they don’t know what they are saying or anything it seems like this school picked random people off the street and asked them to work for them as a teacher. Also a very bad neighbourhood to be honest, theres strangers who scam, abuse, rape and stab people. Overall total care is bullsh*t this school is FULL of bullsh*t everyone who works in this school are bullsh*t. It’s all full of lies if you ask me. Public school staff members get payed way more than cic people and it’s not fair they get paid just above minimum wage. I STRONGLY say DO NOT COME OR WORK IN THIS SCHOOL i’m telling you, sadly im coming back because the fee’s are paid and there isn’t a refund because this school want as much money as possible.

  Overall Score: (1.00/5.00)
  
  

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• Carl M. says:

  March 10, 2016 at 4:03 pm

  One of the best school I ever studied in, I loved that, teacher and staff are amazing and the free time you have is really well organized with fun activities.
  Best activities ever was to be able to play basketball at the airCanada Center where the Toronto Raptors usually play!!

  Overall Score: (5.00/5.00)
  
  

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• The Truth says:

  November 4, 2015 at 1:49 am

  This school is horrible. After working there for just over a year I can tell you its all lies they advertise. Staff who have been there long enough choose their friends who come in new. If older staff do not like you, they will do their best to get you fired. The school principal, owner and others high powered staff are all friends so they cover up for one another and leave all other staff below to suffer. Most times they get fired immediately. HR hires staff who are truly a bad fit for the position but I think its a friend or preference matter there. Students can do what they want and get away with it, the school will just charge them more money even if it was an act for expulsion. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN HERE!

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• Mato says:

  October 27, 2015 at 7:41 pm

  My brother is a professor at McMaster University – he said that he cannot even understand the Columbia College students because their English is so POOR!

  I have a friend who is a taxi driver, and he was paid to take some Chinese Columbia College students to the Casino and wait 2 hours for them in the parking lot while they gambled.

  They have too much money and that is why they get into McMaster University without being able to speak our language. Money is also why Terry Whitehead supports their Residence on the West Hamilton Mountain.

  Overall Score: (1.00/5.00)
  
  

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• C. Ross says:

  October 2, 2015 at 6:42 pm

  READ THE RATINGS BELOW BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR KID TO GO TO THIS TERRIBLE SCHOOL!
  I was a poorly paid teacher at this overpriced high-school (not really a “college”) for foreign kids. They boast a 99 percent acceptance rate of students into university -duh!- that’s because the staff had to over-inflate the students marks!

  Overall Score: (1.73/5.00)
  
  

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• Sad student says:

  August 21, 2014 at 2:56 pm

  This school was very disappointing. The quality of education is extremely poor and all they care about is money!!! the owner, principal and whoever else just wants money and does not care about the students. There is no total care… the food is awful and the residence is like a prison.

  Do not go to this school. It will be the worst mistake you ever make!!! It is all about marketing and false promises… your grades are not accurate they just want to make it look like you did well for marketing and they have sneaky partnerships with lots of universities. YOU WILL NOT GET A GOOD EDUCATION! THE TEACHERS DO NOT CARE!

  Overall Score: (1.00/5.00)
  
  

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• disappointed says:

  January 11, 2013 at 5:14 am

  The Human Resources Team is horrible. They hire young individuals with no people to people skills. I thought the school was so good based from website and looking outside, but I got a clear idea what type of school it was and was turned off. The offering salary is 28,000 to 35,000, when the Government takes off taxes how much does that leave with you with, barely nothing.

  Overall Score: (1.00/5.00)
  
  

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• awful says:

  October 14, 2012 at 10:13 pm

  DO NOT, PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE. the comments above basically covered everything. the school is horrible. website looks good and they present really good slideshows when representatives come to your city but believe me, it is all lies. some of the staff members and teachers are unfit to be at the school, they will degrade your children. THEY ONLY WANT YOUR MONEY. everything is about money money. if you are not wearing the proper uniform, you pay 5 dollars, if you left your ID card or lost it, you cannot eat unless you pay 5 dollars for a day pass which as the name suggests is ONLY for one day. 20 dollars if you want them to print a new ID card. you have to pay to participate in casual day and they claim the money goes to charity but that’s a lie. their punishment system is also based on money. ACTS 3,4,5 require you to pay from 50 dollars to 1,000 depending on how long you are put into the ACTS 4,5 program. if you lose your room key, it’s $150 dollars to replace it. buzzer and post box key is around the same price i believe. also, you are put into different programs according to your age, the younger you are, the more you have to pay for the program and in the extra fees that you pay, field trips are included but most of the times, students are not interested in these fieldtrips, so either they dont go and waste money or go and waste time. i find it extremely unfair that parents have to pay in advance for these stupid fieldtrips and no, of course it’s not refundable. everything is about money. the school fees may be cheaper than ridley’s or appleby’s but in the end, you might end up paying more at CIC than at the other schools so trust me, you consider other schools. as for the education system, it’s totally off. since the majority of students are international (mostly chinese) students get off easy since english is not their first language. grammar in essays don’t count, it’s mostly about the content and the ideas you are trying to get across. well, these students won’t last in university i can tell you that. they may have an excellent record of students getting accepted to university because the grading system is so off. 90’s are handed out so easily and teachers are actually harder on students which come from english speaking countries. so in university, these students are struggling because they have not been challenged enough in high school. so if you are considering your child to come here. good luck.

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• Deep Regret says:

  June 27, 2012 at 5:01 am

  Worst school you could ever place your child in. Their websites look good but its full of lies. I was once a former student and trust me whatever earlier negative reviews you have already read are true.Enough said.

  Overall Score: (1.00/5.00)
  
  

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• NEVER EVER says:

  March 2, 2012 at 6:07 am

  Get more info on this school at
  https://totalcarecicreview.wordpress.com/

  Overall Score: (1.00/5.00)
  
  

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• Disheartened Student. says:

  January 3, 2012 at 9:39 am

  I have been to three different high schools and this is by far the worst school I have ever been to. The quality of the education is poor. The school is way to easy, students do not study at all and still manage to ace all their classes. This makes university tremendously difficult for them as they are not prepared at all for university. It scares me to think that in a few months I will be off to university, without having experienced an education that was challenging enough to prepare me for university. The girls residence is located in a really UGLY and UNSAFE area. No, literally, people get mugged, shot, raped, killed and harassed on a daily basis. Furthurmore, the girls residence has NO INTERNET (the boys residence does) so it makes doing homework and contacting friends and parents really difficult. It is very obvious the school only wants money and isn’t concerned at all with its students future as they don’t even allow students to enter class if they haven’t paid ALL their fees and they don’t allow students to change their exam dates even if an emergency occurs at home (eg. death of a relative). The saddest thing is, it exploits all of its staff members by paying them salary that is even lower than that of public school teachers, meaning teachers who aren’t experienced enough to teach at a PUBLIC school end up teaching at CIC. Do not listen to people who recommend this school to you, honestly the enviornment is NOT nice (too much drugs, partying etc.) and the location itself is very unsafe. It is way to overpriced, for the amount of tuition you will pay here you can send your child to a BETTER school (such as ashbury, ridley etc.) The food is disgusting and unedible, most days we get plain boiled rice, (sometimes uncooked) chicken and boiled frozen vegetables. The salad is never fresh, the bread literally once had fungus on it. In short, we get the worst quality of food; your child is better off living in an apartment and buying/making his/her own food. It will be cheaper and more tasty. In short, please try to stay away from this school. Do not send your child here, you will regret it.

  Overall Score: (1.45/5.00)
  
  

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• yourstruly;) says:

  May 1, 2011 at 1:00 pm

  please do not send your child to this school. no matter how badly someone recommends this school to you, trust me, i’ve been here for two years. the quality of education, the food, the rules they all are very, very low. this school is more centered around the financial benefit of the adminstrators of the school rather than the quality of services provided to its customers.

  Overall Score: (1.00/5.00)
  
  

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