I did both my BA and MSc at UofA and my experience...

I did both my BA and MSc at UofA and my experience has been great. Buildings are beautiful. Really nice in the spring and summer when it all becomes green. In my undergraduate studies, I had to live with large class sizes and low professor-student interaction. However, this is common to all big universities and if you really want to learn and excel, you can have a way with professors whatever the situation. The class sizes decrease as you specialize in a field and as you go into senior years. Graduate studies are really nice and there are programs out there that focus on professional development on top of your program that you can take advantage of. The university is research intensive and challenges students to be creative and not dependent on supervisors.
I would have loved to do my PhD at UofA ; however, I would be like a bird that doesn't want to leave its nest and explore outside.