Exchange REPORT University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, USA

 

 

 Leung Yin Tung, Aily 

IS/MGMT Year 4 Fall 2018 

 

 

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Table of Content  

Part 1 - Monthly Activity Log 1

Part 2 - General Exchange Information 2

Part 3 - Items to Bring 3

Part 4 - Useful links and contacts 4

 

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Part 1 - Monthly Activity Log August 2018

Lots and lots of Orientation Events til you get exhausted!! Watched American Football, went on a cruise trip, really appreciated the GLOBE from business school who organized these events. 

 

September 2018

School started and it was fun to take classes like bowling, earning another credit without stressssss. Although we still took classes, there were a lot of partying in my exchange period. I was glad to have met a bunch of exchange friends and we always cooked together and threw parties <3 

 

October 2018

 

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Went to Toronto (very near to Minnesota) to visit my friends who has been studying abroad since high school and they drove me to the Niagara Fall and showed me the authentic Canadian Fooooood! 

 

November 2018

Experienced the winter in one of the coldest states in US, it is amazing stepping on a half-frozen lake (Minnesota is famous for having lots of lakes)! Also, I went to Chicago with a group of Asian exchange students that we knew more about each other and had a lot of fun :) 

 

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December 2018

Traveled in the West Coast right after the final exam! 

SF > Grand Canyon + Antelope Canyon > Vegas > LA 

 

 

 

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Part 2 - General Exchange Information Visa Procedures

Be prepared. It can take a very long time for the whole process. I have queued for an hour in the US embassy. 

Orientation Activities

There are lots of orientation activities for the first 2 weeks, especially for the students who join the exchange program in fall as the weather is not too cold and is more suitable for outdoor activities like cruise trip. 

International Services & Activities

U of M is very inclusive that most of the activities welcome any students to join and the culture in U of M is to offer FREE food for almost every event. Don’t miss it! 

Accommodations

I lived in the dorm and I think it is pretty convenient (Yudof Hall) as it is near to classrooms and Coffman where most activities are held, but it can be expensive.  

Course Registration

The course registration went smoothly as there was an orientation session with 5-6 staff helping us out and making sure we knew how to use the system. By the way, the system is very similar to the one in UST, so students from UST should be fine. 

Teaching & Assessment Methods U of M encourages more discussions and there are discussions nearly in every class. 

Sports & Recreation Facilities Lots of things you can try and the sports center (Recwell Center) is HUGE! There are always free bowling nights so hangout with friends at the alley.   

 

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Finance & Banking You can consider opening bank accounts at the TCF Bank or US Stadium Bank. I used TCF but the problem is that it’s NOT national so when you leave Minnesota and travel to other states when the semester ends, you need to withdraw all cash instead of using debit cards. 

Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities There are lots of clubs focusing on different interests but they may not worth paying the membership fees to join as you will only be here for a semester.  

Health & Safety Don’t worry even if you get sick, the school clinic at U of M is much better than the public hospitals in Hong Kong as the medical staff to patients ratio would be MUCH lower and they are very caring. Don’t walk alone at night, you can always call for the Safe Walk Service which there would be staff escorting you back to hall. Food Dining out could be expensive, around 15 USD per meal plus 15% tips which is the norm, while grocery is even cheaper than in Hong Kong. So, as we Hong Kong students who are very lazing cooking or don’t even know how to cook, it’s a nice chance to try making cuisines at the hall.  

Transportation Buy the U Pass so you can enjoy unlimited rides for the light rail.  Climate Winter in Minnesota can be very horrible. It can drop to as low as -30oC in January or February. Prepare more warm clothes and warming packs if necessary. 

Communication Don’t understand why my phone (Huawei) has problems using some company’s sim cards and T-Mobile works for me. 

Cautionary measures Stay safe, be aware of things happening around you as you never know when there will be gun shot in the US. 

 

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Part 3 - Items to Bring  

Checklist

Clothes for winter (sweater, down coats) 

Snow boots, gloves, wool hats, heat tech 

Hand warmer packs 

Business suit 

Blankets, bed sheets, pillows 

Laptop 

Charger, adaptor, power bank 

Hand cream, lip balm 

Medicine 

  Thermal bottle 

 

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Part 4 - Useful links and contacts  

U of M Exchange Program Website https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/faculty-research/carlson-global-institute/incoming-exchange-students

 

International Student Support https://isss.umn.edu/

 

Transportation/ Map Information https://www.pts.umn.edu/ Campus Safety Resource https://safe-campus.umn.edu/