EXPERIENCE REPORT: ITAM, MEXICO CITY
Name: Sanne van Driel
E-mail: sannevandriel94@hotmail.com
Study Program: Bachelor Organization Studies
Exchange semester: Spring semester
Academic year: 2014-2015
Host University: Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)
Country: Mexico
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL AND THE CITY
Mexico City is the place where I lived for 5 months during my academic exchange,
and I absolutely, truly loved it. I picked Mexico City because it seemed awesome to
me to live in such a huge metropolitan city, but also because the city is located in the
middle of the country, which makes travelling relatively easy. Besides that,
university ITAM is considered to be one of the best in Latin America. I picked
Mexico in general because I wanted to learn Spanish, I wanted to travel a lot and I
wanted to experience living in a non-European culture. Obviously, the sunny climate
and cheap living costs also really attracted me. Mexico City is surrounded by two
mountains and the city itself lies more than 2000m above sea level. During my
exchange period, I studied at ITAM, a private university in the south of Mexico City.
The neighborhood in which the university is located is called San Angel and in my
opinion this neighborhood is one of the most beautiful parts of the city. It has these
nice, historical buildings and small streets which make you feel like going back in
time. Every Saturday there is a famous market, where you can buy souvenirs and
local things, and the park is full of paintings and art. Really, walking in San Angel
doesn’t feel like walking in one of the biggest cities in the world. Mexico City is huge,
and even after more than 5 months over there, I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff I haven’t
seen. San Angel is also really safe. If you are thinking about going to Mexico, don’t
hesitate because of safety issues. Even as a girl I never felt unsafe. Of course, you
should use your common knowledge about safety, like don’t walk around showing
of with your iPhone 6 or jewelry and don’t go out alone at night. Seriously, the
Mexicans I met are the kindest and warmest people I’ve ever met. They’re extremely
helpful and especially interested in exchange students. The campus of ITAM is really
beautiful too. The school is relatively small (only three floors high) and has nice palm
trees. You always meet people you know in the university building, since it’s quite
small. The atmosphere is always good, students playing domino at the outside
tables, studying together in the huge library or going to salsa classes at the sport
center. ITAM has teams for volleyball, football and rugby, there’s a gym and you can
even follow belly dance lessons. There’s a cafeteria in which you can have a nice
lunch, Mexican food mostly, but they also have sandwiches and baguettes, sushi and
salads for a good price. Before entering the school, you need to pass security with
your personal ITAM student card. There’s a computer room, a special language
center where you can practice your Spanish and they offer lessons to learn to play an
instrument. The sports center of ITAM is free for its students. ITAM is surrounded
by small coffee places and places to drink a beer and watch football, like Ahui Wi.
Grutas de Tolantongo
Historical center of Mexico City
When you want to go shopping, you have to go to a shopping mall, for example
Perisur. When I went out at night, I mostly went to the neighborhoods Roma or
Condesa, where all the clubs are. One of my favorite clubs is called Rhodesia. You
can move around easiest by taxi, which is cheap, especially when you share your taxi
with others. Almost all Mexican students have a car (and a nice one), and they love
to give you a ride, too. In Mexico City, the historical center is called the Zocalo. It’s a
nice place to be. Other famous sightseeing places that you have to see are for
example Teotihuacan, the castle and park of Capultepec, and you should definitely
party one day at the boats of Xochimilco. Mexico City is very different from Tilburg,
obviously because it is so big, but in contrast the university is a lot smaller. ITAM has
around 5.000 students, compared to Tilburg University, which has more than 13.000
students. In my exchange period, there were about 50 exchange students from all
over the world. I know that the semester before, there were almost 100 exchange
students. ITAM has two campuses, one for masters and one for bachelors. The last
one was the one where I studied and it’s called Rio Hondo. ITAM is mostly famous
for economics. Also, it is considered a school for rich people. The fees are extremely
high, so I was glad I only needed to pay the fee of Tilburg University. Take a look on
the website for more information: http://www.itam.mx/es/index.php.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
In December 2013 I got an email from Tilburg University, telling me that I was
selected for an exchange period at ITAM. In August 2014, ITAM emailed me, asking
me to send all kinds of documents, like a copy of my passport, my transcript of
records, information about my healthcare company, a proof of my Spanish language
level, etc. This was considered the registration process for ITAM and the deadline for
sending these documents was October. After a successful registration, processes of
selecting my courses still continued. In December 2014, I got an email with the course
list. ITAM also send me a folder they called fact sheet, with information about the
university and the neighborhood. I chose my courses with help of my buddy. She
told me which teachers are nice and which courses are easy or difficult. Only
difficulty I experienced was the overlapping schedules of courses. The courses I had
initially chosen overlapped with each other (the lectures were at the same time), so I
had to make another selection. Also, especially before I was officially registered at
ITAM, it sometimes took quite a long time before they responded to my mails. After
the deadline of registration in October, they answered faster.
Visa procedure and arrival
If you go to Mexico for a period shorter than 180 days, you don’t need a visa, so
that’s nice. You only have to fill in an immigration document, which they give you in
the plane on your way to Mexico. My arrival was very well organized. ITAM works
with a student buddy system, in which they couple a Mexican ITAM student with an
exchange student. Those buddies help you voluntarily with everything. My buddy
picked me up at the airport, brought me home, showed me where I can take cash and
where the closest supermarket is, etc. Besides that, we went to parties together and
since we both love sushi, we had dinner together sometimes as well. Also, you can
ask all your questions related to school to your buddy, for example about enrollment
for courses. The administration and faculty were well prepared for my arrival and I
didn’t encounter any problems. I only had a miscommunication with my landlord
about where I could find the keys of my room (probably because I didn’t understand
his Spanish very well), so the first night I slept in the room of someone else.
Orientation/Introduction activities
My flight to Mexico was on the 5th of January 2015. On January 8 there was an
introduction day for exchange students organized by ITAM. They gave us all kind of
information about the university, but also about safety for example. Besides that, we
got a lecture about the history of Mexico and a tour over the campus. This day was
useful since you get to know the university a little better, but also because you meet
other exchange students. Classes started the 12th of January. There was no special
reception of the school’s students.
Housing
Accommodation was very well organized. ITAM send me an email in November
2014, so around 2 months before I left. They gave all the housing options close to the
university. They have contacts with all the landlords in the neighborhood who offer
housing for exchange students. They gave information about prices, the size of the
room, the location, the amount of roommates, everything. Based on the document
you can send a top 3 of the places you like, and then they couple you to the landlord
of the house they gave you. Then the landlord will send you the contract etc. I really
liked the fact that my housing was arranged before I left; it felt more secure to me. So
it’s not the university that offers housing, they just bring you in contact with the
landlord of the house you’ve chosen yourself. There is no on-campus housing. I was
really satisfied with my housing. I lived in Hidalgo 92, room 3. It was only a 7 minute
walk to the university, and it was a house especially for exchange students. We were
12 in total, from all around the world (France, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and
Czech Republic). We had a nice roof terrace, with a barbeque on it, a shared living
room with television (with Netflix) and a shared kitchen. We all had a box to keep
our own food. We also had a cleaning lady, Margarita, who came 3 times a week to
clean the common areas. Some rooms even had their own bathroom, but I shared my
bathroom with others, which worked fine as well. I paid 4100 pesos a month, which
Teotihuacan
Surrealistic castle of Edward James
is about 240 euros. Remember that you also have to pay a deposit; usually the price
of one month’s rent. In my opinion it’s a good price, the location is perfect, as is the
house, since it’s really spacious. I had a double bed in my room, a big closet, a desk, a
mirror, etc. It was fully furnished. There are a lot of exchange houses in the area.
Often, we partied in Hidalgo 26. That house has another landlord, and all the rooms
have their own kitchen and bathroom, more like a studio. They paid on average
around 6000 pesos a month. It’s a nice option if you would like more privacy, but the
common area is not that nice as in our house. Then there are also the houses Hidalgo
92A and 92B, which are located exactly in front of my house. They have the same
landlord, but the houses are smaller, for 5 or 6 students only. A nice option if you’d
like it a bit more quiet. So in conclusion, if you want to study at ITAM, don’t worry
about housing. Just keep in mind that they’ll sent the mail with housing options
around 2 months before the start of the semester, and it is wise to react as soon as
possible, because the top 3 is on first come, first serve bias.
Living Costs
As you probably know, you will get a grant from Tilburg University of 750 euro in
total; 650 euro before departure and 100 euro when you will come back in The
Netherlands. I saved as much money as possible for my exchange, which I earned by
working next to my study. I saved around 2500 euro, which I fully used in Mexico.
The costs of living are not high; the housing, the food, transportation, it’s all cheaper
than in The Netherlands. For example, you can use the metro throughout the whole
city for only 5 pesos (0.35 euro) and you can get really good tacos close to the
university for 20 pesos (1.20 euro). There are small shops, like OXXO, which are open
24/7 and where you can buy food and drinks. But for real groceries, you need to go to
a bigger supermarket, like Mega or Wal-Mart. We went there once in every three
weeks and spent around 50 euro each time. Taxis are also cheap, especially if you go
with others. For 8 euro, so 2 euro each, you are in the historic center of the city,
which is a 40 minutes’ drive. At night the prices rise. I spend most of my money on
travelling. In the first month, I went on a trip every single weekend. Since I only had
class till Thursday, I often travelled Friday till Sunday. After that first month, I
decided to slow down a little, because school intensified a bit and I realized that I
hadn’t even been in the center of Mexico City itself. The trips are relatively cheap,
you pay generally between 100 and 150 euro and therefore you get transportation,
residence and often entrance to the things you’re going to visit. The thing is that it
gets expensive because of the quantity of the trips. Of course, it’s up to you how
many trips you want to make, but I would advise you to save as much money for
travelling as possible, because Mexico is super beautiful. Besides the grant and the
money I saved myself, every month I still got my scholarship (“uitwonende
studiebeurs”) and the compensation for my OV chip card, around 100 euro a month.
My parents supported me by paying a large part of the plane tickets. I didn’t buy any
books for school. For two of my classes, I found the books online in a PDF document,
just via Google. For one other course, I borrowed the book from the library for free.
You can rent it only for one week, but every week you can renew it for another week
online, so that’s what I did during the whole semester. I only bought my book for
Spanish, since you have to make exercises in it, but I only paid around 15 euro for it.
Academic Calendar
I arrived the 5th of January and there was only one introduction day, the 8th of
January. The first day of the semester was January 12 and the last day of classes was
May 15. After that, there were two weeks of final exams, till May 30. We had one
mid-term break, from the 30th of March till the 3th of April, called Semana Santa.
Sometimes we had a Puente, which means long weekend, when we had Monday off.
Besides your final exams, there are also the midterms, but they are planned during
school weeks, around Semana Santa.
The International Office
There is an international office at ITAM who takes care of all the exchange students.
Currently Jaime Saad M. Abadi & José Arturo Palacios Pineda (two students) and
Mary Anne Leenheer are working there. Usually the students working there are
responsible for incoming exchange students. They provide you with all the
information beforehand and you can always mail them with questions. Especially in
the beginning of the semester this is useful. During the first week of class you can
namely still switch courses, if courses appear to be different than you expected. They
will help you switch courses and they give you tips about which courses would suit
you best. The international office functions well, but sometimes there are late with
providing information. One time for example, they wanted to take a picture of all
exchange students some day at 1 pm, but only at 11 am that same day they informed
us about it, resulting in only few students showing up.
Exchange promotion
In February ITAM organized an exchange fair at the university, but unfortunately I
couldn’t participate in it. They sent the mail with the invitation for it at the day of the
fair itself, and I had classes at that time. To promote Tilburg University, I mostly just
talked about The Netherlands and Tilburg University to Mexican students. They all
were super excited and wanted to know everything.
Social Activities
I was really impressed by the amount of social activities that were organized
especially for exchange students. There are different organizations that organize trips
and parties for exchange students, managed by Mexican students.
Xochimilco
Dinner with roomies
These organizations are called Mexcal, Mexchange, Integrate and Hangout. I
especially liked the people from Mexchange and Integrate. They are all super
friendly and travelling and partying with them is a nice way to meet Mexican
students. My closest friends were other exchange students, especially my
roommates, but I also had some very good Mexican friends, most of them I met on
the parties and trips they organized. It’s a very safe way to travel with them, too.
They organize so many trips; if you want you can go on a trip every weekend. Every
week there are parties as well. I would advise you to travel as much as possible, also
to other cities than Mexico City. I loved Taxco and Guanajuato. The Yucatán area is
beautiful; go swimming with sea turtles in Akumal, enjoy the sun at the beautiful isla
Holbox, go to Chichen Itza and visit the lake Bakalar. Another beautiful part of the
country is Chiapas, more like jungle, with amazing waterfalls. Oaxaca is wonderful
as well, with main attraction Hierve el Agua. Beach Puerto Escondido is also
supposed to be really nice. I can imagine that all these names mean nothing to you,
but just Google it and see how beautiful the country is. During Semana Santa, I went
on a road trip to Baja California with three other girls. We rented a car and visited
different cities during 10 days. We even camped on the beach. It was a trip that I’ll
never forget. I also travelled to different countries. When I was in Chiapas, I went for
one day to Guatemala, and after the finals at ITAM, I’ve been in Miami for a few
days.
Culture and Language
I didn’t experience a culture shock while on exchange, even if it was my first time in
Latin America. Maybe it’s because I travelled a lot in Europe already, and I went to
Asia few times. Of course, things are different than in Europe, but it’s easy to get
used to. People are super friendly and more collectivistic than in The Netherlands.
They value friendships and especially family more and they are less individualistic.
Almost all Mexican students I’ve met still live with their parents. Before I went on
exchange, I was told to watch out for the laid back attitude of Mexicans. People from
Holland are always in a rush, always busy, while Mexicans never seem to be. This is
partly true. One time, we were planning to go ride a horse on a ranch of a Mexican
friend. We were supposed to leave Friday around 1 pm. In the end, we left at 4 pm.
People were late and simply didn’t care that others were waiting. This annoyed me, I
felt like wasting my whole afternoon, but you must try to not get upset about it. Just
order an extra drink, enjoy the sun a little longer. And I must admit that this was the
only time that I really got annoyed. On the other hand, classes almost always start on
time, or at least no more than 10 minutes late. Public transport is also always on time.
I would describe the Mexican culture as very warm and open. Everyone wants to get
to know you and to help you. One time, I had to go back to Holland for the funeral of
a family member, and all students and teachers were super sympathizing. They all
told me not to worry about school, regardless of the obligatory attendance, because
this was way more important. Another thing to keep in mind is that Mexicans will
never say ‘no’ or ‘I don’t know’. When you ask the direction because you don’t know
how to walk, and the person doesn’t know the place you want to go to, he will just
point in some direction, even though he’s not sure where he’ll send you. For him, it’s
better than saying that he doesn’t know. For me, this was sometimes hard. I like it
when people are a bit more direct, when people just say what they think. Culture
differs in the country as well. Big cities are more internationalized, but you also have
those really small, traditional cities. I visited one city in Chiapas where people had
their own rules, clothes and even their own time. I also noticed that some cities are so
touristic, like Cancún, that you can even pay in dollars. Before coming to Mexico, I
followed two Spanish courses at Tilburg University, which were obligatory but also
very useful. At ITAM, I followed a Spanish language course to continuously
improve. I experienced these language courses as useful, but it’s way more useful to
just try and talk in Spanish with Mexican people. They love to teach you their
language. Even though my Spanish was not that good while arriving, I did not really
encounter problems. Just use a lot of gestures while talking, they will understand
you. There was no intensive language course offered by ITAM before the classes
started, only the language course I followed, throughout the semester.
Personal Development
My exchange experience definitely affected me in social and cultural point of view. I
learned to be more open to new people and unexpected situations, to be creative and
more independent. For sure you will find yourself in situations in which you don’t
know what to do, but that’s good. Only by crossing your comfort zone you will get
to know yourself. I think my exchange period will definitely influence my future
career possibilities in a positive way. In my opinion, it shows that you’re
adventurous and able to adapt to other cultures. I seek a career in an international
environment, so therefore it’s especially useful. I will never forget all the nice people
I’ve met during my exchange, the warm culture and the beautiful places I’ve visited.
I completely fell in love with the country and its inhabitants. I still like to speak in
Spanish, like to listen to Latin music, dance salsa and eat Mexican food. People at
home often ask me for things I didn’t like about Mexico, but seriously, I never had
bad experiences.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
ITAM offers courses both in Spanish and in English. I followed two courses in
English (Human Behavior I and Marketing III), one in Spanish (Business Strategy I,
but the book was in English and for exchange students the exams were available in
English too), and a language course to learn Spanish (Español de inmersion). They
are all bachelor courses and they count for 6 ECTS, except the language course,
which counts for 7 ECTS. I would advise to take the language course, because it’s
really useful to improve your Spanish. At the introduction day, you need to make a
Spanish test, just to measure your Spanish level, and then they place you in a class
with students who have the same level of Spanish. I would also recommend Human
Behavior I. The teacher, Francisco Jose Jil White, is really awesome and one of the
best teachers I’ve ever had. He really makes you work and think and you really need
to participate, but it’s super interesting. Business Strategy I and Marketing III were
kind of easy and basic. They were nice, but not that special. Of all my courses, only
Marketing III had a prerequisite, namely Marketing I and II, but I never had a class in
marketing before, and still I could follow Marketing III without any problem.
Business Strategy I and Marketing III were also a bit more theoretical than the other
two courses. I experienced the academic level at ITAM as lower than Tilburg
University. It was quite easy for me to follow the courses I had, but I know that the
economic courses are way harder, so I think it depends on the courses you take. The
workload at ITAM is higher in comparison to Tilburg University. Attendance is
obligatory, and you get a grade for participation. You need to read a lot of papers to
prepare for class. The classes are way smaller than in Tilburg, with only 20 to 30
students. Classes are very interactive. I think you can compare it with high school in
Holland, that’s what it felt like to me at least. All teachers and students speak well
English at ITAM. Teaching methods were a combination of lectures, group work, but
sometimes also simulations for example. Students seem to have a good relationship
with their teachers. They are closer to teachers than students in Tilburg are, probably
because the classes are so small. I was really happy with my academic achievements
at ITAM, I passed three courses with a 9 and the other course with a 7 and I thus got
the 24 ECTS I needed for my minor. All the exchange students can enroll for their
courses before the normal students are able to do so, so when you found courses that
don’t overlap in schedule, enrolment is pretty easy.
Exams
At ITAM, almost all courses have a midterm exam and a final exam. The final exam
is really important, because you fail the whole course if you fail the final exam,
regardless of your performance during the whole semester. Also, there are no resits.
Exams can be fully multiple choice (Business Strategy I), partly multiple choice and
partly open (Marketing III), or with only open questions. ITAM also values your
participation in class and for most of the courses attendance to lectures is obligatory.
Most classes also have group assignments and presentations. So for example, your
midterm exam counts for 25%, your final exam for 25%, attendance for 10%,
participation for 10% and group work for 30%, something like that.
Other
It is really easy to access the library and its resources. During the introduction day,
they show you the library; tell you where you can find everything. They have a
special system where you can log in with your personal code, type the title of a book,
and then the system shows you where you can find the book. If you have any
doubts, you can just ask your buddy about it. Public computers are available in the
computer room. You can also bring your own laptop and work in the library.
Tips for the future students
I would definitely recommend an exchange period to everyone. I feel like I learned a
lot about myself during my 5 months abroad, you become really independent. It is
scary in the beginning, going alone to a place you don’t know, but trust me; it will be
the best months of your life. You get the opportunity to build a strong international
network of friends, you can learn a new language and you get to know another
culture. I think that’s all really important for your personal development. I would
also recommend my host university ITAM, since it has a really well-known
reputation and they help you so well with everything (buddy system, housing). It is
important to prepare well before going on exchange to Mexico. Most important is to
have a basic understanding of the Spanish language. Mexicans really appreciate it if
you try to speak in Spanish, and some of them just don’t speak English.
Blog
I did not keep a blog during my exchange period, but you can always send me an
email if you have further questions.
A picture is worth a thousand words
University ITAM
Road trip Baja California
Chichen Itza
Cenote Ik Kil
Guanajuato
Isla Holbox
Camping in Bahía Concepcion
Beach in Loreto, Baja California
Mexican food
Horse riding