GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE EXPERIENCE REPORT
Please write this report in English
The student report will be published on the:
• Study Abroad website (under “Experiences” from partner universities)
• TSH study abroad blackboard page
I am fine with my report being published online: YES
ANR: 514865
Name: Menno Bremer
E-mail: m.m.bremer@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Fall , 2015
Academic year: bachelor year 3
Host University: Monash University
Country: Australia
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please, describe:
- The school and its surroundings:
− please describe the city you lived in;
− where is the university located in the city?
− please describe the campus of your host university
− what is the best place to go to eat/drink/dance/do sports/etc.?
− what are interesting things to see and do in your host city?
− what was different than in Tilburg?
- Number of students: graduate and undergraduate; number of exchange students
Monash University is the largest university in Australia. The university has 5
campuses in Melbourne, the main campus is located in Clayton and is by far the
biggest. All campuses are located in suburbs of Melbourne, but the public
transport is good so this is not a problem. Monash University and Melbourne
University are the best universities in Melbourne according to the rankings. Both
are members of the Go8, this is a group with the 8 best universities of Australia.
I decided to study at Clayton, because it is the main campus with a lot of facilities and
I could choose out of many different courses. The Clayton campus is really large
and has 13 residential halls/flats, 3 libraries, shops, restaurants, sport centre,
swimming pool, tennis courts, hockey courts, football/Australian football fields
etcetera.
Melbourne is a great city to live, scoring high in livable city rankings. There are a lot of
gardens, the Royal Botanic Garden is beautiful. St-Kilda is located south east of
the CBD and has a nice beach, there is a lot to do when the weather is nice. The
central business district (CBD) is the place to be and it is easy to find your way.
Most of the nice clubs and bars are located in the CBD, but suburbs like St-Kilda
and Fitzroy are fun as well.
Melbourne is big city with a lot of clubs and bars, so you don’t have to be bored any
day of the week. I liked the clubs and bars in the CBD the most, for example:
Anyways, Section8, Asian Beer Cafe, Cookies, Carlton club. There are a lot of
laneway and rooftop bars, just try some different bars and you will definitely find
one you like. Melbourne is the sport capital of Australia with big events like the
Australian open, F1 Australian Grand Prix, AFL, Melbourne Cup, Cricket, Football.
If you go to Melbourne don’t forget to go to a sport match in the Melbourne Cricket
Ground, it is the 10th largest sport stadium in the world.
Melbourne and Tilburg are totally different cities. Melbourne is a vibrant, beautiful, big
city. If you compare Tilburg to Melbourne, Tilburg is more like a village.
In 2014, 67000 students were enrolled at Monash, 47000 undergraduate students, 24000
international students (I guess around 20000 people from Asia).
II Practical Information
Information before you left
- When did you receive the pre-arrival information from the host university?
- Any difficulties?
The 10th of April, I got accepted to attend Monash as an exchange student. On the 16th, I
got my Conformation of Enrollment (CoE). I received a pre-arrival guide also on the 10th
of April and on the 22nd of June I received a lot of documents about the orientation,
important dates and other useful stuff. I did not have any difficulties.
Visa procedure and arrival
- How long did it take you to arrange your (student) visa (if relevant)?
- How much did you pay for the visa?
- How was your arrival organized?
- Did someone pick you up from the airport/station?
- How was the reception at the school?
- Was the administration and faculty well prepared for your arrival?
- What problems, if any did you encounter?
For me it only took 2 weeks to arrange my visa, but I heard from other people that it can
take a bit longer (up to 4-6 weeks). The visa costs 535 AUD, so this is around 350-380
euros.
When I arrived at the airport in Melbourne everything was organized very well. At the
airport a driver was waiting for me, he drove me to my hostel where I was staying for
the first week.
Orientation/Introduction activities
- Was an orientation or introduction activity organized?
- Did the school’s students participate in the reception of the exchange students?
- Did you have a student mentor/buddy?
The university organized 2 weeks introduction, first a week for the international students
and the second week for each faculty. This was really nice, because you meet a lot of
people and you will make a lot of new friends.
There was a student association for international students (MOVE), which organized a lot
of events thorough the semester. Most of these students already studied abroad or
wanted to study abroad in the future.
I did not have a mentor, but if you would like to have one it’s not a problem. There were
mentors to help you with courses or if you had some difficulties with English.
Housing
- How was accommodation organized?
- Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for a place
to live after you arrived?
- What kind of housing does the university provide?
- What support did you receive from the school in locating housing?
- Were you satisfied with your accommodation?
- Any special issues or good ideas/useful websites for prospective students?
There are a lot of options where to live. On the main campus there are a lot of different
buildings for student accommodation, you can choose out of shared facilities, or selfcontained. I registered for a room on campus after I received my Confirmation of
Enrollment, unfortunately all rooms were occupied. Therefore I booked a hostel for the
first week, but a couple of days before I left the Netherlands I got a message from
Monash Residential Services that they had a room for me. I liked living on campus
because there are a lot of facilities that I used a lot, like a big sport centre, swimming
pools etcetera. The only disadvantage was that I had to travel for 40 minutes to the
CBD. If you rather have a room in the CBD, I reckon you should stay in a hostel for the
first 2 weeks. Around that time of the year a lot of people in hostels are looking for
accommodation so you can look for a place with other people. Living on campus and
in the CBD both have their pros and cons. I guess I would choose to live in the CBD if
I had to choose again but it is difficult to find something for a reasonable price.
Living Costs
- How did you finance your exchange period, apart from the grant you received from Tilburg
University?
- What were your living expenses abroad like compared to Tilburg?
- What did you spend most of your money on?
- What would you advice future students to spend their money on?
- Please outline your approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange:
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−
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Housing
Food
Transport
Books
Miscellaneous
If you want to study in Australia, be prepared. Everything is more expensive in Australia
than in the Netherlands except for gasoline. Housing prices are really high and things that
are not really healthy for your body are ridiculously expensive (except for goon). All
students have a 50 percent discount on public transport, which saves a lot of money. I
paid around 1000 euros per month for my room, it is definitely possible to find something
cheaper but you will pay at least 600-700 per month.
I spend most on rent and traveling. My advice is to travel as much as possible, Australia
is beautiful and there is a lot to see/do. If you have time and money left, go to New
Zealand as well! I don’t think it is very useful to say how much I spend on food, drinking
and traveling because you can make it as expense as you want and it is different for
everybody. If you want to travel try to travel with a group of friends, this saves a lot of
money. I would say renting a car or camper van and sleeping in a tent is the cheapest way
to travel. Look at wickedcampers.com.au, these are nice campers for a good price.
Academic Calendar
- Arrival date & introductory week
- First day of the semester?
- Last day of classes?
- Mid-term break?
- Examination period?
- Any special events?
Before the semester starts there are 2 weeks of orientation, the semester starts at the end
of July. In October there is one week holiday (spring break). The final exams are in
November, note that there are no resits. I studied the second semester in Melbourne, from
half July till end of November.
The International Office
- Is there an international office?
- Who is responsible for incoming exchange students?
- How does the international office function?
- Are you satisfied with the information provided to you by the international office?
Exchange promotion
- What kind of activity did you take part in to promote exchange to Tilburg University at your
exchange university?
Social Activities
- Which social activities are organized by the university/students for exchange students?
- Is there a student organization for international student?
- Did you have contact with local students?
- Did you have contact with other exchange students?
- Did you travel to other places/countries during your exchange?
There is a big international office, I didn’t have contact with them but there were around
500 new international students/exchange students so you should not have any problems.
I became a member of MOVE, which is a student association for international students led
by Australian students. They organized a couple of events in the orientation weeks and
lots of other nice events, including bar crawls, parties and trips to nice places.
Most of the people I met came from Europe, they were exchange students as well, but I
made friends with people from Australia and other countries as well. It is really nice to
meet so many people from different countries.
In the spring break we did the great ocean road and we went to Sydney. After the exams I
rented a van with 6 exchange friends and we travelled down the East coast from
Cairns to Byron Bay for 4 weeks. After that I went to New Zealand with 3 exchange
friends and travelled both the South and North Island for 4 weeks.
Culture and Language
- Did you experience culture shock while on exchange?
- How would you compare your host culture to your own culture?
- What did you learn about your own culture while on exchange?
-
What was different about your host culture than you expected?
How would you describe your host country’s culture?
What did you like and not like about your host culture?
Do you feel you learned a lot about your host culture, and if not, what would you like to learn
more?
If you travelled to other cities/countries during your exchange, were they different than your
host city/country, and how?
Did you have any language problems with the faculty or other students?
Did you follow language courses during your exchange?
Did you follow the Erasmus Intensive Language Course?
I did not really experience a culture shock, because Melbourne has a lot of European
influences. The people in Australia were really nice, most of the people are friendly
and they will start talking to you all the time no matter if you know them or wherever
you are. The Australian culture is more laid-back and more open/friendly, at least that
is what I experienced. I noticed that in the Dutch culture it is often quite direct, just
saying things what you mean, while Australians but also people from other countries
would say it in a different way. The people in the cities in the north east of Australia
were more laid-back than in Melbourne and Sydney. Melbourne was more European
and Sydney was more American.
I did not follow any language courses, this was not a problem because most of my
courses in Tilburg were taught in English as well.
Personal Development
- How do you think the exchange experience will affect you from a cultural and social point of
view?
- How do you think the exchange experience will influence your future career possibilities?
- What did you learn from the people you met during your exchange?
- Would you do things differently if you had the chance, and what would you do differently?
- What was your best experience, and what was your worst experience?
- What will you never forget about your exchange period?
- What was the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your exchange
period?
I think the exchange experience affects everybody, no matter what kind of person you are.
I met a lot of people from so many different countries, this gives a different perspective on
a lot of topics and you will learn a lot about different cultures. I don’t really have a best
experience, there were so many great experiences. I guess the worst experience was the
jet lag, which lasted for more than 2 weeks but this was probably because of the party
weeks in the beginning of the semester.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
- In what language(s) are the courses offered at a partner university?
- Did you follow any courses taught in the language of the host country?
- Which courses did you take and why?
- Which courses would you recommend?
- How would compare the academic level at your host university to the academic level at
Tilburg University (e.g.: level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English, workload,
etc.)?
- Is the teaching style primarily practical or theoretical?
- What teaching method is practiced by the host university: case studies, group work,
seminars or lectures (or a mix)?
- How would you describe the relationship between the students and the teaching staff?
- In general, were you happy with your academic achievements during your exchange?
Exams
- What types of exams did you have to sit?
Other
- Can students easily access the library and its resources?
- Were there public computers available on campus/in university buildings?
I took 4 courses all worth 7.5 ECTS: Options futures and other derivatives, Property
investment, Equities and Investment analysis and Environmental economics.
The course I liked the most was Options futures and other derivatives. I had a great
professor who had experience in the industry and had been a teacher at the London
Business School, he was really enthusiastic and he made the lectures really
interesting. However this course is according to most students the most difficult
Economics/Business bachelor course at Monash so you have to invest some time.
Every two weeks you have to hand in a excel assignment and there are 5 in class
excel tests plus individual Q&A, at the end of the semester you have a final exam.
Property investment was interesting because I learned a lot of things that are not only
useful in your professional career but can be handy for your personal finance as well
and this course is interesting because of the housing market in Australia. During the
semester we had 2 tests/midterms and 1 big assignment, which we had to make in
groups of 4. At the end of the semester there was a final exam.
Equities and investment analysis was nice to have because it was really practical. The
teacher had worked in the banking industry for a long time and had changed the
course, we had to make a investment report in groups of 4, following the guidelines of
CFA and we had to pitch our report. At the end there was a final exam.
Environmental economics was in my opinion a bit boring. The course was for economics
and sustainable engineering students so it was less an ‘’economics’’ course than I
expected beforehand. During the semester we had a midterm and we had to write a
big essay and at the end there was a final exam. This exam was totally different than
all the exams I have had before. It was a combination of an exam and essay, so you
had 6 statements that you had to write essays about.
The level of education is a bit higher than in Tilburg. I had to do a lot more during the
semester than I have to do in Tilburg, and the final exams were harder but because
you have to do more during the semester you don’t have to study everything at once
for the final.
The teaching style in lectures and tutorials is very similar as in Tilburg but the
assignments during the semester make it more practical. Most of the professors and
teaching assistants (tutorials) were really nice and professional.
I received my final grades when I was already traveling. I past all my courses so I was
happy especially because I was really unlucky with the timetable for my final exams.
The final exam period is 3 weeks and I had all 4 exams in 3 days in a row.
Note for humanities and social science students, you guys are lucky because you don’t
have (or just 1) final exams and therefore have holiday at the beginning of November.
Description of Courses
Please list all courses you have taken at a partner university in the form below:
- Course title and code
- Course level (BA/MA)
- Prerequisites, if any
- Form of exam
- ECTS credits you have obtained in total:
- Comments: Relevance, Difficult/easy, Practical/theoretical, Enrollment problems
Course Name
Prerequisites
Exam
Major at TiU
ECTS
Difficulty
BFC3340 Options, financial futures and other derivatives
Finance 1 & Finance 2
Excel assignments & tests, oral exam, final exam: open questions
Finance
7.5 ECTS
Difficult (a lot of work)
BFC2240 Equities and investment analysis
Finance 1 & Finance 2
Investment report, final exam: open questions
Finance
7.5 ECTS
Medium (a lot of work, this was the first time that students had to write an investment
report, which was more work than the professor expected beforehand)
BFX3355 Property investment
Finance 1 & Finance 2
2 midterms multiple choice questions, excel assignment, final exam: open questions
Finance
7.5 ECTS
Medium (the midterms and assignment are easy but the final exam was pretty hard)
ECC2360 Environmental economics
Micro 1
1 midterm same as final exam but half the length, 1 essay, final exam: 6 statements, it is a
bit like writing essay.
Economics
7.5 ECTS
Easy/Medium (not a lot of work, but you have to write a lot)
Tips for the future students:
- Would you recommend an exchange period?
- Would you recommend your host university?
- What should prospective students absolutely not forget before going on exchange?
- How can they better prepare before going on exchange to this destination?
- Was there anything you should have arranged before departure that you haven’t?
I would recommend an exchange to everybody. It does not matter to which country you
will go, you will love it! You will learn a lot about yourself but also about other
cultures. Monash University is a great university in a stunning city.
Some tips: obviously enjoy your time, meet a lot of new people, travel, and be
adventurous.
A picture is worth a thousand words
Great ocean road
The kangaroo pic
Traveling the east coast
New Zealand
Contact details:
Can the International Relations Office share your e-mail address with prospective exchange
students, so that other students could contact you for more information? YES