Experience report
ANR:
Name:
E-mail:
Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
Country:
229818
Vincent Janssen
v.a.janssen@tilburguniversity.edu
7
4
HEC Montréal
Canada
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
How was your arrival organized? Did someone pick you up from the airport/station? Was an
orientation or introduction activity organized? How was accommodation organized? Does the
university provide you with accommodation? What kind of accommodation does the university
provide? Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for a place
to live after you arrived?
There was the possibility to purchase a 'welcoming week package'. You could decide for yourself to
buy the package or not and if you did there was a pickup included. I purchased the package so when I
got out of the plane our exchange team was there to pick me (and others) up and bring us to our
places in the city by car. There was a welcoming week with activities every day for a week long.
Activities were fun most of the time, but more importantly they were very useful for meeting the other
exchange students. After a week most people already met quite a lot of other people.
There is no campus so students have to find their own places outside of the university. The university
is in the city so everyone lives in the city as well. Through a site calles 'get your place' students can
rent rooms for the 4 months that they are staying. However, these rooms are quite expensive for what
they're worth, and as soon as subsriptions start for the website they are filled up insanely fast. You
can choose to live close to the university or more near the city centre. I would advise people to live in
the Plateau area or Downtown. In these areas there's a lot to do and parties and activities are always
here. Living near the university also has its advantage but there is just not much to do in that area. I
lived in the Plateau area and it took me 30 minutes to get to the university with public transport, which
is really convenient.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Please describe the city you lived in. Where is the university located in the city? 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?
Like I just described, the university is 30 minutes with public transport from the more interesting areas.
Montreal is a great city, there is always so much to do and it is impossible to get bored. If you want to
go out for anything (drinks, food, clubs, whatever) you will always go to the Downtown- or Plateau
area. There are also lots of festivals and markets. In the four months that I've been in Montreal I have
the feeling that still I only saw a fraction. It is a lot larger than Tilburg. Tilburg is also a student city but
it is small compared to Montreal. In Montreal there are multiple large universities and multiple
relatively smaller ones. Therefore there are a lot of students and also a lot of exchange students,
which most of the time creates a good atmosphere.
TOPIC: Academics
Which courses did you take and why? Which courses would you recommend? What did the courses
add to your program at Tilburg University? How does the university compare to Tilburg University
concerning the level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English, workload, etc.? Overall,
were you happy with your academic achievements during your exchange? Please describe the
campus of your host university.
I took:
Human Resource Management.
This course was, in my opinion, not really interesting. Most of the lectures were straightforward and
the teacher was not interesting. The pace of teaching was also increadibly low, which always causes
me to lose my focus. If you just want a easy course to pass, HRM would be a good choice. If you
want an interesting, challenging course, don't take HRM.
Information Technologies in Organizations
This course teaches to to work with IT. It is a useful course and also improves your skills with Excel
and Windows Access. It can always come in handy to have some extra knowledge regarding IT. The
teacher was also good and really kind. I would recommend this course to others if they want to learn a
bit more about IT. It was also not really difficult.
Logistics
This course was a bit more challenging. The workload was quite high and it is a bit more difficult to
pass than HRM and ITO. The teacher was OK, but the course itself could be a bit uninteresting at
some points. However, it does teach you a lot about logistics so if that is what you're interested in
than this course would be a good choice.
International Managament
This course was a lot more interesting. The teacher was great, one of the best I ever had. During this
course you will work a lot with case studies. These cases are usually about 12-20 pages for every
week. This is pretty interesting though, because the studies are all based on actual issues. This gives
the course a more practical touch and that is really useful.
French
Since I didn't need 30 ECTS I could take a French course as well, in order to improve my French
(which was really bad). Montreal is mostly French but people, in most cases, also speak English.
Even though you can make it easily with English, I wanted to be able to have a basic conversation in
French. This didn't really work though... If your French is as bad as mine but you still want to
communicate with the people in their first language I would advise you to learn some French
BEFORE you go, and not during your stay.
TOPIC: Social life
Which social activities organized by the university or students? Did you have contact with local
students? Did you have contact with other exchange students? How did you get along with the local
students and other exchange students? Did you travel to other places/countries during your
exchange?
There were 300 exchange students during my stay at my university alone. I haven't met half of them
and I didn't have much contact with local students. The group of exchange students is really good and
fun. During the welcoming week you can meet many students and during the semester itself you also
meet a lot of people. The exchange committee organize and promote parties throughout the
semester. There are also many groups going on trips every weekend. Personally I went to Toronto,
Niagara Falls, Quebec City, Boston, New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Miami, Fort
Lauderdale and Orlando. However, there were also students who went to Chicago and Detroit, and
many also went to Cuba during the fall break.
TOPIC: 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: housing, food, textbooks, etc.
For this part I will only use euros to explain. On average, Montreal is more expensive than Tilburg.
400-450€ a month is a normal price. For groceries I paid something like 50-60€, which is excluding
going out for dinner and/or drinks. Alcohol is really expensive, the cheapest drinkable wine is around
the 8/9 euro's and for a 6pack of beers you also pay 5 euros. In a bar or club expect to pay 5 euros for
a normal beer. Another large expense is travelling. I mostly travelled by bus but you can also rent a
car with multiple people or go on organized tours. All in all, I paid a total of 2100€ on rent, about 15001750€ on food/drinks (including going out), 30€ on textbooks (only bought the French book, passed
all courses so it was a good choice not to buy the rest), and €4.000+ on travelling, which was my
favorite activity!
TOPIC: Culture
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? 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? How
would you describe your host countries culture? If you travelled to other cities/countries during your
exchange, were they different than your host city/country, and how?
Even though the Canadian/Northern American culture is comparable to the European culture it is still
really different. The French is the biggest difference, but since most people can also communicate in
English it is not a problem. If you live for a longer period of time abroad you notice that also the small
things can be really different, like products in the supermarkets, the attitudes of people, and also the
tax and tips. Taxes aren't included in prices, so you always pay more at the end than you thought. In
bars, clubs, restaurants, and everything comparable you also pay tips, usually about 15%. So even
though things may look cheap, they are always more expensive in the end! In my opinion the average
Northern American person is kinder than the average European person. Usually they are very kind
and polite and help you if that is needed, so that is a real plus. After living there for a while you get
used to all of the changes (except the tax perhaps), it is a type of culture which you will miss when
you get back!
TOPIC: Personal development
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 remember for ever about your exchange period? What was
the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your exchange period?
Spending a semester abroad really gives you the opportunity to get to know a different culture. This
teaches you to appreciate your own culture more and understand it in a different way. At first I
wasn't sure whether I wanted to go on exchange, but I went and I am sure that it is one of the best
choices I made in my life so far. I don't think I would have done things differently, you just go, meet a
huge amount of people and have a great time abroad. I cannot point out a best and worst
experience. The entire period is one amazing experience. For me travelling was one of the major
reasons for going on an exchange. Visiting most of the greatest cities on the east coast of Northern
America is something I will never forget. It is also a big step to suddenly live on your own outside of
the Netherlands. You will notice it can be really different, but this is also something that will make
you grow as a person.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
Would you recommend an exchange period? Would you recommend your host university? What
should prospective students bring with them/leave behind? What preparation is required for going on
exchange to this destination? Was there anything you should have done in preparation that you didn’t
do?
I would absolutely recomment to go on exchange to Montreal and to HEC Montreal. The university is
not that amazing but there is a large amount of exchange people from all over the world so you will
meet a huge number of other exchange students which is great! You don't need a lot of preperation
for the exchange, most of the process is taken care of by the universities and the things that you need
to prepare for yourself will be mailed to you. Basically you get a checklist, which is very useful. The
choice to organize housing before or upon arrival is a personal one. I personally wanted to have my
housing done in advance so I searched already in June on facebook groups and websites like kijiji
and craigslist. Other students arrived without housing, so they stayed in hostels while visiting places
when they were there. This is an advantage because you can actually visit a place before signing a
contract, but it is also more uncertain.