Experience report
ANR: 477242
Name: Daniëlle van Dalen
E-mail: d.vandalen@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Fall 2014 (September-December)
Academic year: 2014-2015
Host University: DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University
Country: 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 not much organized for my arrival. Information about when we were expected at McMaster
University was sent quite late (May/June), so I could only book my ticket by then. No one from
McMaster University picked me up at the airport, but luckily two housemates were so kind to pick me
up and to go to our house together. At the airport there was an information stand for international
students, which gave you the opportunity to make a phone call home and they provided some
information and a Canadian sim-card. In case you didn’t know how to get to the bus stops or train
station, they could help you as well. The first day I visited the exchange coordinator (Sriyani) together
with the other Dutch students and some ‘stroopwafels’. It was nice to meet her in person and she
provided us with some information.
At McMaster University you have to possibility to live on-campus or off-campus. Former exchange
students recommended me to live off-campus, as living on-campus requires you to buy a (very
expensive) mealplan and rules for bringing people, alcohol and partying are quite strict. I became a
member of the ‘McMaster Student Housing Postboard’ already in summer and saw a message of a
girl who asked to look for a house with some people. Together with four other exchange students we
looked for a house at the off-campus housing website and found a nice house at a perfect location
(Westdale)! Luckily all the housemates turned out to be very nice and we became a real family, but
ofcourse you have to be lucky in finding the right people if you search beforehand. If you cannot find a
place to stay beforehand, as was the case for most students, it is very easy to look for a room if you
arrive. Most other exchange students stayed in a hostel for the first few days and found an
accommodation already during the first two days. I would really recommend to become a member of
these kind of Facebook groups already in summer, as it may help you in finding a nice house. Another
useful Facebook group is the ‘M.I.X. McMaster International & Exchange Club’, as they for example
post events that are organized for exchange students that arrive early in summer. Also during my first
few days spontaneous acitvities were planned via this Facebook group, which made sure I had a lot
of friends during these first days already.
We could not participate in the formal introduction activities of university (the Frosh week), but luckily
M.I.X. organized plenty of activities during the first few weeks. These were perfect to get to know
other exchange students and Hamilton. There was a special weekend organized for MBA students,
the ‘MBA bound weekend’, in order to get to know other MBA students. I really recommend to attend
this weekend in case you will become an MBA student at Mac, as it is very nice to get to know the
students you are in the same building with the whole day and it can be useful in finding people to work
on group assignments. Thereby, the weekend was at a very nice location and contained many
exciting activities.
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?
McMaster University is located in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton feels like a small city, although it has
500.00 inhabitants and it is one of the largest cities of Canada. Hamilton is not a beautiful city, but I
loved living there as it feels very cosy. All students live close to each other around university (either in
Westdale or to the south of university) which makes it easy to visit each other. Hamilton downtown is
not that exciting and maybe a bit creepy at night but there are definitely some nice bars and clubs. My
personal favourite was Club Absinthe, which has ‘Motown’ each Wednesday night. Many
Wednesday’s we had pre-drinks all together, went to Motown to dance on the typical ‘Motown’ music
and went for an afterparty at someone’s place afterwards (as in Canada all bars already close at 2
AM, to which we are not used ofcourse). We went to Club 77 a few times as well, which is a real club
with good music but unfortunately very expensive. Hess Street is a street downtown where many bars
are located, always nice to go out there in the weekend! Westdale has a nice student bar to have
dinner or drink some beers with your friends, it is called ‘Snooty Fox’. Hamilton is similar to Tilburg in
the sense that it feels like a small city and students live close to each other. The difference is that
students take the bus (or skateboard) everywhere instead of cycling.
Hamilton is located perfectly between Toronto and Niagara Falls, which are both very nice to visit. As
it is close to the American border, it is easy to visit for instance Chicago or to go shopping in the USA
(much cheaper!). Also other Canadian cities, such as Montréal and Ottawa, are easy to visit if you live
in Hamilton.
I have to mention that since I did an MBA at McMaster University, my classes were in Burlington. At
first I did not like this but in the end I didn’t mind. There is a free shuttle bus from the Hamilton
campus to the Burlington campus that only takes 20 minutes. There were about 15 other exchange
students that did an MBA who became a close group of friends, so taking the shuttle bus and meeting
your friends here was not that bad at all. Furthermore, the building in Burlington looks very nice and
has good study rooms. Since all MBA students have classes in the same building, you know all the
students by face after a while.
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 started with five courses but dropped one of them (Accounting) as this course was way too easy.
Then I took Personal Financial Management, Options & Futures, Mergers & Acquisitions and
Strategic Business Analysis & Valuation. As I already finished all courses of my master’s program in
Tilburg (Quantitative Finance & Actuarial Science) the courses were not of added value to my study
program in the Netherlands. I chose two corporate finance courses to gain knowledge in this field as
well and two courses more related to my Econometrics program in order to gain extra knowledge
about the subjects. All four courses were on top of my program in the Netherlands. I would have
preferred to take some courses from the mathematics department as well, but unfortunately this was
not possible.
The two corporate finance courses were completely new to me, but they were interesting and not
difficult. They are not strict in correcting exams at all, so even for those courses I ended up with A’s.
Your grade mostly consists of a combination of assignments, presentations, class participation and a
midterm exam and/or final exam. Most final exams count only for 25% and some courses did not even
have a final exam, so the work load during exam time was not high at all compared to Tilburg
University. However, there are more assignments and presentations compared to Tilburg University.
The two other courses I took were way too easy but also useful because a lot of the subject matter
was explained in a very easy way which made me understand it better. In these classes your grade
was dependent on the performance of other students in class and because most of the students did
not even have a background in business I ended up with an A and A+ in these courses. So compared
to Tilburg University I think courses are much easier, teachers give higher grades and courses are
much more practical due to case assignments, which makes it interesting and easy to understand.
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?
M.I.X. is the main organization that organizes activities for exchange students and international
students. Examples of activities are: welcome dinner, visit football game, Niagra Falls trip, pumpkin
carving, Halloween haunt, Halloween party, karaoke night, visit ice hockey game, ugly Christmas
sweater party, goodbye party, visit Toronto Christmas market, etc. DeGroote International organizes
activities especially for exchange students of the business school, such as a Winter Wonderland
dinner/gala. The McMaster Outdoor Club organizes really nice trips as well! For instance, I went on a
three day canoe trip to Algonquin Park, which was one of the most beautiful things I saw in Canada!
They also organize dogsledding, skiing and many hiking trips.
I lived with three local students, and I had contact with some other local students that participated in
M.I.X. events and with local MBA students from class. Ofcourse I had contact with many exchange
students (there were about 150 exchange students) because of the M.I.X. events. The exchange
students became a very close group and almost everyone knew each other.
I travelled a lot during my exchange with friends I met there. For example, I went to Chicago,
Montréal, Algonquin Park, Bruce Peninsula, Toronto, New York, etc. In Canada it is very cheap to rent
a car, which we did most of the times. An international driver’s license is only needed if you stay
longer than 6 months in Canada. Also going by bus is very cheap if you find good tickets, Megabus
and Greyhound drive in the USA and Canada and have very cheap tickets. The first tickets in the
buses are only 1 dollar!
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.
I did not receive a grant from Tilburg University and I also did not get a student grant anymore. I
financed my exchange from my savings, money I earned from working the year before and to be sure
to have enough money I took a student loan. My living expenses were higher than in Tilburg. Student
housing is cheaper in Canada, but alcohol and groceries are way more expensive. Fortunately,
clothes and travelling is cheaper in Canada. I spent most money on food and travelling. I really advice
future students to spend money on travelling and not to miss things because of the money, it is a
once in a lifetime opportunity and you don’t want to miss anything because you want to save money!
Monthly expenses:
Housing: $455 (which was one of the mre expensive rooms because of the size and location)
Food: $350
Social activities: $250
Textbooks: $100 in total (some textbooks could be found online, I bought one together with a friend,
sometimes you didn’t need it and most textboos can be sold afterwards)
Travelling: $4000 total
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?
I did not experience a culture shock in Canada. I immediately saw that people in Canada are very
kind and always willing to help you. For example, when we just arrived in Hamilton a nice girl called a
taxi for us. I made a trip to Montréal (Quebec) and the culture over there is more similar to the
European culture because of the French influence. But also in Ontario, the difference with the Dutch
culture is not that large. When I travelled to the USA, I immediately saw the difference with the
Canadian culture. American people are more rude and focussed on themselves compared to the
Canadian people. Thereby, in my opinion Canadian people are more laid back. I learned that Dutch
people are very straightforward and direct, which is something my housemates had to get used to in
the beginning. To be honest, I do not feel I learned a lot about Canada, especially looking at politics
and history. I would have preferred to learn more about this. I participated in some activities organized
by the international office to learn about Hamilton, but not about Canada in general.
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?
I spent most of my time with my housemates and other exchange students. Especially my
housemates learned me to be more relaxed and that it is good to do things spontaneously, instead of
planning everything. This is one of the reasons I went on exchange, and now I am back I really see
the advantage of what I learned on exchange. I am not stressed anymore if something goes
differently than planned before, as I have seen that you can experience the most awesome things by
just making plans spontaneously! Although most of my friends in Canada were from Europe (France,
Norway, Denmark and Austra) and our cultures were quite similar, I learned a lot from them and they
made me feel at home immediately.
If I had the chance, I think I would have stayed longer! I came back home on January 6, while most of
my exchange friends stayed until the end of January or even until the end of April, so I would have
loved to spend more time with them. Thereby, I have the feeling I did not see enough of Canada. I
would like to see some more nature in Canada and unfortunately I did not have the time to visit
Ottawa and Quebec city. There are so many good experiences, that I cannot really call one ‘the best’.
One of the good experiences was living in a house with such great housemates, who were like a
family to me. The worst experience was going home, saying goodbye to my friends and bringing way
too much luggage. Do not underestimate being home again, for me it was the worst part of my
experience as the Netherlanders did not really feel ‘home’ anymore.
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 definitely recommend an exchange period! A few years ago I said to my friends that I would
never go on exchange, because I did not want to miss my family and friends and I didn’t like not
knowing what the half year will bring you. In the end, it is the best decision I have ever made, it was
such a valuable experience.
My host university was perfect for me and I would recommend it to other students. The location is
perfect, all students are very close, there are many exchange students and a nice club called ‘M.I.X.’
that organizes many activities, Canada’s nature is beautiful, the American border is nereby and you
have the North American student life as you see often in movies (houseparties with red cups, football
games, etc). The best preparation is to talk to other exchange students from Tilburg University that
went to this destination, as they know all ins and outs. There was nothing I should have done in
preparation that I didn’t.
I would like to end with a quote that is very typical for going on exchange:
‘You will never be completely at home again, because part of your
heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the
richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.’
TOPIC: A picture is worth a thousand words
If you took any pictures or made any videos that you would like to share with future exchange
students, please include them (or e-mail them separately). Pictures that show your daily life or
symbolize your exchange period
are especially interesting for
future exchange students.
Canoeing in Algonquin Park:
beautiful nature!
Halloween
Niagara Falls