Experience report
ANR:
Name:
E-mail:
Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
Country:
912607
Bas Mulder
b.mulder_4@tilburguniversity.edu
2014/2015
University of Ottawa
Canada
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
After being selected by Tilburg for the exchange to Ottawa, I received word from them by email a little
while later. First, there was a letter saying ‘‘Congratulations you’ve been accepted, bhablabla’’ and a
form where you had to fill out some information to go with it. A second form arrive a while later, where
I also had to fill out the courses I intended on taking. Make sure you do this ASAP after you receive
the form, because once these courses also open up for registration of regular UOttawa students, they
fill up really quick.
Also, a UOttawa student might reach out to you after you’ve been selected as part of a mentor
program from the student association Telfer International (former: managers without borders).
Personally I didn’t have any use for a mentor, but if you’re unsure about anything, these people may
be able to reassure you or sent you off in the right direction if they can’t help you out.
Uottawa will also reach out to you regarding housing. The easiest and most popular thing to do is live
in the student residences from Uottawa housing service. There are single and double rooms available
(double rooms mean you get a roommate). This is a little more pricy than searching housing on your
own, but the advantages are living with a lot of other exchange students, living on campus, and being
able to arrange housing before arrival. As residence is the epicenter of most social activity, I would
definetly recommend living there rather than off-campus.
The building you’ll be put in is called ‘Marchand’, which is quite an old building. All the even floors
have a common room, and the uneven once have a kitchen which you share among the two floors.
Floor 1 (the ground floor) is apartment style.
The easiest thing to do is arrive on the day you can enter Marchand. As an exchange student you’ll
be granted early acces. A cab ride from the airport costs about 35 dollar and a bus ride 3,50 dollar.
There will be Uottawa ppl at the airport you can ask questions if you like.
A very small introduction weekend is organized where you make a bus trip to a lake for an afternoon
and get a tour of the campus, visit parliament, and so on. The student association mentioned earlier,
telfer international, organizes a night out.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Ottawa is quite a bit larger than Tilburg, but because the city is very outstretched, it won’t dawn on
you as a huge city. As it is the capital city, it houses the parliament and a lot of other government
organisations. The city can be postcard beautifull but not very vibrant at times. It may be rich in
student numbers, and there is definitely a lot more to do than in Tilburg, but it doesn’t feel as vibrant
as Toronto or Montreal (most bars and clubs close at 3 for example).
The city is rich in culture and architecture though, and located between Montreal (2 hours 16 dollar,
and Toronto 5 hours 35 dollar) so ideal for a couple of short weekend trips to these city’s.
The university is located close (5/10 minute walk) to the downtown area where you can go out, do
groceries, shop, etc. There is gym’s and swimming pools on campus that you can use free of charge.
Do yourself a favour and don’t go eat at Fathers&Sons or at the university kitchen. Works burgers
makes amazing burgers, Tequila Tuesdays at Junxion are good fun, and the Highlander pub is good
for casual drinking.
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.
Most courses offered by Telfer (the business school of Uottawa) are relatively easy compared to
Tilburg, but they do require considerable effort throughout the semester, as there are lots of midterms
and team assignments to be completed. I’d recommend taking mostly 3rd and 4th year courses as
these are most interesting and still manageable. A lot of exchange students try not to schedule any
lectures on Fridays, so they have long weekends available for making little trips.
Personally, I took the following courses:
ADM3326A – Advertsing and Sales Promotion
A more hands-on marketing course where you get busy writing an marketing plan. It’s focus is on a
variety of frameworks for managerial decision making with regards to marketing expressions.
ADM4326 – Digital marketing technologies
Is a voluntary course for Telfer students and thus you’ll be in a small class. The course is not
especially well structured but the topics that are dealt with are quite interesting.
ADM3313B – Entrepreneurial mind
Is an introduction into entrepreneurship. A lot of exchange students take this course. For the most
part of this course, you’ll be working on a business plan in your group. The lecturer is quite passionate
and will often invite a guest speaker.
ADM2337A – Human Resource Management
Is an introduction into human rescource management course, obligatory to all Telfer students and
thus the classrooms are large. Its an introductory course depending heavily on miderms and the final
and is thus quite dull.
ADM3322B – Service Marketing
Is quite a basic marketing course focusing on services (arguing that most other marketing courses still
devote too much attention to product marketing). The course content and structure is quite uninspiring
though, with 1 midterm, 1 final, 1 presentation and a lot of focus on basic marketing concepts (7p’s
etc.)
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?
TOPIC: Living costs
Living costs are somewhat higher in Ottawa as they are in Tilburg. Rent will be higher and if you’re in
resicende rent will be due at the beginning of the semester. You’ll likely go out more in Ottawa as you
do in Tilburg and the drinks will be more expensive so that’s some added expense. Also, I’d advise
you to put some money away for travalling, because you’ll not likely visit Canada again soon after
your exchange.
As always with these kinds of things, the total amount spend depend completely on the kind of person
you are and the things that you do. The rent of a single room in Marchand, 1 semester: CAD 3200,
University gym: Free, Return ticket Ottawa-Amsterdam: approx.. €770, groceries: 20% more
expensive. Textbooks are very expensive and hard to get rid of before you head back home, so you
may consider sharing some.
TOPIC: Culture
There isn’t really much to say about cultural differences between Canada and the Netherlands. I
personally think they can best be described as sophisticated versions of Americans. If you’re big on
cursing you might want to wheel it in a bit. ‘Fuck’ and ‘shit’ might not mean much of anything here, but
some Canadians may be put off by it. Also, when in Montreal or Quebec city, don’t take for granted
that people speak English, because French is the official language in those area’s. Language and
especially the dominance of the English language may be a sensitive issue there.
TOPIC: Personal development
Going on exchange will for many feal like a fresh start. Not neccesarily in a life-changing kind of way,
but undeniably it’ll break you out of some old patterns and thing you’ve always considered normal. A
big part of that will be due to the fresh faces you meet when you’re there. The best advice I can give
is to go along with the flow, make some new friends and don’t be scared of doing something different.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
I would definetly recommend an exchange period in Ottawa to anyone who’s interested in Canada. It
is a beautiful city that’s nicely located between other major city’s in Canada. When choosing an
exchange destination it is important to remember that the academic part of the exchange is secondary
to your feelings towards a city. Make a choice for the city you feel mmost comfortable with, whichever
that may be.
Going to Ottawa, Telfer will instruct you to bring a suit. You could, but personally I was fine going
business casual to all the presentations I gave. Don’t forget to bring a power outlet converter if you
have one, because they are quite expensive. If you’re flying KLM, an overweight suitcase is just as
expensive as an extra one (€75 either way) so you may want to bring 2 check in case’s with you.
TOPIC: A picture is worth a thousand words
Canadian Parliament:
At a hockey game (Go Sens Go!)
The canal merging with the river (Parliament on the left)
Ottawa’s version of a skyline
Halloween