GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE EXPERIENCE REPORT
ANR: 475396
Name: Thijs Verhoeven
E-mail: t.g.m.verhoeven@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Fall, 2015
Academic year: 2015-2016
Host University: University of Kentucky at Lexington VIA ISEP
Country: United States of America
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The University of Kentucky at Lexington is located in the city of Lexington, Kentucky. It is one
of the biggest cities in Kentucky with a population of over 300,000. The area is quite rural and
renowned for its horse farms and horse races (world-leading!). The city can be identified as a
university city; the university is large (over 30,000 students enrolled) and it is the center of the
city. Many people somehow have a connection to the university. The campus is enormous
and houses 17 faculties, several libraries, dorm rooms, sporting facilities and more
(http://maps.uky.edu/printablemaps/CampusMap_Basemap_Color_11x17.pdf). There is also
a great number of restaurants on campus and just next to campus within walking distance
(Chipotle, Panda Express, Chick-Fil-A, Pizza/Italian restaurants, and the list goes on,
obviously including places like McDonalds, Subway). There is also a couple of Starbucks and
other coffee shops on campus. In America everything is done by car, so except for the
somewhat more expensive Kroger grocery store, the closest Wal-Mart is a 20 minute drive
next to the big Mall. Definitely visit the horse races when you’re there. They’re world class
(and as such there a studies in Equine Sciences within the College of Agriculture).
Current Colleges:
College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
College of Arts and Sciences
Gatton College of Business and Economics
College of Communication & Information Studies
College of Dentistry
College of Pharmacy
College of Design
College of Education
College of Engineering
College of Fine Arts
College of Health Sciences
College of Law
College of Medicine
College of Nursing
College of Pharmacy
College of Public Health
College of Social Work
The Graduate School
Martin School of Public Policy and Administration
Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce
In the U.S. generally students do a four year undergraduate program (Bachelor level) and
they do not often immediately start a Master’s, if at all. First years are called Freshmen,
Second years Sophomore, Third years Juniors, and Fourth years Seniors. Since I’m a Third
year Bachelor student in the Netherlands, that is my final year, and therefore I sought courses
at the level of Junior/Senior.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
Since I am an exchange student via ISEP I first applied for an exchange with ISEP to Tilburg
University. When excepted I had to start applying to ISEP as soon as possible. I got my
placement in April, and then I also got my first mails from the host university, since I had to
start applying there again. Half May I got accepted and I got a package with information sent
home as well as login credentials for the site to start filling out more details over there.
Visa procedure and arrival and orientation
When I got my visa information I waited a couple of weeks to start applying for my visa due to
the exam period at TiU. However I struggled intensely with getting my visa papers on time. I
could only schedule my appointment a couple of weeks in advance of my departure. I wasn’t
sure of getting my visa on time. START WITH THIS ON TIME. No matter how many people
will say this to you, just do it! My visa cost me 350 dollar.
I arrived on the 15th of August, which was obligatory for me to move in my dorm etc.
Pickup from the airport was well arranged, as well as the first days, which were filled with
information of all sorts and a lot of activites, including a trip to Wal-Mart on my first day which
came in handy to grab some stuff much needed like sheets and bins etc. You can’t take
everything with you, right. Sometimes exchange students were put together with international
Freshmen, which made the information meetings kind of long and uninteresting at some point.
However, there was thus plenty of opportunity to get all necessary information.
A week before classes started, K-Week started, which is a week full of activites to get
to know new students (mainly freshmen again though). Also we got a lot of free stuff,
including the much wanted Kentucky shirts!
Housing
Since I came with ISEP, the university arranged my accommodation. I was put in a dorm
room much like the movies. I had a roommate with whom I shared a room and we shared a
bathroom with another pair of students. I was put in the international residence hall, which
meant that I could easily meet up with some internatioinals I just met. I didn’t spent much time
on my room so the fact that the room was quite basic didn’t matter to me. I might have
preferred a private room, but this was an experience as well, although I didn’t have too much
contact with my roommate despite living with him for a semester.
Living Costs
I paid a fixed amount to ISEP: 3500 euros. For this I got my accommodation (normally would
cost you approx. 3000$), a meal plan (normally would cost you approx. 2000$), and course
fees (approx. 500$) paid. As such this was an excellent deal for me. The program is set up,
such that I pay the amount an exchange student coming to tilburg would have to pay for, and
a student leaving Kentucky would pay what I would actually have to pay to stay there.
The meal plan made me eligible to go and eat at a couple of dining areas all day long.
Additionally every part of the day I could use a meal swipe at some franchices like Subway,
Chick-Fil-A and Panda Express, the so-called Wildcat Deals. Then additionally I had a 300$
“Flex” amount, which I could freely spend at all other on (and some off-)campus restaurants
(or starbucks!).
I think beyond this amount you would have to account for your flight ticket
(1500euros) and approx. 200-300$ a month which you will spent on fun stuff…. You’re in the
U.S., you’re not gonna sit on a chair all day. I did a couple of organized trips, and I spent a
weekend in Nashville, to give an indication.
On the other hand I got the StudyFinance set up for living outside of my parents’
house, which I hadn’t had before, so this gave me an extra 200 a month. Also I changed my
Public Transport (OV) card to an exchange status so I got an extra 100 from that. Additionally
I got a 750 study abroad allowance, like any other student going outside of Europe.
Academic Calendar
 Arrival date & introductory week: August 15
 First day of the semester? August 25
 Last day of classes? December 10
 Mid-term break? N.A. (Thanksgiving Break though, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off)
 Examination period? December 14-18
 Any special events? N.A.
The International Office
ISEP  Laurence Tucorri
There is an international office for all exchange students and they organize a lot of activities.
However, since I came with ISEP I had Laurence Tucorri assigned as contact person. They
all gave me loads of information (that’s positive).
Exchange promotion
Being the only Dutch guy AT ALL, every time when internationals were invited somewhere I
had to represent the Netherlands, specifically Tilburg ofcourse.
Social Activities
Loads of acitivities during K-Week and continuous strive for being active and involved. There
are numerous clubs/groups/organizations in all directions. I joined the Finance Society to get
better insights in the workfield. Additionally I attended international events with friends.
I was invited over to Nashville to come celebrate Thanksgiving with a friend’s family
and a couple of other internationals. Certainly celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. or you’ll
miss out! Also I went to New York City at the end of my exchange. This was really sad at first,
having to miss my new friends and friends/family back home, but at the same time super
exciting… It’s still NYC! I had a great time there meeting up with friends from Kentucky and
Fullbrighters.
Culture and Language
I felt some culture shock and loneliness in the beginning. Though you are put together with
other internationals and you’ll have to put some effort in creating relationships, sometimes the
people you meet at first might not be the people you’ll hang out with all semester. Don’t be
afraid for this… You’ll meet people and you’ll meet others more soon than you can imagine.
Just step outside your room and talk to people!
The U.S. is big! Only campus was walking distance…. Also, people are very friendly
at first sight, but it’s hard to come close easily.
Personal Development
More responsibility; I have never lived on my own or in a room in tilburg, and now I have, so in
some way I must have become more responsible, having to do everything myself, and sorting
out things myself. I’ve also found out that I think I can survive in any place, and that location is
not that much a problem to me since I can well adapt. This is also beneficial to my future
career. Without question my English has bettered and it was interesting to be in the American
academic climate, which is more competitive. These things all contributed to preparing for my
future life.
From the people I met on exchange I have learned that nobody is perfect, and
otherwise you do not know them well enough. Though this sounds really negative, for me it is
a confirmation that one is allowed to make mistakes, and you learn from these mistakes. Also
I have learned what friendship entails in a completely different light.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
Obviously all courses were taught in English. I took FIN300 (corporate finance) to get an
introductory course in Finance. MGT309 (International Business) was interesting because of
its broad discussions of management savvy in international business. I took ECO 401
(Intermediate Microeconomics) to get Microeconomics more in-depth than I had at TiU. MKT
435 (International Marketing) was interesting because of its discussions of the international
playing field of companies in respect to their marketing decisions.
Gererally each course was worth 3 semester hours, which literally means you’ll have
that class 3 hours a week in lecture form. In ECO 401 we were obliged to prepare homework,
and for other classes there were also regular homework assessments online, often
contributing to the course grade. However, these homework assignments were rather easy
(and often you could just check your answers online). Therefore you can easily get a 100% on
this. Also there was the participation grade which simply meant you had to be present, also a
straight 100% thus. These two often both contributed 10% so for every course I had easily got
a 20% straight A. In most courses grades were assigned based on the total percentage of the
course grade, A meaning you had 90-100% score, B 80-90, C 70-80, D60-70, E insufficient.
Americans are strivers, and don’t have the Dutch Sixes culture at all. Therefore most people
strive to get an A or a B. I think this is very well possible, since I received an A in all my
courses.
Teachers are very approachable. In the introduction week we had a big lunch and I
landed up sitting next to one of my professors. I found out only after a nice chat that I was
enrolled in one of her courses. All of my teachers were good professors and helped me out
with anything. I was very glad to spend my semester like this.
Exams
There were more examinations than I would receive back home. Most courses had at least 2
exams and a group project, often accompanied by homework throughout the semester.
However, for me this worked brilliantly since I’m always postponing assignments and now
they were broken up in doable parts every couple of weeks.
Other
Wonderful library (Willy T); one of the biggest in America. Nevertheless crowed like our TiU
library around exam periods etc. Not many computers so it is adviced to bring a laptop. The
library was very close to my dorm room so I spent a lot of time there with friends, studying
sometimes, just watching movies other times.
Description of Courses
All courses I took were on BA level (undergraduate)
Course name: Prereq.
Exam
,
Major at TiU
Approved as
Business and
Management
(Liberal Arts)
Minor
FIN 300
ECO 201,
ECO 202,
ACC 201,
ACC 202,
MA 123,
STA 291
or equivalent.
3 exams
homework
assignments,
attendance,
research
participation
MGT 309
MGT 301
2 exams,
Individual Readiness
Assessments,
Group project
““
““
ECO 401
ECO 201
ECO 202
3 exams,
Math review test
““
““
3 exams,
““
““
Group project,
Wall Street Journal
Presentations,
Homework
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Please fill in all the courses you have taken
MKT 435
MKT 300
Tips for the future students:
 Would you recommend an exchange period? Certainly yes! Although it is not that vibrant
like NYC and Kentucky is seen as the middle of nowhere
 Would you recommend your host university? Certainly!
 What should prospective students absolutely not forget before going on exchange? Visa
arrangements well on time. Start looking in courses as soon as possible and mail your
advisor there to find out if your eligible.
 How can they better prepare before going on exchange to this destination? No specifics
 Was there anything you should have arranged before departure that you haven’t? Nah
A picture is worth a thousand words
Don’t have many on a site
Blog (in Dutch): http://thijstothestates.waarbenjij.nu/
Contact details:
With permission, any questions: t.g.m.verhoeven@tilburguniversity.edu