ANR: 935402
Name: Ilse van Tiel
E-mail: i.w.vantiel@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester:
Fall / Spring, 2014
Academic year: 2014 - 2015
Host University: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Country: USA
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The university is located in Chattanooga, which is a city in Tennessee. It is about two hours
driving distance to Atlanta and to Nashville, but Chattanooga has their own airport. The
university is located near the city center of Chattanooga. You will be living on campus, which
has all the facilities you need, such as restaurants, mini-supermarkets, a bookstore, a
clothing store, a Starbucks, and a big recreation center. The university and Chattanooga area
are known for all the outdoor sports they offer. During my exchange I participated in tubing,
hiking, caving, rafting, stand up paddle boarding, and canoeing.
Furthermore, in the city center there are specific bars where students come to have a
beer on Thursday evening or in the weekends, but it is good to note that some require that
you are over 21. Also, fraternity and sorority parties will play a major role in clubbing.
In Chattanooga there are several things that you must visit. It is known for the old
train station, Rock City, Ruby Falls and an impressive art district. Living in Chattanooga was
mainly different from Tilburg since I was living on campus.
The university has a lot of education programs to offer, but the business department
in particular is outstanding. The amount of students is about the same as in Tilburg.
Unfortunately, there were not that many exchange students, but since you are living on
campus you will integrate with American students easily and that makes your exchange even
better. The study structure is very different from the Netherlands. You will get credits for you
attendance and participation in class. There are more assignments and tests compared to the
Netherlands, but the level is lower.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
I received pre arrival information via e-mail and if anything wasn’t clear the international office
would help me quickly. To arrange a VISA requires time and patience. You have to fill in a
lot of data and fulfill all the requirements. I paid €135 for my SEVIS VISA and €120 for my
machine readable VISA. You have to go Amsterdam to give your passport and they will sent it
back to you with your VISA in it.
I arrived one day before the orientation started and therefore I stayed in a hostel one
night. There were other exchange students who stayed in the same hostel, which was nice
because we could already hang out. The university will arrange pick up from the airport, bus
station or any place where you will arrive. The orientation program included all information we
needed to know. The director of the international office invited us for a BBQ at his place, and
he took us to Walmart to buy all the stuff we needed. The international office is extremely
helpful especially in the beginning. Also, you will get a buddy from the university, but it
depends on who you get how involved he/she is.
The accommodation is arranged by the university and is a big apartment with all the
facilities you need, such as a dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, big kitchen, living room
and your own bedroom. You will share your apartment with three other students from the
same sex. Furthermore, all the exchange students will live on the same floor in this apartment
complex.
I went with the ISEP program and thus I paid the ISEP fee of €3450,00. This includes
the housing, but also a meal plan at the university. This included 675 dollars (meal plan) I
could spent at the university in the restaurants, but also in the mini-supermarkets. The most
expensive part of my exchange were the trips in the weekends, but I think that is the best way
to spend your money, and to explore different cities. I went to Savannah, Nashville, Ohio,
Orlando, and Miami, and to the Tomorrowworld festival in Atlanta. The easiest way in the
USA to travel is by car. We were lucky and some of the American student lent us their cars
and therefore it was really cheap to travel. In Miami we rented cars and that is also not
expensive as long as you are with more than 2 people. The costs for books is high, but at the
end of the semester there are several ways to sell them and eventually it did not cost that
much.
The academic year starts halfway in December in the USA. I had two orientations
days, than a weekend free and Monday the 18th of August my first day of classes started. The
semester is short because I had my last day the 1st of December and the 8th of December the
winter holiday started. During the Fall semester you will have a day off for labor day, two days
for Fall Break, three days for Thanksgiving, and one day off for studying before the exams
start.
As mentioned the international office is especially helpful in the beginning of the
semester. Since during my semester everything went well I did not had contact on a regular
basis. They do organize events to celebrate birthdays and a trip to visit the Jack Daniels
factory. I am satisfied with the information and the help they provide.
During my exchange I had the chance to promote Tilburg University at a fair for
students who think about going on an exchange. Furthermore, I had contact with one of their
ISEP students and she eventually ends up going to Tilburg.
There are several activities organized by the International Student Organization
(ISO). They organize activities to do a scavenger hunt, going out for dinner, thanksgiving and
many more. The ISO consists of American students who like to hang out with international
students or been on exchange.
The culture shock in America really depends on the state and the city where you live.
Chattanooga is located in ‘the bible belt’ and therefore I did experience a bit of a culture
shock. Some people were extremely religious and on the university there were several
churches located. If you want nothing to do with it people will respect you and your opinion
and therefore it did not bother me at all. It can be inspiring how people be devoted to their
religion. Another difference is doing groceries and the kind of food. People in America only do
groceries once a week and to do groceries you need a car/a ride. The fresh food such as
vegetables and fruit is a bit more expensive than in the Netherlands, but you can find almost
everything in the supermarket. People in America go out for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and
dinner a lot more often than Dutch people. Another difference is that the people in
Chattanooga are a lot more polite and helpful. They will do everything to make your exchange
the best it can be and they are really grateful when you say you choose to study in
Chattanooga. Since everybody speaks English there were no difficulties in communication
with other students, staff members or citizens.
I think this exchange affected me in a way that I am more open minded about all
different cultures worldwide. I am more curious about exploring other cities and countries. It
also affected me that I might want to focus on international management during my education.
This exchange will influence my future career possibilities since companies will acknowledge
my international orientation, but also I am more confident in speaking English. The most
important lesson I learned about myself is that I am capable of starting a new life on my own. I
arranged everything myself, made new friends, traveled alone, traveled with students from all
different nationalities, and eventually obtained the credits I needed to finish my undergraduate
program.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The courses are all offered in English. In the Netherlands Human Resource Management
(HRM) is more social oriented, but in America it is in the business department. Therefore, I
wanted to take business courses. The strange thing about courses at my university was that it
depends on the teacher how the course is taught, but also how many tests, which book you
use etc. Therefore, I can recommend classes, but they can be different when you have
another teacher. The best class I took was international management. This course was
helpful because I was living in an international environment and the course taught about
different cultures and how that affected business/daily life. The final assignment was writing
an expatriate report about how you would experience living abroad, working at an
international companies and which personal capabilities you still have to develop. The
academic level is lower than in Tilburg University, but does require you to do more. The
relationship between the students and staff is informal and all the teachers knew me by name
by the end of the semester. The classes are between 20 and 40 students. The exams I took
were most times multiple choice and sometimes with short essay questions.
Below I listed the courses I took. As can be seen two courses required me to take the
management concepts course. Their students have to take the management class before
taking the other two, but I requested to take them simultaneously and they are flexible with
arranging it. In total I earned 24 ECTS credits. If you see the credits at an American university
you have to double them for ECTS. All these courses are for the undergraduate program.
Example:
Course name:
as
Prereq.
Exam
MGT 3150
Management concepts,
theory and practice
Junior
standing
Papers
HRM
Exams (MC)
Minor
MGT 3310
Organization
motivation and
leadership
MGT3150
Presentation HRM
Exams (MC)
Minor
MGT 4380
MGT3150
Cases
Minor
MKT 3130
Principles of
Marketing
Junior
standing
Exams (open + MC)
Elective
International
management
Major at BI
Approved
Exams (MC)
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
I would definitely recommend an exchange period since this is a once in a lifetime
opportunity. You will have the chance to meet a lot of new people from all over the world,
experience studying at a different university, arranging everything yourself is fulfilling and last
but not least travelling is the best part of your exchange.
If you have any questions
ilsevantiel@hotmail.com
about
studying
in
Chattanooga,
e-mail
me
at: