Experience report
ANR: 640941
Name: Joep Verbeek
E-mail: joep_verbeek@hotmail.com
Exchange semester: fall 2014
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: University of South Carolina
Country: USA
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?
I arrived one day before move-in day so I booked a hotel in the city close to campus. There
was an airport pickup service but I arrived at the bus station in the city so I did not use it.
There were a few introduction days where everything about living and studying at USC was
explained. All the exchange students have to live on-campus.
My accommodation was on-campus in the Maxcy building, which is an internationally oriented
building with about half of the residents being exchange students. I think about half of the
exchange students lived in Maxcy and the other half in apartment style houses on campus.
Maxcy is like a traditional dormitory where you share a bedroom. Downside is you share a
bedroom, the good thing is that it is a more social environment than the apartments and
atleast $1000 cheaper. I paid $2800 for four months.
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?
Columbia is the capital of the state South Carolina. If the city did not have a university it would
have been a very boring city. The campus is huge and pretty much every nice building in the
city belongs to the university.
College students generally go out in Five Points which is an area within walking distance from
the campus where all college bars are located. Drinking age is 21+ and they check IDs at every
bar.
The big thing in the city is the universities American football stadium that houses 88.000 fans
Every USC student is called a Gamecock which is the name and logo of all sports teams
including the football team. The biggest difference with Tilburg would be that everyone in
Columbia either walks when one lives in a dorm (on-campus) or drives when one lives offcampus (generally second/third/fourth year students). Every American student owns a car.
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.
Classes looked a lot like VWO with 20-30 students in a classroom. Most of my courses had
mandatory attendance and homework was checked by the professor. Courses are more
practical and much less theoretical than courses in Tilburg. Most of my professors were semiretired business people which made the courses a lot more interesting compared to the more
academic teachers in Tilburg. It is a lot easier to get high grades. Most professors grade with a
curve which means your grade is relative to how others did. However the workload is higher
and throughout the semester you have to do a lot of small tests and projects. I didn’t have any
difficulties with the level of English.
Don’t expect too much from the American students especially in group projects.
I took the following courses:
1) Principles of management: Easy basic course on management
2) Real estate and urban development: Interesting finance course about how cities
develop, real estate and real estate investment decisions.
3) Risk Management and Insurance: Pretty interesting course about insurance and risk
management. Most of the American students struggled in this course but if you’re
alright in statistics it is very do-able.
4) Entrepeneurship and small business: Very interesting course on entrepeneurship.
There were two professors for about 20 students. They shared a lot of their
experiences in setting up businesses which made it very interesting. Big part of the
course is a business proposition competition where the first place group gets $500
from the professors. I finished third with my group and got $125 and also $50 for best
presentation.
5) Derivative securities: Pretty advanced finance course and my hardest course.
If your grades in Tilburg are alright you’re going to get high grades at USC, for instance I got 4
As and one B+
Like I mentioned before the campus is huge. The center of the campus is where the housing is
and it is very beautiful. The new business building was opened for the first time this year and it
is only a 10 minute walk from the on-campus housing. You’re going to want to get a mealplan,
if you live in Maxcy it is pretty much impossible to cook and the closest supermarket is a long
walk. The food in the restaurants on campus is not too bad. The sports center is free, huge
and beautiful. They have pretty much every sport and also an outdoor pool.
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?
The international office of the university did offer some activities, especially some group
bonding and other social activities in the beginning of the semester. Definitely go to the first
ones since you will find other exchange students you will be hanging out with the rest of your
semester. Most of my friends were exchange students. A lot of the American students are keen
to hang out with internationals especially in Maxcy and they’re usually younger(18). I traveled
to Chicago, Bahamas and Miami.
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.
Rent for four months was $2800, a mealplan is $1200+ depending on how many meals a week
you want. Books are cheap if you rent them of amazon, I got all of my books for about $100.
Going out is really cheap because you can get drinks every night for $1 if you go to the right
bars. Groceries are very expensive compared to Dutch supermarkets. I financed my exchange
with my stufi, the extra money from the OV card, savings and my parents. You can save a lot
of money by living in the Maxcy building.
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 didn’t experience any form of culture shock. The Americans are a lot more friendly than
Dutch people to strangers especially when they find out you’re foreign/European. Most of
them really like and look up to Europe for some reason. They’re very open and alround nice.
The culture was pretty much what I expected and it is a very pleasant culture. I didn’t however
make lasting friendships with the American students. The people are really, really polite but
from a Dutch viewpoint it is often fake. The southern culture is probably very different from the
culture up north.
If you go to the USA you’re going to see a lot of flags and hear the anthem a lot, which in my
opinion we could learn from. They’re very proud of their country but not in an obnoxious way
like the stereotype we think they’re like. They are very critical of their own culture and I met
surprisingly few rednecks, if any.
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 learned to be more open and sociable to people that seem different from me. I found out that I
had a lot in common with most foreign people. Especially most people from different countries
in Europe are very much alike.
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. It is an invaluable experience and it is very
dumb not to go abroad if you have the chance. I would certainly recommend USC because I
had an amazing time. You don’t really need any preparation to go to this destination because
it’s not hard to adapt and make new friends.
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.