Experience report
Name: Max Luiten
E-mail: m.w.luiten@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Fall
Academic year: 2015/2016
Host University: University of Minnesota
Country: United States of America
Arrival & Housing
I arrived on 10th August in Minneapolis, USA. This was my first time in the USA and I was very much
looking forward to the upcoming semester. It took a cab to my arranged housing on the university
and after a short cab drive (destination was about 20 mins away from the airport) I checked into my
housing building. I almost immediately met another Tilburg University student who was starting his
LL.M. and who had arrived there only a week earlier. It seemed that all international students arrived
into that Hall to stay until the fall semester would officially start (1st September). After walking
around on the university campus and through Minneapolis itself and enjoying the new surroundings
and warm weather (30 degrees) with a small group of international students, our introduction
program started and we would finally get to know the Law School. Since I was an exchange student,
temporary housing after staying until the 1st of September was hard to find. I was put in a group of
exchange and LL.M. students and it became apparent that the LL.M’s because of their long term stay
could arrange more proper housing because of being able to take long term leases (for a year). The
exchange students had two options: exchange students, unless they want to sublet, had to arrange
off-campus housing who take short term leases. The only apartments, that I know of who do this, are
the Bridges and the Knoll. I did not know this in advance so I arranged off-campus housing on the
East Bank of the Mississippi and therefore a relatively long way from the Law School on the West
Bank. In hindsight, I should’ve arranged housing in the aforementioned apartments because the
traveling to the East Bank, especially after a party, wasn’t that ideal after a few times. The second
option is on-campus housing, however this option is very expensive. I was able to move to oncampus housing in October because I wanted to move closer to the University but there I had to pay
almost twice for what I paid for off-campus housing with less accommodations. But I advise that you
live close to the law school on the West Bank because that’s where you are going to spent most of
your time. I had a lot of fun staying with either housing options though, so it might just be a matter
of preference.
University & City
I liked Minneapolis very much. Minneapolis is a relatively small city for U.S. standards (‘only’ 400.000
people live there), but for a Dutch person (especially who has never been in the U.S. before) it’s a
huge city. It has many cool areas to visit such a Downtown and Uptown which have their own unique
atmosphere and great places to eat, drink and go out. Minneapolis has its own connected skyway
(connected walkway system) that connects all big buildings in Downtown with each other so that in
winter, when temperatures go deep subzero, you never have to go out in the elements but you can
stay indoor as you walk through the various malls and shops. The University of Minnesota has a huge
campus split by the Mississippi river with around 50.000 students enrolled. The campus is
approximately 10 minutes by light rail (train system) away from the heart of the city centre
(Downtown) and the light rail system itself goes all the way into the second city of the Twin Cities and
also the capital of Minnesota: St. Paul.
I considered the University a city in itself as you never have to leave the campus to find anything
you’re looking for. On the campus there are lots of bars, supermarkets and restaurants so you
needn’t have to go to city centre to have fun. The heart of the university is the Coffman building;
they have restaurant, bookstore and even a movie theatre and bowling alley. During Homecoming in
September most students will go there as a lot of events will take place there such as a concert and
small fairs. Next big building on the University is the Recreational Centre which is really cool. It’s a 4
story building containing a fitness centre, jogging track, multiple basketball fields, an Olympic pool
and a recreational pool. The best thing about it, is that membership to it is completely free for
students. Because of the multiple restaurants and supermarkets around and on the university
campus I don’t recommend taking a meal plan. The meal plan when you compare it to eating in
restaurants and cooking from products bought at a supermarket isn’t that favorable financially
considering it is more expensive and you can only eat at specific dining halls on the campus. The food
on the university is very good though. A great place to eat (and live) is at Dinkytown which is close to
campus. It is the student area where a lot of students live and come together in the weekends to
party (such as the Library bar). Another great location in Minneapolis is the biggest mall in America:
The Mall of America. It is only a 30 minute ride on the light rail from downtown to visit this huge mall
and it is definitely a must see if you are in the Twin Cities. It has 3 stories full of shops that encircle an
indoor theme park and an underground Sea Life aquarium. Also Minnesota is known for its many
lakes. Lake Calhoun just east of Uptown is one of the many lakes around Minneapolis and a very
popular location for Minneapolis residents to relax and enjoy the outdoors.
Courses & Academics
The courses I took during the semester were:
Introduction to American Law (2 credits compulsory introduction course)
Business Associations/Corporations (4 credits)
Mergers & Acquisitions (3 credits)
Economic Analysis of Law (3 credits)
Federal Jurisdiction (3 credits)
In August the Law School started its introduction course to American Law for international students
both exchange and LL.M. I highly recommend you take this route instead of the two-day option you
can take in September as almost everybody takes the first option and gets to know each other there.
I think it was also a very fun period at the law school during those 3 weeks to meet people and get to
know all the different nationalities and legal systems. But it was also a culture shock compared to the
method of teaching from Tilburg University. In Tilburg you have a lot of responsibility for yourself and
they expect you to pay attention during lectures and pass your courses by getting to know the course
components yourself and studying them after having had a couple of lectures by a professor. You sit
in a lecture and have to listen to the professor talking. In U.S. Law Schools they operate by a very
different method; the Socratic Method. Professors teach by starting a dialogue with their students;
they will almost never just tell you about the law as they want you to tell them what the law is. You
learn by trial & error, they want to hear the different thought processes of students when they come
to a certain conclusion for example when briefing a case. At first this was pretty uncomfortable
considering you are in a foreign country and are speaking a foreign language about a foreign law
system so at the start you are prone to make errors while speaking publicly to the professor. But in
the end it was a great way to grow, expand yourself and get out of your comfort zone and also to get
a look into what it is to be an American lawyer. Just make sure to be present during lectures, to do
your readings (which are a lot) and keep up with the heavy workload that is present throughout the
week and you will be fine. Some professors will also take into account that you are an international
student. The structure and level of exams and papers are comparable to that of Tilburg University.
The Law School is awesome. It is placed on the West Bank across from a plaza where there are many
bars and restaurants and it has many accommodations for students such as a lounge for students to
eat, play ping-pong, and watch television with each other. You will spend most of your time there
and it is definitely worth it.
Social life
Again, the introduction course is the best time to get to know your fellow students. In these three
weeks you are spending time with them from 8am till 5pm with an hour lunch break during noon.
During these lunch breaks you can talk to them and make plans for the time after 5 pm. At the end of
the introduction period might’ve probably taken some different courses than the others but you will
still have them as contacts from your introduction period. The Law School itself organized different
events throughout the semester such as free tickets to the first college football game of the season,
trips to the shopping areas in the city and free tickets to a Supreme Court of the United States Justice
lecture. Throughout the semester we formed groups of international students who hung out with
each other and became very close. We went sightseeing around Minneapolis and we went to parties
held by American students around the campus, those were always very fun. Contact with American
students is mostly limited to those you meet in the Law School as you will never have lectures in any
of the other buildings on the University campus or those you meet at parties or social events.
Living expenses
I saved part of the money from my part time job and student loans each month and my parents were
also financially supporting my exchange. I wasn’t very lucky with the exchange rates at the time I
went on an exchange as the economic crisis in Europe had influenced the price of the Euro and for 1
Euro I would now get a disappointing 1.09 dollars. My flight (round-trip) was around 1200$ (1100
euro) total. Each month most of the money went to rent which was, compared to the Netherlands,
relatively high. I paid around 700$ for off-campus housing which did have more accommodations
than the on-campus housing I would move to a few months later but was further away from the
University campus. For on-campus housing I paid 900$ dollars. The normal tuition fee was paid to
Tilburg University and a tuition waiver was given by the University of Minnesota. I did have to pay
999 dollars for insurance which was mandatory in order to enroll for courses. This needed to be done
regardless if I already had any insurance from back home that would cover health costs so I was
double insured. By enrolling at the University of Minnesota you get an Ucard to use for
transportation, paying for stuff you buy on campus by using a specific University currency and getting
access to University buildings. The Ucard transportation gives you free unlimited transportation by
bus and light rail for the stations on campus. If you want to travel off-campus you need to pay by
ticket or you can buy a travel pass for 90 dollars which gives you unlimited travel to all stations.
Books are very expensive in the United States. Some courses don’t require you to buy any books or
you can buy an older edition but for the new ones you easily pay $250 for each book (€200) in the
bookstore. I needed three books in total but managed to get one at a second hand bookstore and
you could also order from Amazon. Ofcourse you will also need money for food, groceries and social
activities. I calculated around $450-500 for that.
Advice for future students
I had a lot of fun during my exchange period and I recommend an exchange period to anyone who is
interested in it and I especially recommend going to the University of Minnesota. In my opinion
American colleges have a certain culture that is a must-experience for any college student. The
University of Minnesota gave me opportunities I could have never taken in my life as a Dutch
student. I recommend that you put a lot of thought into the housing situation though as to whether
you want to arrange on-campus or off-campus housing. I recommend that if you are an exchange
student you arrange on-campus housing because of the scarcity of other good housing options on
the university campus. If you are a LL.M. student I advise that you arrange housing in Grandmarc
(which is located across the Law School and where most of the students live) or 7West (which is also
located across the Law School but way more expensive) which are technically off-campus but are
really facing the Law School and which were very popular with the LL.M. students.
The city itself is a great destination because of the location of the university and the good public
transit lines. The city center itself is a greatly planned city because of the skyway and although it is a
relatively small city it still has that big city feel to it. There are a lot of clubs downtown and with the
Uberapp (which I highly recommend you download because you basically can be picked up anywhere
and pay half of that what you would pay for a regular taxicab) you will have no trouble moving
around the city at every hour of the day.
Enjoy it, because time will fly by very fast!