Student report – Tecnológico de Monterrey
-Before leaving Norway
You get access to an internet portal with some information about ITESM after you have been
admitted to the school. There you can read basic information about your courses, the school,
and the student life. As a first timer when it comes to exchange, I was a little worried that I was
under informed when I got there, but you should not worry. You will get a lot of information at
arrival, and be well taken care of. I also had some correspondence with an officer at the
international office, who was ready to answer all my questions about housing, tuition fees, and
other more general inquiries about the university and Mexico.
You select your courses online. The course descriptions provide an overview over the most
important areas they touch on, together with mandatory books and/or other material. I had
some worries about not having set up housing, but they proved to be without foundation. My
advice is to not make any housing arrangements before arriving. The Housing tours will make it
easy to secure a spot with other exchange students, at a place close to campus.
-Applying for visa
Norway doesn´t house its own Mexican embassy, so all paperwork is processed through the
embassy in Denmark. The visa application rules changed during the fall of 2012, and provided
some uncertainty as of whether I would actually need a pre-certified visa or not. After tedious
mail correspondence with the embassy in Denmark, they stated that student visas of a lesser
extent than 180 days would be provided at the airport. On arrival, after a little dispute with the
officer, who claimed I should have fulfilled the procedure beforehand, I was granted a student
visa of 180 days.
There seem to be a lack of communication and alignment between immigration authorities and
ground workers. The long response time from the embassy, together with a miniscule of
information and lack of clarity in procedural matters, prompts me to recommend that future
applicants start the correspondence with the embassy early. Although the currently stated
policy is that you don´t need a visa for a stay of less than 180 days, I would strongly advice
future students to bring a printed copy of an embassy mail endorsing this policy, preferably in
both Spanish and English, together with other required documents like the acceptance letter
from the university.
Academic calendar
-Travel
I used regular air travel search engines to look up flights, after browsing possible discounts on
sites like Ansa and Kilroy travel. I paid around 9000 NOK for a both way ticket, which should be
considered fairly cheap. Keep in mind that a one way ticket generally is almost expensive as a
two way ticket for the prospective travel dates, due to the fact that the return lies so far ahead
in time. Check the price of switching dates on the return ticket with the airline company. This
way, you can estimate the cost of changing your mind during your stay in Mexico, both if you
want to return earlier or later than previously planned.
-Housing
ITESM provides housing tours during the introduction week, where you have a chance to meet
other exchange students also looking for housing. The residence halls should be avoided if you
don´t want strict rules and restrictions on rights taken for granted by a Norwegian student. I
would recommend Torres Tec, Villas Tec, or the multi-level apartments in “Calle Rio de Janeiro”
for prospective students. These places are inhabited almost exclusively by fellow students, with
a good mix of both Mexicans and other Europeans on exchange, and are located within great
proximity to the university.
Prices are very affordable after Norwegian standards, expect to pay between 3500- 5500 pesos
( 1750 – 2750 NOK) depending on the standard. I stayed in a 4 bedroom top floor apartment,
including two bathrooms and a big terrace suited for barbeques and festivities, in Torres Tec
paying 5000 pesos a month. Television with Mexican channels is provided, and Wi-Fi of ordinary
quality included.
Beware that the people renting out the apartments don´t necessarily have any formal
connection with ITESM. Don´t expect the paperwork to be in English, I would strongly advice to
bring your international buddy, or whomever other Spanish speaking person you know, to read
through contracts before signing. Be prepared to pay the rent in cash.
-Costs
Taxis are ridiculously cheap in Monterrey, and you will probably use this as your main mean of
transportation. Food can be bought cheaply at one of the many big
Rent
NOK 2500
supermarkets close to campus, and the prices at restaurants and
the ubiquitous taco places are also not too repellant. If you want to
Books
NOK 200
participate on the more fancy side of the nightlife the municipal
Food
NOK 1500
San Pedro offers, expect just below Norwegian prices on entries
and fluids.
Transport NOK 500
Other
NOK 2000
-Culture and language
ITESM require a completed TOEFL test in order to graduate from the university, so you can
expect that most students have a very good command of English. The international office
provides English speaking administration, in case you should have question regarding formal
issues or procedures. Try to quickly pick up some basic Spanish to be able to communicate with
taxi drivers, waiters, and other people you encounter outside campus, where English is pretty
much unheard of.
Due to the proximity to the American border and its position as Mexico’s financial and
industrial center, you will find a more westernized culture in Monterrey than in other parts of
the country. It is common to go on weekend trips further south, and plan Semana Santa (spring
break) way ahead, as ticket prices soar close to this period. The capital Ciudad the Mexico offers
culture in every form, from Aztec pyramids to exhibitions of artworks from the great painters
Diego Riviera and Frida Kahlo. Bus communications between the major cities is of great
standard and in many cases way cheaper than going by plane.
-Cultural and social effects from the exchange experience
I feel exchange is a great way to develop your social skillset and confidence in interactions with
people from different cultures. The abundance of nationalities you encounter leads you to gain
increased respect, tolerance and appreciation for cultural differences and divergent
worldviews.
Going on exchange anywhere, especially as the sole student from your home university, shows
confidence, coping skills, and independence. These are invaluable personal characteristics of a
good employee, and will surely be recognized by future employers. I also believe, more
specifically, that experience from Latin culture will be increasingly important as Latin America
keeps growing economically, and increasing their trade and cooperation with Europe. The
Statoil engagement in Brazil is an example.
Part 2
-The school and its surroundings
ITESM house an amazingly beautiful campus with animals, ranging from peacocks to geese and
deer. Inside campus are you surrounded by small lakes, park benches, threes, lawns and
flowers. Check out some pictures, it really is beautiful when the beams of the warm Mexican
sun dances around in the three tops, while reflecting in the eyes of the deer trying to steal your
lunchbox.
A great amount of different careers are studied at ITESM, containing medicine, biotech,
engineering, languages, economics, business, and architecture. Every special area has its own
main building or at least floor. Worth mentioning for BI students is the top notch finance room,
where you can do the Bloomberg certificate surrounded by updated figures from the world’s
stock exchanges.
ITESM supports around 20 000 students, where a few hundred are on exchange from other
countries. We were among 50 exchange students from non-Latin countries, but ITESM is also a
popular target for, Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, Brazilians, and other South and Middle American
nationalities.
Each course has three exams, first and second partial, and a final evaluation exam. The first
partial is conducted in the midst of February, the second early April, and the finals in the midst
of May.
-Course registration
I registered my courses online in advance, through a portal I got access to quite early in the
process. I had a quick conversation with a professor after arrival at ITESM, who printed my
schedule and told me everything was in order. The window for dropping courses was fairly long,
namely over a month after first day of classes.
-Academic calendar
Arrival date:
7. January
First day of the semester:
14. January
Last day of classes:
8. May
Examination period:
10. – 21. May
Any special
events/holidays:
25. – 29. March
(Semana Santa)
Other:
3. May (Farewell
party)
-Arrival
Arrival went very smoothly with a lot of seminars and papers with relevant information. The
introduction week, The “Hi Tec Fest”, was a great experience, where exchange students as well
as freshmen Mexicans got together for games, entertainment and oath swearing (directed
towards proper behavior academically and socially). Cocktail parties and dinners exclusively for
exchange students were also held. A great opportunity to bond with future classmates and
friends. I have only nice things to say about our reception at Tec, I truly felt welcome and part
of the larger community almost immediately.
The international student embassy at Tec is something you are going to be acquainted with
sooner or later during the first week. It is a student driven organization arranging weekend trips
to hidden cultural and geographical pearls. Some of my fondest memories are from these trips,
and I strongly recommend you to try them out if you´re up for an unforgettable experience.
-International office
The international office can help you on matters like immigration policy, switching courses,
safety, and academic and social policies on campus. They answer E-mails and are conveniently
located centrally on campus. Some of the officers will you meet during the introduction week.
The international office was able to accommodate me on all my concerns and questions, and I
feel like they had a big heart for us exchange students.
-Promoting BI and Norway
I feel like I promoted BI and Norway through telling my fellow students stories about university
life at home, and sharing and exchanging views and experiences. There was, as far as I know, no
organized way to endorse your home university. The cultural café allows for holding a
presentation about Norway if you have time and effort, but bigger countries like Germany,
China, Korea, and The US are usually ahead in the queue.
-Social activities
The classes were usually mixed, which made it really easy to get to know native students.
Through the international student embassy, which arranges a lot of trips, will you also meet
numerous Mexican students who want to get in touch with people on exchange. We were a
group of almost 100 students, natives as well as exchange students, who partied and went on
trips together. This mixture of people from all over the world made the experience even more
interesting.
You will meet most of the exchange students in your classes, at parties, and in the apartment
complex you choose to live. Sharing an experience abroad made us really close, and I got some
great friends from all over the world. There is a big student organization, but nothing specific
for the exchange students. The cultural café offers debates and get-to-know-country
presentations, and at these arrangements you will find a lot of the internationals attending.
There is also a lot of dinners and meet-ups in the beginning for exchange students exclusively,
so you won´t ever be feeling like you have to work to develop a social network.
Part 3 – academics
-In the classroom
The smaller groups in the classroom (10-30 students) allow for a very interactive style of
teaching. Prepare to be addressed directly by the professor, and share your views on topics
through classrooms discussion. Generally, the professors speak excellent international English,
and although some display distinct accents have I never had any problems understanding the
lectures.
The level of difficulty in the courses varies greatly, but a good student from BI who applies him
or herself will be able to do very well. The teaching is balanced with both practical and
theoretical elements. A lot of practical assignments, cases and papers throughout the semester
help knowledge stick, and all exercises have solid theoretical foundation from the most recent
research. The emphasis on group works was huge, and you will be collaborating a lot with other
students in your courses, also in final projects. Depending on your courses, you will face a little
bigger, but also different structured workload. There is a lot of homework and mandatory handins compared to BI, but most of them are not very extensive. Be prepared for a lot of minor
presentations during the semester, something that’s excellent practice towards the final
presentations you are likely to have. I really enjoyed the varied teaching tools applied, with a
little bit of everything. Readings will often be followed by quizzes, and lectures by classroom
discussion. You will participate in group works, write both individual and joint papers, and
submit partial and final exams in the fashion you are familiar with from BI.
The more intimate classroom situation really facilitates the bonding between professor and
student. This is a great opportunity to really get to know your professors, personally as well as
academically. Just remember to address them in a respectful manner, as the Mexican academic
culture still sticks to a slightly more formal way of approaching people of higher status. There is
of course great variations, depending on both age and personality, of how you should relate to
each of them.
The classroom discussions and group work make it easy to get to know fellow students in your
classes. This is a great opportunity to get to know both Mexican and international students, as
most classes taught in English consist of a mix of both. I found that most of the other students
were both motivated and ambitious, and contributed greatly to creating a classroom
environment suited for learning.
-Course materials
We used a lot of updated scientific articles, and to a lesser extent books. The leeway of the
individual professor makes the course material vary greatly from course to course. The one
thing I never encountered was single source lecturing. All professors use PowerPoint as a tool,
and the presentations appear on Blackboard, the academic platform, right after class. The
PowerPoint presentations often compress the curriculum to crucial points, but frequently also
supplement the readings with information from additional sources. A mix of books, articles,
slides, and cases are common.
All of the readings were strictly in English (except from Spanish class, but that´s a given). The
main difference from BI is that a bigger variety of sources are used. The professorial freedom
also applies here, some professors swear to old, classic material, others to newly conducted
research papers straight from leading universities.
-Exams
The partial and final exams draw from all sources used, so make sure you don’t leave anything
unread. Everything is important. One can also be asked for Information from PowerPoint slides
found nowhere else in the curriculum, so beware this.
The grading system is far more complex than what you are used to from BI. Everything counts!
Usually the final exam accounts for around 30-40 percent of the grade, and if there is a final
project this usually contributes with 10-20 percent. The other half of the grade stems from the
two partial grades, which account for around 25 percent each. Baked into the partial grades are
quizzes, projects, homework, papers, and presentations.
Attendance doesn’t count directly on your grade, but in 5 ETCS courses can you only have 6
absences throughout the semester to be graded. Don´t be lazy, and get up in the morning, even
on Mondays. Some courses include oral activity in classrooms discussion in the grade, and if so,
usually 5-10 percent of the final grade. The minimum passing grade in the courses is 70 / 100,
which is very attainable if you do all your homework and assignments.
-Technology and information
ITESM contains a big library with all facilities, ranging from quiet areas, common areas, to group
rooms and cafeteria. They have a loan out service where you can loan any book in stock for 3
hours, and in some courses, this something you will have to utilize because the curriculum is
not available in bookshops close to campus, and sometimes even in all of Monterrey.
There are loads of computers in the library, although most is occupied during peak hours from
around 11- 16, have I never been in cue for a computer for more than a few minutes. The
stationary computers are a good option for a couple of reasons. They have direct access to
printers, and the internet is faster than the Wi-Fi. I am sorry to say that the Wi-Fi at campus was
rather bad, and not something to be proud of, but that’s the harsh truth.
Sometimes it was working, but slow, and on other occasions it stopped working completely for
longer periods of time, to the extent that I stopped bringing my laptop altogether and relied on
the stationaries. There was a sign on campaign for better Wi-Fi, after student initiative, going
on at campus during my period of study. I hope this leaves future students with better and
faster access.
Blackboard is the informational portal of ITESM, and here you will find everything the
professors put up, together with additional articles and in-depth information of topics in which
you have a special interest.
-Description of courses
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
Approved
as
International
negotiations
(NI2001)
Bachelor
2 partial exams,
one final
project
None
Elective
Comments
Distribution channels
and logistics
management
(MT2014)
Bachelor
One final
project and
final
presentation
Marketing
1001
Logistics
Bachelor
Negotiation
techniques (AD2003)
Bachelor
2 partial exams,
one final exam
none
Elective
Geopolitics and
global change
(RI2031)
Bachelor
One partial
presentation,
one final
project
none
Elective
Forecasting for
decisionmaking (CD
2006)
Bachelor
2 partial exams,
one
departemental
exam
Statistics
1001
Elective
Spanish (HI 1007)
Bachelor
2 partial exams,
one final exam
None
Elective
-The courses
International negotiations (NI2001)
A course with heavy focus on how cultural differences affect negotiation processes, and
how to adjust negotiation behavior to enhance the likeliness of a positive outcome. The
level of difficulty should be very manageable for exchange students. A lot of quizzes
consequent to readings, a lot of case studies, essays, presentations, and written exams,
made this course one of the most diverse in terms of use of different didactic tools.
Distribution channels and logistics management (MT2014)
This course was approved as a logistics course, but I will strongly advocate not repeating
that certification in future. The name of the course is heavily misleading, because most of
the course material address trade marketing, and barely touch on the technical side of
logistics. The level of the course was fairly easy, and most students should not encounter
big problems.
Negotiation techniques (AD2003)
This was my favourite course of the semester, with a really progressive and young
professor. The course has a major emphasis on technical negotiation skills, and touches on
behavioural finance, philosophy, game theory, decision making theory, and a lot of different
aspects relevant to newer economic theory. You are expected to participate in class
discussion, as well as write reports from different types of negotiation exercises. The
course felt really relevant to my studies, and I learned a lot. Level of difficulty should also
be manageable.
Geopolitics and global change
This was the least relevant of my course. I didn’t really like the didactics, because I felt like
the professor should have used a more varied set of tools than he did. We had one big
project during the semester, and the chance and incentive to continuously work with the
material got lost on the way. This is an easy course, but I am not sure I would recommend it
to fellow BI students. Some background from international relations would surely make the
course more interesting and relevant.
Forecasting for decisionmaking (CD 2006)
This Is a plain statistics course, and was the hardest course I attended during the semester.
Students should at least have a basic statistics course from BI, but preferably an even
broader background (like econometrics) in applied statistics. The course was interesting
and felt really relevant.
Spanish (HI 1007)
A basic Spanish course with no prerequisites needed. The level is at medium level, a
student attending this course should expect to be doing a lot of homework in order to reach
a satisfactory level of basic Spanish, but with some effort is this within reach for most
students.