GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Student Report
Name of the University: The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
I got my acceptance letter February 18 from BI, and got the official information email from
Courtney, the Study Abroad Advisor at UTA on April 28. Courtney was very helpful and
responded quickly to every questions I had about the school and my stay. She helped me
prepare for arriving in Arlington.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
I applied for a F-1 visa on http://www.ustraveldocs.com/no. Be sure to apply as early as
possible, especially if you don’t live in Oslo because you need to have a personal interview at
the Embassy in Oslo. You will also need a lot of information from the exchange school, so
start early and look at the check-list on the Embassy homepage. The price for a visa is about
1000 NOK; and remember to bring cash, pass photo, and be sure that your passport is valid 6
months after you leave the US.
Travel
I travelled with British Airways from Bergen via London to Dallas. I bought my tickets
through Kilroy and the total price was about 8,000 NOK for the round trip. You can get it
cheaper if you buy your tickets early. The flight time was about 12 hours, in addition to
waiting time between the flight. UTA has a pick-up service called “Big Howdy” that will pick
you up at the airport for free, but I choose to take a taxi, which costs about 240 NOK.
Housing
After I got my acceptance letter, I started searching for housing. I ended up with an apartment
complex called Campus Edge. I were very pleased with the quality of the apartment and the
staff. I lived in four-bedroom apartment, with private bathrooms and shared kitchen and living
room. The apartment was furnished, but you have to buy pillows, sheets etc. Housing is not
something that is provided by the school, but the advisors are open to help with
recommendations. The price for Campus Edge was about 600 USD a month including
electricity. This is a little over the average level of rent in Arlington, but it was worth the price
(swimming pool, fitness center, free tanning, free parking etc). It takes takes about 10-15
minutes to walk to the Business building, but there is also a free shuttle bus across the street
that takes you directly there.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
NOK 4000
NOK 2500 (one time
expence)
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 1000
NOK 0
NOK 500 (social events)
Culture and language
My language skills was good compared to other exchange students(Asians, South Americans
etc). There was no language barriers between me and the faculty or lecturers. Everyone was
interested in learning the Norwegian perspective. At UTA, there is a lot of international
students, especially from Asian countries, as well as some from Europe and South America.
The school is very diverse, so you get to experience a lot of new cultures.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The University is located in Arlington, Texas, and is between Dallas and Fort Worth
metropolitan area. The school has about 33.000 students, and has about 300 campus
organizations, and about 10.000 students living on or within five miles of campus. The
Campus is very big, so it takes some time to get to know it. The campus is divided into 10
different colleges, engineering and business being two of the largest colleges. The campus
also has a fitness center called the MAC, which is one of the largest college fitness centers in
the US. Arlington is between Dallas and Fort Worth, as mentioned, and it takes about 30 min
each way by car. There is very limited collective transportation system, so you are very
depended on having a car or know someone with a car. But don’t worry about it; almost
everyone has a car, and are very helpful and willing to drive you if you need a ride.
Course registration
You have to attend an orientation before you can register for classes. You can choose from
several days for orientation, I choose one of the last one, but it could be smart to choose one
of the early one, since you don’t have the opportunity to enroll for classes before you get to
Arlington. It is very important that you have a transcript of your health insurance and bring it
to orientation. If your health insurance doesn't match the health insurance you can get through
UTA you have to get theirs. It cost about 5000 NOK. You can read more about it at
http://www.uta.edu/oie/?page=forms&form=HealthInsuranceWaiver. The last day to drop
classes is on October 30, and the last day to add classes is on September 9. To register for
classes, you have to see an academic advistor at the Business building.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
August 14
August 22
December 4
December 6-13
Thanksgiving, Labor
Day
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Arrival
There is a mandatory orientation day, where they give information about school activity,
courses , safety, vaccination etc. You will meet the student advisors and other international
students. There is no special introduction week for exchange students, but the international
office will arrange events for the exchange students through the semester.
The International Office
The International Office was very helpful, both before and during my stay.
Promoting BI and Norway
There was arranged an international week by the school, with a study abroad fair one of the
days. On this day, you have an opportunity to promote BI and Norway.
Social activities
The native students were easy to get to know and open to learn about my country. There was
also a lot of international students from across the world that I became friends with. The
International Office arranged meetings and events for the exchange students, some to the
stockyard in Fort Worth and to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. I met a lot of Americans living
on Campus Edge, and they were happy to show us around. Also, Campus Edge hosts events
where you get to know the rest of the residents (BBQ, pool parties, movie night etc.)
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The classes were a lot different from what I was used to from Norway. It was about 30-50
students in each class. The teacher expects you to participate in class and be prepared. It is
also expected that you attend most of the classes, cause they keep attendance. There is more
personal interactions with the teacher. The amount of workload is more than at BI, but the
level of the courses are easier. You will be expected to do homework, quizzes, assignments,
group projects, in-class exercises, and presentations. The communication with the teacher is
more formal, you are expected to call your teacher “Dr.”, there is no first name basis.
Course materials
You will be expected to buy the book for the course. You can buy your books at the
Bookstore, either used or new ones. You can also rent books for the semester, which is a lot
cheaper. I would recommend that you buy used books or buy them at Amazon.com to save
money. All of the teachers use Powerpoint and whiteboard for their lectures. As mentioned,
the workload is heavier, but the level of the courses is not as hard as BI. You are expected
from BI to have five courses, while most of the other juniors has four.
Exams
Most of the exams was based on the course material, but you should attend all classes because
many of the teacher gives you hint about what may show up on the exam. Also most of the
teacher provides you with a review so you know what you should know for your exams. You
will also have midterms over the semester which is very similar to the exams. Some of the
exams are comprehensive, while some of them are not (you might have an exam with just four
chapter instead of the whole book). Usually the midterms are weighted 20% of your grade,
where you have two or three, presentations 10-15%, assignments 10%, homework 10%,
quizzes 10%, participation/attendance 10%, group work 10%, and finals 20%. The weighting
varies from course to course. Your syllabus will provide you with this information.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Library and technology
There is a big library with six floor with different silent areas, regular study area, group
rooms, and computer labs. The University Center also provides study areas and food court,
but is much more noisy. The printing system is the same as on BI.
Description of courses
Please list below all the courses you took while on exchange. Your comments are useful for
BI and for future exchange students, include information on the academic level, challenges,
relevance to your studies, if the course was practical/theoretical, any enrolment issues, etc.
Course code &
name
ECON 3303
Money &
Banking
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prereq.
Comments
3 midterms
with 30-40
MCQ, 4
quizzes, 1
Final
ECON 2305
Principles of
macroeconomics.
ECON 4311
Economics for
managers
Bachelor
3 midterm
and 1 final,
MCQ, 1
presentatio
n, 1
project.
ECON 2306
Principles of
microeconomics
FINA 3313
Business Finance
Bachelor
Econ 2306, Acct
2302, Math
1316
MANA 2302
Communication
in Organizations
Bachelor
FINA 3315
Investments
Bachelor
3 midterms
and 1 final,
MCQ, 4
assignment
s online.
2 midterms
and 1 final
MCQ, 1
group
presentatio
n
2 midterm
and 1 final,
4 HW, 4
group
projects
Monetary and banking systems
of the United States, including
the problems of money and
prices, proper organization and
functioning of commercial
banking and Federal Reserve
systems, problems of monetary
standards, and credit control.
Recent monetary and banking
trends.
Applies economic analysis to
decisions of managers. Topics
include investment decisions,
pricing, price discrimination,
strategy, bargaining, uncertainty,
moral hazard and advere
selection, and incentive
structures for employees and for
units of the firm. The class is
real-world oriented exploring
actual decisions of firms.
Very similar to Finance I and II
from BI.
None.
Teaches you about persuasive
communication techniques, and
business communication.
ECON 2306,
ACCT 2302
Principles governing the proper
investment of personal and
institutional funds, information
sources, security analysis,
exchanges and regulations
The overall experience has been amazing, and I have experienced a lot of Texas as well. You
should definitely take the trip to Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth. People are very friendly, and
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
I have made a lot of good friends. Studying abroad will make your resume stand out, and you
get an opportunity to improve your English skills and expand your network.