GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Please write this report in English
Name of the University: Texas A&M University
Names of the students: Mari Kolstad, Ola T. Dalgeir
Exchange semester:Spring, 2010
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
1. Describe the school and its surroundings
Texas A&M is huge school located in a city called College Station, which is in between Dallas
and Houston. Campus is really big and the school offers almost any degree you can think of.
As a business student you will attend Mays Business School which is located in the West
Campus area. There is also a library in the building next to the business school, so most of
your studying will be done in the west campus area.
2. Number of students - graduate and undergraduate – number of exchange students
There is 48 000 students, 38800 of them are undergrad.
3. Study structure
You will pick 4 or 5 courses similar to the ones you were supposed to do at BI. There are
both small classes with discussions and about 30-40 students and bigger ones which are
more similar to the ones you do at BI. Small classes often takes attendance. You will
have 2-4 exams in each course and some hand-ins.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
 When did you receive the information package from the University?
 In December, due to restructuring of A&M’s online application system the application
process got delayed.
 Any difficulties?
 Just the restructuring of the application system, but that will not be a problem for future
students.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences
 What problems, if any did you encounter?¨
 None, the American embassy were very helpful, and helped us even though we gave
them short notice.
 Does the visa cost anything?
 Around 1000 NOK
 How did you order your ticket – any problems?
 Travelpartner.com, killroy.com also have very cheap tickets.
Academic Calendar
 Arrival date – introductory week
 10th of January, first 5 days.
 First day of the semester?
 19th of January
 Last day of classes?
 12th of May
 Examination period?
 Depends, 7-12 May this year, each final is only two hours, so you can end up with several
finals in on day.
 Any special events?
Martin Luther King Day, Spring Break, Easter week-end and a reading day.
Reception
 How was the reception at the school?
 We missed the first international students meeting due to a late arrival caused by
airtraffic. But the other international students said it was good.




Was the administration and faculty well prepared for your arrival?
Yes, we had to book an appointment at the international office, and they told us
everything we had to do.
Did the school’s students participate in the reception of the exchange students?
There was no organized reception, but we met some really cool students one of the first
days, so it was easy to make friends with the school’s domestic students.
Housing
 Did you have housing at your disposal or did you have to find your own housing?
 We found our own housing through previous student reports like this one.
 What support did you receive from the school in locating housing?
 They gave us a list over the options, but we had already found housing before we arrived.
 Any special issues or good ideas for prospective students?
 There are a lot of apartments you can rent around campus, but because we only stayed
for a semester, it was easy to live in a private dorm with a meal plan. The standards were
ok, but if you want to live in an apartment there are several options.
 We stayed here: http://www.livethetradition.com/ it’s a full service dorm, but there are
mostly freshmen that lives there, that means they are 2 or 3 years younger than you.
 We had friends that lived in apartments around campus, and we can recommend these
two: http://www.zislander.com/index.asp and http://callawayvillas.com/
Costs
 Describe the most important expenses such as rent, books, food, etc.
 Rent is between 600-1000 dollars per month, books are expensive, but you can sell some
of them at the end of the school year for half the price. Food was included in our rent at
the traditions, but is generally really cheap, both groceries and eating out.
The International Office
 Is there an international office?
 Yes.
 Who is responsible for incoming exchange students?
 Ben Petty
 How does the international office function?
 We did not really use it that much. After the check-in appointment we we’re able to work
out things ourselves, but you are always welcome to drop by the office, and they will help
you.
 Do you receive all relevant information?
 Yes.
Exchange promotion
 What kind of activity did you take part in to promote exchange to Norway at your
exchange university?
 The student exchange fair takes place in the fall, but we made sure that everyone knew
that Norway is the place to raise your children.
Social Activities
 How is your relationship with other students?
 Really good. Most of the international students went out together and spent time within
the international group, but we met some American student already the first day, and they
introduced us to all of their friends. So we hung out with almost only American students,
and made a lot of friends. There is also easy to meet people in class, especially the small
classes. In Texas people are really friendly, and they are easy to get to know.
 How is the relationship among the exchange students?
 Though we did not spend to much time with the other exchange students, it seemed like
they had a really good relationship.
 Is there a student organization, and if so, are the exchange students part of it?
 There is a lot of organizations in a school with 48000 students, and a student body
organization, but since you are only there for one semester, it is not common to join one.




Are there any special activities and gatherings for exchange students?
There are dinners, parties and stuff going on all the time.
How do you like it at the school?
IT WAS AWESOME, friendly people, good teachers, a manageable work load.
Culture and Language
 Do you have any language problems with the faculty or other students?
 No
 How are the possibilities to experience the country and the culture?
 Very good. But you will need a car, or friends with one. But that is easy since every
American has his/her own car. We got to see most of Texas, spent time at friends in both
Dallas and Houston, and airplane tickets are cheap, so if you want to, there is a lot of
opportunities to travel outside Texas as well.
Cultural and Social Effects from the Exchange Experience
 How do you think the exchange experience will affect you from a cultural and social point
of view?
 We definitely got to live the typical American college life as you know it from movies and
such. We know more about the American culture and how they think and live. And by
meeting people from a totally different part of the world gives you different input than what
you get at home.
 How do you think the exchange experience influences your future career possibilities?
 It improves your English, and companies says that they are looking for people with
international experience, so hopefully this will be a good addition to the résumé..
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The Teaching situation
 In which language are the courses taught? Any problems?
 English, none.
 How would you evaluate the level of study in relationship to the level at BI?
 It is a very renowned business school, with a good reputation, and the level of study is
about the same as BI.
 Is the teaching primarily practical or theoretical?
 Both, depends on the course you take, but very similar to BI.
 Are the professors using cases, group work or lectures (or a mix)?
 Mostly lectures, but some group work, in-class presentations and cases.
 How is the workload compared to that at BI?
 More during the semester, but less before the finals. So all in all about the same.
 How is the relationship between faculty and students?
 It is better than here in Norway, it is more personal, and the instructors and professors
have office hours where you can meet them and ask for help.
 What is the relationship between the students in the classroom?
 In the small classes, it is similar to high school in Norway. You get to know a lot of them,
and the relationship is good.
Required Literature
 Is the literature in English?
 Yes.
 How do you estimate the level of the literature?
 Same as home, the books are similar both in size and content.
 Is the literature used for detailed knowledge or a broad overview?
 Depends on the course, but a mix of both.
 Is exam based on the literature or on the lectures?
 Both. Mostly lectures.
Exams
 What types of exams were you given?
 Only multiple choice.
 What knowledge level was required to pass the exams?

To pass was fairly easy, but to get top grades they required detailed knowledge.
Other
 Do students have easy access to the library and its resources?
 Yes.
 How is the access to the computers?
 There are computer labs in the libraries, and there is always an open spot.
 How is IT used in the teaching or as a distributor of information?
 The same as BI. The professors send you a lot of information on e-mail, and all class
notes and other things you need are posted on blackboard and banner.
Description of Courses
Please list all the courses you are taking in the form below:
 Name and code of the course
 Prerequisites, if any
 Exam form
 Comments: Relevance, Difficult/easy, Practical/theoretical, Enrolment problems
Course name:
341 Finance
329 Cost Management
364 Operations management
373 Human Resources mgmt
assignments
485 Directed studies
Prereq.
None
Yes
Yes
Yes
Exam
Written
Written
Written
Written
Finc 431
None
Comments
4 exams, 10 small quizzes
4 exams, some quizzes
3 Exams, some quizzes
2
Exams,
4
writing
Ola took the 485 class. To get it I had to meet with the head of the finance department
because I didn’t have the prerequisites. But that class was really good. Our teacher was a
CFO in a Texas oil company and a former investment banker, so we wrote an industry and a
company report just as they would to it on Wall Street and presented them for the class. The
teacher was really great and I would say that that is the class that was most relevant.
We both are Siviløkonom students at BI, so with the courses we took back home, we had all
the prerequisites needed for the classes that required it.
Any other experiences:
If you can’t decide between the schools in Texas, choose A&M, the student culture is unique.
UT in Austin is also a good school. If you are under 21 Texas A&M is better because you can
get into the bars at 18 there.
Names and e-mails:
Mari Kolstad: @hotmail.com
Ola T. Dalgeir: olatdalgeir@hotmail.com