Exchange Report
Purdue University
2014 Spring
Emily
Cheng
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BBA(Fina&Econ)
Table of Content
Page
Part I
Activity Log…………………………………………………………… 3
Part II
General Exchange Information……………………………… 6
Part II
Checklist……………………………………………………………….. 9
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Part I: Activity Log
January 2014
Before I went to Purdue University, I stayed at my buddy’s home for about a week. The
weather was terrible. Many flights, including mine from Chicago to Indianapolis were
delayed. Luckily, my flight was not cancelled and I was able to meet my buddy, though I was
hours late. Due to the heavy snow, I spent most of the time at my buddy’s home. I am very
grateful to have his family with me in the first week in America.
My buddy drove me to Purdue. It took longer than the expected 3 hours drive. He showed
me around the campus. I remember I felt very cold walking from building to building, and I
was not used to walking in snow pile so I walked really slowly. That night I joined the
gathering held by Purdue University International Students and Scholars (ISS). I met some
MIX leaders who would be helping out throughout the semesters. I met people from
around the world that night. Before school started, international students still needed to
get their student ID done, beddings, phone card bought, bank account opened, etc. The
MIX leaders led us to get these things done.
I got a Mainland roommate. She studied high school in Boston. She was very nice. She
helped me a lot. She lent me the i-clicker, a similar device like PRS in HKUST. If she didn’t, I
would have to buy it for USD25.
One night, I and my friends went to a Hooters Restaurant. It was quite special to me. The
waiters were dressed very hot. The service was quite good. We took a photo with the sexy
waitresses before we left.
There were quite a lot of shows performed by different student associations in Purdue. I
went to see a Bollywood dance show. It only cost $5.
Christianity is the most popular religion in America. There were quite a number of churches
on campus. I went to the Church together with my buddy one Sunday. Most of the people
were white.
It’s around Chinese New Year at the end of January. Some Chinese student associations
organized a CNY show. Most of the audience was Chinese.
There were many callout events by different associations in January. I went to the Purdue
Ballroom Dancing Club callout. The dancers’ performances were awesome. I and my
roommate decided to join the club and took lessons twice a week. The fee was a hundred
bucks.
One thing I definitely need to mention is the gun shooting incident happened on 22nd
January. One student was dead. Though it sounded scary, Purdue to me was still a very
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safe place. Shooting does not happen often in Purdue.
February 2014
On 1st, I and my HK, mainland friends drove to Indianapolis to enjoy the NBA game of Pacers.
It was my first time seeing NBA games live. The atmosphere was awesome. The kiss
camera was very fun.
I met a group of international students, and I started hanging out with them more often.
We always played wallyball in corec, the sports center of Purdue.
2nd was the Super Bowl. Perspectives, a weekly Friday gathering held a Super Bowl Party at
a faculty’s house. Many international students went and enjoyed the game together. Super
Bowl is a big, big day in US. Everyone was watching. People said, even you know nothing
about American Football; you will still be entertained watching the new commercials during
the game break. They were very creative and funny.
I worked in the dinning court on campus part-time. I think it was really a good thing to work
there because I lived very close and the work was quite interesting. I worked in the dinning
court every Thursday dinner and at on-the-go, a snack shop, every Friday. I was earning the
minimum wage $7.25 per hour. However, I still needed to pay tax. Interestingly, most of
the workers are girls from China. There I met a very interesting Korean girl.
The group of international students I hang out with held a Tequila house party. It was fun.
People there showed me the right way to drink Tequila.
On Valentines’ Day, Perspective held a Chinese Lantern Party. There was some Chinese
food provided. That night, there’s the second round of Tequila Party.
One Sunday, I introduced my Singaporean friend to my buddy. We had lunch together. My
buddy drove us to have a look at the Purdue Airport after the meal.
On 28th, there was an Indian movie screening. It was free.
March 2014
I and my international friends took a cultural trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. It was held by Black
Cultural Center so each of us only paid $40 for the 2-day trip. We stayed at Holiday Inn that
night. It’s an amazing trip. I learned a lot about black slavery. I remember, the first night
we went to restaurant. A lady from another table just came to us, and talked to us. “You
guys are such a diverse group!” And we just said, “Ya! We come from all around the world.”
During Spring Break, I and other Hong Kong friends went to Miami for 5 days. It’s so good to
finally get some sunshine. It’s just too cold at Purdue. Snow still hasn’t melted.
On 29th, my Korean friend invited me to a Korean Fair. There were many delicious Korean
foods. The booths were interesting. I got many food and gifts. It was free.
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April 2014
I and my Singaporean friend joined a friendship program. We were assigned an American
family. On the 4th, we were invited to their home. They served tacos which were very
delicious. The two daughters and two dogs were very cute. We were so grateful that they
paid the bill for every meal we had together.
On 20th, I and my friends went to Indianapolis Zoo. The weather was nice. It was fun.
On 24th, I and my friends went to watch a show, West Side Story. It’s like a Broadway show.
My friends paid quite a lot for the tickets, but I didn’t because I ushered for the show. After
my ushering, I could enjoy the show for free.
On 26nd, I and the international friends group went on a two-day trip to Chicago. I love that
trip. We had good weather. We had good hostel. We went to interesting places. We took
quite a lot of photos. The most special was the boat trip on Chicago River. The architecture
along the riverside was gorgeous.
May 2014
The semester ended on the 10th. I left Purdue at 11th. I went to Wisconsin where my aunt
lives. I spent a few days there. Then I went to Chicago with my uncle. I visited UIUC, his
school. Then we went to New York, where he lives and works now. The Korean girl I met in
working in dining court toured me around New York. At last, I went back to Indiana and
stayed at my buddy’s place for the last few days. My flight was from Indianapolis to Newark,
then to Hong Kong.
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Part II: General Exchange Information
Visa Procedures
Purdue provided the documents I needed for application of visa. I started to apply for visa
after receiving the documents. Everything went smooth for me.
Orientation Activities
The ISS holds orientation activities for international students. It is beneficial to join those
activities because there was a lot of information and some free gifts.
International Services & Activities
The ISS is responsible for that. There are quite a lot of activities. You should make some
friends there.
Accommodations
Exchange students were housed either in campus dorms or off-campus rental housing. I
chose to live on campus. I did the accommodation registration months before my exchange
online in Hong Kong. I recommend living on campus though it means that meal plans is the
only option. Living on campus is much closer to the sports center. It’s not convenient for
off-campus students to come to campus at night since the buses may not be running at
night. And it is not convenient to social with friends when you live too far and without a car.
Course Registration
Purdue University pre-registers students in their courses before arrival. Students must get
pre-approval for any course they wish to take. I had a big trouble one of my courses
registration. I met the pre-requisite of that course. But the academic advisor there just
emailed me that I could not take that course. Though I emailed her and asked for the
explanation, she didn’t reply. After I reached the campus, I made an appointment with her
in person. And we found out that, the HKUST transcript I sent her months ago was not
complete. It didn’t have the pre-requisite class I have taken in HKUST on it. That was why
she did not let me take the class. Although she wrote a letter to the professor of that class,
the professor could not let me in either because the class was full. That was a tragedy.
Teaching & Assessment Methods
Faculties at Purdue University were nice. They usually hold office hours. Students should
make use of the office hours if they have problems. Attendance is quite a thing at Purdue.
Skipping class will get you a lot of points deducted. Workload is quite heavy, which is a bit
surprising to me at first. I recommend taking some liberal arts classes. They are so different
from HK’s.
Sports & Recreation Facilities
All the sports and recreation facilities at Purdue University is at corec. It is located pretty
close to various dorms. The corec is really big. There are a few levels. There is rock6
climbing wall, swimming pools, basketball court, badminton court, ping pong court, racquet
ball court, wallyball court, dodge ball court, gym machines, etc. I recommend students
enjoy the facilities more often because everyone will have to pay a fixed amount of fee for
that before semester starts.
Cost/Expenses
The expenses will depend on how much a student travels during exchange. For the whole
semester, I spent more than HKD $80,000. The cost of Indiana is quite low compared to
other states in America. However, since the accommodation and meal expenses were sunk
cost, I didn’t spend a lot on food at Purdue.
Social Clubs/Networking Opportunities
I joined many student clubs such as the Purdue ballroom dance club. I also joined the
friendship program so I met the American family. I also joined Perspectives, which has
activity every Friday evening.
Health & Safety
Purdue requires every student to have health insurance. I bought the one they
recommended. It was very expensive. Actually, what I should have done was to buy a
cheaper insurance and apply for a waiver.
Food
Meal plans and on-campus dorm are in a package. So, I could only buy meal plans and eat
at dinning courts. The five dining courts at Purdue are quite good compared to other
universities. There is always fried rice served in Earhart, one of the dinning courts. I chose
the 10 meals per week plan. I think it is ok for me. But sometimes, I cannot finish the meals
so it was a waste. After I work at dining court, I got a free meal every time I worked. So, I
started to think that 10 meals per week were too much for me. Also, all dining courts are
closed on Sunday evening.
Transportation
To get around ABC University, there is city bus. Off-campus, e.g. to Walmart, we also take
city bus no.4. We already paid for the bus in advance so we don’t need to pay every time
we get on.
Climate
The climate is very cold and dry in winter. Classes were cancelled a few times due to
adverse cold weather. Gloves, hats, scarf, boots, jackets are necessities. There is central
heating indoors, so temperature indoors can reach 25 degrees Celsius. So, don’t forget to
bring some short sleeves and shorts for indoors and sports.
Communication
It is fairly easy to communicate by using emails at the computers in the computer labs and
libraries. I believe there is computer lab in each dorm. However, wifi signal maybe weak at
rooms. Some of my friends needed to buy a router for better reception of the wifi. You
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should bring a land line for internet.
Cautionary Measures
As it may rain, it is often a good idea to bring an umbrella out and also a light windbreaker.
The sun is quite strong so you should also bring sunscreen and sunglasses. It’s so common
to see people with sunglasses on the street when it snows.
Other Notes
There should be shuttle bus from Chicago Ohare Airport and Indianapolis Airport to Purdue.
Though the school recommends students going from Indianapolis, I believe it is cheaper to
go from Ohare, since flights from Hong Kong to Chicago are not rare.
Try to get second hand textbooks because first hand ones are quite expensive.
Working in dining court is a good idea to get some income.
It is convenient to open a bank account in Chase.
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Part III: Items to Bring and Contacts
Checklist
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Passport
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Clothes
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Slippers
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Sneakers
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Sunglasses
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Lip balm
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Hand cream
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Some medicine
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Some food
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Adaptors
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Land line for internet
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Notebook
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USB
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Umbrella
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A few hundreds of USD cash
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Formal suiting
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Beddings (you may buy there)
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