Final Report about my Semester Abroad
at the University of Illinois
I had the unique opportunity to spend a semester abroad at the University of Illinois
in Urbana-Champaign for about five months (August-December 2014). It has always
been a major ambition of mine to experience an exchange semester in the United
States, the land of opportunity. In order to improve my language skills and sociocultural competences as well, broaden my horizon and just get to know new cultures,
I decided to apply for a semester abroad in the United States. After I researched the
range of universities and study options that are offered by our home university it
became quite obvious that the University of Illinois would be the perfect choice for
spending a semester abroad. The university is perceived as one of the best public
universities (so-called “Public Ivy” university) in the country with an outstanding
reputation. The University of Illinois (also called “U of I”) is about two-and-a-half
hour’s drive away from Chicago and has a really huge campus, which hosts more
than 40,000 students. The campus of the university is very impressive and
something you have never seen before. It may happen that you will run into a lot of
international students (more than 10,000 students) as the university promotes their
study programs on a global scale. It also has the biggest “Greek Life” among all
universities by having almost 100 different student organizations on the campus,
which makes the student life quite interesting and diverse.
Furthermore the athletic department of the University of Illinois (the so-called
“Fighting Illini”) is on the highest level of college athletics and makes it possible to
watch college sport games around the campus every week. It is really an
unforgettable experience to watch a real crowded American football or basketball
game.
Application
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The whole application process requires a lot of effort and you should apply early in
order to avoid any hassles. The first step is to hand in a formal application with
various documents such as a letter of intent, curriculum vitae, application form and
transcript of records. Besides that the process is pretty smooth and the bureau of
international affairs (BIB) is very helpful in answering any questions. After you got
successfully accepted by your home university and you have received the “Letter of
Acceptance” from the University of Illinois (which takes several weeks), you have to
apply for a student visa. Before you can officially apply for a student visa you also
have to send several documents to the University of Illinois (e.g. transcript of
records, sponsor statement). The transcript of records can be automatically
generated via the campus systems (http://campus.aau.at) either in English or in
German. Everyone who wants to get the Student Visa has to take a trip to the U.S
embassy in Vienna. Prior to this you have to fill out an online application form1 and
pay the necessary fees (approximately EUR 250). After the U.S. embassy received
the money, you can easily set up an appointment via Internet or telephone. The
process is straightforward and you should receive your Student Visa within a few
days.
Flights & Arrival
I decided with another student, who was going to spend a semester at the University
of Illinois as well, to explore the West Coast by car two weeks prior to the start of
the orientation week on campus. We booked the flight Venice-Zurich-Washington,
D.C.-Los Angeles with United Airlines to start our road trip in the United States. After
our trip along the west coast we took a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago. The
return flight back home was much more comfortable, because we had a direct flight
from Chicago to Munich. Most of the students who are travelling home may exceed
the baggage weight limits. Therefore it is recommendable to check in a second
luggage, which costs about USD 100 (EUR 75).
For those of you who are keen on travelling directly to the University of Illinois, I
would recommend to take Austrian Airlines and keep an eye out for low priced “Red
Tickets” as they offer non-stop flights from Vienna to Chicago.
1
https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/ 2
After you have arrived at the O’Hare Airport in Chicago there are different ways to
get to the university, such as various trains or buses. We decided to use a bus
company, the so-called “Peoria Charter”2 which carried us directly to the campus.
The bus ride takes about 4 hours and costs USD 30. It is the only bus company
where you can take two pieces of luggage with you.
Housing
One of the major challenges for any student who is just spending one semester at
the university is to find a suitable apartment for the short time period, which is
located nearby the campus. Many international students are living in residence halls,
which are located around the campus and are easier to book in advance.
Nevertheless I would strongly advise you to look for alternatives as the dorms, which
are offered by the university, are not very spacious and quite expensive (about USD
5.000 per semester)3. Some of them do not have air condition, heating and are
lacking in solid heat insulation. In addition to that you have to share your room with
other students (up to four people are living in the same room together). It is often
mandatory in those places to book meal plans, which do not offer a varied diet and
dramatically increase the cost of living. The university also offer some apartments
with short-term leases which are located off-campus and are reasonably priced. If
you prefer to look for places that are located in the “heart of the campus” I would
recommend you to look via craigslist4 (a platform for housing inquiries) or use some
of the Facebook groups (you need a valid email address from the UIUC). But be
aware of the fact that most apartments only offer a full-time lease (for the whole
year) and it is quite difficult to find a place for only one semester. Therefore it is
sometimes necessary to find someone who is subleasing the place for only one
semester. In my case, I was really lucky to find a place that was reasonably priced,
close to the “main quad” (centre of the campus) and which was offering a very
modern apartment complex. I was able to sublease a room from a former student at
“Maywood Apartments”5. It was about 5 minutes away from the “main quad” by bus
and 10 minutes if you walked there. The apartment offered a wide range of amenities
such as air condition, self-regulated heating, balcony, fridge & freezer, fitness
2
http://www.peoriacharter.com http://www.housing.illinois.edu/Rates/2014‐2015/New.aspx 4
https://chambana.craigslist.org/ 5
http://maywoodapts.com/ 3
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center, washing machine and dryer. Furthermore it is equipped with a modern
kitchen (including microwave, oven, stove, fume hood) and fully furnished with largescreen television. Furthermore it is just a
10-minute walk away from the ARC,
which is one of the largest on-campus recreation centers around the country. I often
went there to do my work out as it offers many amenities such as a 1/5 mile indoor
track, swimming pools, racquetball courts and various multi-purpose areas. All in all
I was very satisfied with this apartment and believe that it is one of the best available
choices around the campus.
Courses
After you have received the “Letter of Acceptance” from the university you can
already set up an account (NetID) for the University of Illinois network6. I would
recommend searching for suitable courses as soon as possible. Some of the
courses are highly sought-after and it may be difficult to get into one of those. In
general, you can take most of the classes as long as you fulfil the requirements.
Nevertheless it is quite difficult to get into courses that are offered from the College
of Business as our home university only has an official agreement with the College
of Media. Sometimes you just have to contact the professors if you cannot enrol into
a course via the Internet. It just takes one or two e-mails to get an override permit in
order to register for a course. As an international student you have to take at least
12 credit hours to maintain the J1-Visa status. I decided to take five courses from
different fields of studies to broaden my horizon and to gain new knowledge.
MACS 351: Social Aspects of Media – 3 credits (Prof. Reisner, A.)
“Explores media structures in relation to cultural content and social functions;
examines
problems
of
life
and
society
as
treated
in
mass-produced
communications”
Workload: weekly assignments (soundness checks, policy statements, diaries),
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exams, final project (policy brief)
ENG 466: High-Tech Venture Marketing – 2 credits (Prof. Shabbir, M.)
“Cornerstone marketing concepts for innovators and engineers to enable analysis
of products and technologies from a marketing perspective: engineering product
development and adoption life cycle; objectives and strategies; marketing
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https://my.illinois.edu/ 4
management;
communication
skills;
sales
process
and
tactics;
special
considerations for new high-tech engineering products and innovations.”
Workload: Weekly Post Chapter Quizzes, Self-Branding Assignment, Marketing
Plan Assignment, 2 Exams (Final & Midterm Exams), Marketing Article Analysis,
Group Presentation
ENG 566: Finance for Engineering Mgmt. – 2 credits (Prof. Lilly, B.)
“Cornerstone financial concepts for engineering management to enable analysis of
engineering projects from a financial perspective: income statements; the balance
sheet; cash flow statements; corporate organization; the time value of money; net
present value; discounted cash flow analysis; portfolio theory.”
Workload: 1 exam, programming computer software (with Excel), case study
RST 130: Foundations of Sport Mgmt, - 3 credits (Prof. Tainsky, S.)
“Examines career opportunities within the sport industry and provides knowledge
relevant to the management, marketing, legal, and financial operations of sport
organizations. Incorporates applications in a variety of sport entities including
intercollegiate athletics, campus recreation, event and facility management,
professional sport, management and marketing agencies, and international sport.”
Workload: Manager interview, event audit, midterm & final exam, 5 quizzes
NRES 102: Introduction to NRES – 3 credits (Prof. Mark, D.)
“Introduction to natural resources (forests, fisheries, soils, aquatic systems) and
environmental science. Emphasizes renewable natural resources, ecological
concepts, energy use, biodiversity of species, biogeochemical cycles, and air, water,
and soil pollution. Provides natural science basis for understanding contemporary
environmental issues and natural resource management.”
Workload: 3 exams, 10 online quizzes, online discussions, 5 assignments
I was really lucky with the selection of my course as they offered a huge variety of
different field of studies. Nevertheless you have to be aware of the fact that the
university system in the United States is a lot different to the system in Austria.
Professors are engaging students to participate actively in the class room and there
are weekly assignments which makes the courses very time-consuming. I really
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enjoyed the courses, but there was also a lot of work to do. In general you have
weekly assignments (such as discussions, quizzes), one midterm and one final
exam per course. In most of the courses attendance was mandatory as well. If you
are up-to-date and are studying very hard it should not be too difficult to get good
grades. My favourite course was definitely “RST 130: Foundations of Sport Mgmt.”
where I could learn more about professional sport (e.g. Basketball, American
Football) in the United States and could gain knowledge about the sport industry.
In the first week you can drop courses, if you do not like them. The college of media
helps you to get into course that may require some pre-requisites. Some of the
courses require textbooks which can be quite expensive. I would recommend buying
used books via the Internet (Amazon.com) and selling them at one of the bookstore
around the campus before you are going home. In general, all of the professors
were very helpful, good in terms of presenting the knowledge and had some
practical knowledge.
Expenses
Financial Expenses
Flights € 1.160,00 Housing (incl. utilities & internet) € 2.480,00 Living expenses
€ 2.200,00 Books € 50,00 UIUC Student Fee & Insurance
€ 496,47 VISA € 250,00 Travelling € 2.500,00 Total € 9.136,47 This table shows the total expenditures for the semester abroad. The expenses for
books were considerably low as I only needed books for two courses. The costs for
travelling included a 2-week round-trip along the west coasts and a 1-week trip
during thanksgiving break.
I really enjoyed the semester in the United States and would recommend everyone
to take the unique chance to study abroad for one semester. It was an unforgettable
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experience, where I could broaden my horizon, meet new friends, get known to
different cultures and gain new knowledge. It was also a great opportunity to travel
around the country and get in touch with local people. The exchange semester did
not only improve my language skills, but also benefited my own personality. The
exchange semester might be a little bit expensive, but I never regret this decision
as it provided me with so many valuable experiences and memories.
If you need any further information or have any questions do not hesitate to contact
me (froettl@edu.aau.at).
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