Experience report
ANR: 640275
Name:Jasper Heerings
E-mail:j.j.m.heerings@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester:Fall
Academic year: 2014
Host University:McMaster
Country:Canada
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
How was your arrival organized? Did someone pick you up from the airport/station? Was an
orientation or introduction activity organized? How was accommodation organized? Does the
university provide you with accommodation? What kind of accommodation does the university
provide? Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for a place
to live after you arrived?
I went on holiday to Vancouver with my family beforehand. After this holiday my family flew home and
I flew to Toronto. I arrived there around 00:00, so I took a cab to my hotel. I reserved that hotel before
leaving the Netherlands because I did not arrange a room yet. In the first days I viewed 3 rooms after
a lot of mailing and calling to landlords. However I found a perfect house together with 2 Canadians. I
decided to live off-campus, because on-campus you live mostly with first-years. They cannot drink
alcohol. Moreover you would get a roommate and you have a mandatory meal-plan. However I heard
from other students that life on-campus was not that bad. However I was happy I lived off-campus.
There are a lot of rooms available in Hamilton (even for 4 months) so do not say ‘yes’ to fast to a
landlord. I did live in the basement but that was no problem for me and I can’t see it would be a
problem for anyone.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Please describe the city you lived in. Where is the university located in the city? What is the best
place to go to eat/drink/dance/do sports/etc.? What are interesting things to see and do in your host
city? What was different than in Tilburg?
The university was a short bus drive from the city center. However the student-village Westdale is
next to the university. You very rarely have to be in the city center. The city is known as a steel-city
and the capitol of waterfalls. So there are a lot of nice walking trails and the people are hard workers,
so they might be grumpy some times. So as I mentioned the city-center was a short bus drive away.
Luckily for undergrads the bus is free, so that does not really matter. I only went to the city-center to
go out. The best place to go out to was definitely Motown (an event every Wednesday in club
Absinthe). For sports I suggest you make a team for the intermural. We made a team for soccer of
only exchange students, which was a lot of fun. We even won the title. There are a lot of waterfalls in
Hamilton, which is probably the most interesting thing to see. Furthermore Hamilton is close to some
very big cities (NY, Toronto and Montreal). Hamilton is not a very big city (500,000 residents) so it is
quite comparable to Tilburg.
TOPIC: Academics
Which courses did you take and why? Which courses would you recommend? What did the courses
add to your program at Tilburg University? How does the university compare to Tilburg University
concerning the level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English, workload, etc.? Overall,
were you happy with your academic achievements during your exchange? Please describe the
campus of your host university.
FINAL
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COMMERCE
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ECON
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GRD GRD GRD
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3FI3 03
3KA3 03
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ABAAA
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MARKET TRADING WITH OPTIONS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS&DESIGN
MARKETING RESEARCH
ECONOMICS OF AGING
INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION
I took 3 commerce courses and 2 economics courses. I wanted some courses that they did not offer
in Tilburg and a convenient schedule. I succeeded in this, although some courses were not that
interesting. Market trading with options was a very interesting course. It is about trading shares and
options. However it is an intense course and you will need to invest a lot of time in the course. On
hindsight I think it was worth it. System Analysis & Design was a very boring course. It was a three
hours lecture with a Chinese lecturer who did not speak very fluent English. I could not keep my
attention at his lectures. Furthermore his exam was way more difficult than his assignments. So I lost
a lot of marks on that. Marketing research is quite similar to Business Research but easier and more
marketing-intense of course. I would recommend that course if you think marketing research is
interesting. You will need to use SPSS for this course. Economics of Aging was not my first choice but
I am happy I did this course. For the course you have to use SPSS and excel and I was not very good
at that. Thanks to this course I now understand SPSS and know how to work with it. However it took
me some time at the beginning. Industrial Organization was a very easy course. The first half of the
course reminded me of some of my economics at high school. It became more difficult in the second
half. The workloads for the courses are more divided during the complete semester. For EoA I had an
assignment every week and for Market Trading with Options a monthly report and a huge (50 pages!)
report at the end. So you are busier during the semester and the final exams are worth less than 50%.
Furthermore you probably will get very high marks for the assignment. I already passed 4/5 courses
before the exams.
I am pleased with my final results. Unfortunately I underestimated the final exams and my grades
dropped, but they are still not bad. Especially Market Trading with Options is a unique course that is
not offered at Tilburg. The courses are generally speaking easier than in Tilburg.
TOPIC: Social life
Which social activities organized by the university or students? Did you have contact with local
students? Did you have contact with other exchange students? How did you get along with the local
students and other exchange students? Did you travel to other places/countries during your
exchange?
During my free time in Hamilton I mostly hung out with other exchange students. We got a nice group
of friends via the McMaster International and Exchange community (MIX). You can find them on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/195794820487918/. It is really the best way to get in
contact with internationals. With this group we had nice (keggar!) parties, daytrips, excursions, meals
etc. Almost every week there were activities, so you don’t have to get bored.
Furthermore I went to house parties/concerts/sport activities with my housemates. So I had contact
with the local students too. So I was lucky that my housemates brought me to those parties. I think it
is the fastest way to get in contact with the local people. There are local students in MIX too.
During my stay at Hamilton I travelled to Montreal, Toronto, Bruce Peninsula, New York, Boston,
Washington, Philadelphia and Niagara Falls. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to visit Chicago.
TOPIC: Living costs
How did you finance your exchange period, apart from the grant you received from Tilburg University?
What were your living expenses abroad like compared to Tilburg? What did you spend most of your
money on? What would you advice future students to spend their money on? Please outline your
approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange: housing, food, textbooks, etc.
I worked full-time before I went on exchange. Furthermore I had some savings. The rent for my room
was 550 dollar per month (including utilities), which is a normal price for a room near campus.
Especially because I only stayed there for 4.5 months this was a good deal. If you stay longer then it
is of course possible to find a cheaper one. Most exchange students I talked to found a room in a
similar fashion, just by looking around when you arrived in Hamilton. Everybody found one within a
week, so it shouldn’t be a big problem. For the location of the room, I would suggest to take one near
campus. The distances in Canada are always bigger than you would expect, and you don’t want to be
traveling that much every day. Moreover, most student related activities are centralized around
Campus. Westdale is a perfect location, or any place near Emerson St. would do. And the public
transportation system in these areas is pretty good. I wouldn’t take a room downtown or further east in
Hamilton, as these neighborhoods are a bit sketchy and far away from campus.
Besides the living expenses I think I spent 7000 euros in total. Especially my trip during Christmas
was expensive but totally worth it. The textbooks were very expensive too. So I spent around 1500
euros a month.
TOPIC: Culture
Did you experience culture shock while on exchange? How would you compare your host culture to
your own culture? What did you learn about your own culture while on exchange? What was different
about your host culture than you expected? What did you like and not like about your host culture? Do
you feel you learned a lot about your host culture, and if not, what would you like to learn more? How
would you describe your host countries culture? If you travelled to other cities/countries during your
exchange, were they different than your host city/country, and how?
Of course, anybody in Canada speaks English, so this works fine. You could also find some nice
Hamiltonian English accents, but it still possible to understand this. I just think the culture is a mix of
the USA and Europe, so this should not give any problems. For the rest, most prejudices are true:
Canadian people are very friendly and open: they are interested in the whereabouts of internationals,
and I even spoke to some people who have their roots in the Netherlands.
Some differences with what we are used to: the country is really based on cars, if you want to go
somewhere, just take a car. The distances are way bigger and the public transportation system isn’t
that good. Furthermore, people do eat a lot more outside their house: you could get a meal, some
fast-food or just a coffee almost anywhere, including the drive through of course. By the way, Tim
Horton’s Coffee is the place to go to get your extra-large cup of coffee.
The culture between the cities in Canada and the USA are not very different. The province Quebec in
Canada is different though. There the people speak French and their culture is different.
TOPIC: Personal development
What did you learn from the people you met during your exchange? Would you do things differently if
you had the chance, and what would you do differently? What was your best experience, and what
was your worst experience? What will you remember forever about your exchange period? What was
the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your exchange period?
I learned to be more independent and self-confident on exchange. Furthermore I am more open to
new experiences. I would not do many things differently. The only thing you should remember is that
you are on exchange only once, so do not say no too much. I had a lot of good experiences; the best
one is probably home-coming. That was a nice weekend I did not want to miss. I do not have any bad
experiences; the only thing I can complain about is that it gets really cold in the winter. I will never
forget all the other exchange students and my housemates and hope to see them soon again. The
most important lesson is that I know I can take care of myself without anyone else.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
Would you recommend an exchange period? Would you recommend your host university? What
should prospective students bring with them/leave behind? What preparation is required for going on
exchange to this destination? Was there anything you should have done in preparation that you didn’t
do?
Say no as little as possible. You are there once and while one semester might look really long, it is
not! I would definitely recommend my host university. What I really liked about my university is that
there were a lot of other exchange students and the MIX group organizes a lot of events. Mail some
landlords before you arrive to Hamilton, but I would not recommend renting a room before seeing it in
real-life. Look on kijiji or on the McMaster site.
TOPIC: A picture is worth a thousand words
If you took any pictures or made any videos that you would like to share with future exchange
students, please include them (or e-mail them separately). Pictures that show your daily life or
symbolize your exchange period are especially interesting for future exchange students.
Our international group of friends