Victoria Abroad Evaluation Form PLEASE TYPE THIS EVALUATION FORM & EMAIL IT TO VICTORIA ABROAD AS A WORD DOCUMENT A: Student Information VUW degree(s) BCom Major(s) Management and Commercial Law Exchange Institution VUW Tri & Year of Exchange The University of Texas at Austin Trimester 2, 2014 B: Finances Please detail your basic costs in New Zealand dollars. This will help future students plan their own budgets. (Enter your number rounded to the nearest dollar.) Books $200 Accommodation $6000 Return Airfare $4000 Local Transportation Meals Visa Health & Insurance Personal Spending $4000 Communications (phone, etc.) Other fees (specify) Buses around the city are free with a UT student ID Included in accommodation Around $300 including transport to Auckland $1600 for unlimited cover $60/month for phone with AT&T What unexpected costs did you encounter? What items were more or less than expected? The visa process involved making a number of payments, I thought it would be just one. How did your financial expenses compare to what you originally expected to spend? It was much the same as I expected. By what means did you maintain your finances? What would you recommend? (Credit card, foreign bank account, travelers checks, etc)? Getting a Cash Passport is probably the easiest way to pay for things in the US, if you re there for longer than 6 months then it may be a good idea to sign up for a US bank. What financial advice would you give students attending the same university as you? Go to a co-op for more affordable housing, use Wifi more than phone data, potentially take greyhound busses rather than fly (if you aren t going too far).
What was the average cost of a can of coke or coffee in your host country? A can of coke is around 1 or 2 dollars C: Visas & Insurance *Please note this information is recommended by VUW students & current at the time of their exchange. For all up-to-date visa information you must check with the embassy/consulate of your host university. Did you have to apply for a visa? If so, was it difficult? What was the process, how long did it take and how much did it cost? I did have to apply for a J1 visa. The process was fairly straight forward but it was time consuming so its best to start it early so you don t have to worry about it nearer to when you are going. This website shows you the process for getting a Visa: http://newzealand.usembassy.gov/how_to_apply.html Do you have any advice for future students when applying for visas to your host country? Start early, get your photo taken by someone who takes photos for visas. I used http://jamesgilberdphotography.weebly.com/passport-visa-id-photos.html he sent me the files by email so I could upload it to the visa website and gave me a physical copy too. Did your host university have a mandatory insurance? Or a particular insurance they recommended? If Yes, what was it and how much did it cost? All students have to have insurance and the university provides it to everybody by default at a cost. I got travel insurance and you can use this to opt out of getting the student insurance and waive the additional costs of student insurance. What insurance company did you use and would you recommend it to future students? I used QBE. I didn t require insurance for any major things but for smaller things such as getting a vaccination at the university, making a claim was time consuming. I think there may be better options out there where making claims will be easier. D: Academics at Host University Which courses did you take while on exchange? Please rate the difficulty of each course (1-5, 1 = Very Easy & 5 = Extremely Difficult) and leave any comments you may have. Course Title Language of VUW course VUW Rating (1-5) Comments Instruction equivalent or points/credits elective value VUW Trimester 2/YEAR Intro to Astronomy English N/A 15 unspecified 100 level points 3 Music Radio for and As above As above As above 1
Television Psychology of Advertising Fundamentals of Public Relations As above As above As above 2 As above As above As above 1 Course Registration/Enrolment Please describe the registration process at your host university. What kind of help was available? Registration is done online and you can meet a course advisor to decide on what courses you should take. How successful were you in registering/enrolling for classes you wanted? What advice would you offer to next year's exchange students about registration at your host university? I didn t get to enroll in most of the courses I had originally planned for as International students are only able to apply after local students meaning a lot of the classes are already full or are closed. The application process happened in the morning so make sure you have access to the Internet and a computer and be prepared to find new courses to enroll in. You can always move courses if you find you don t like it and you can be waitlisted for ones you do as well. Academic Experience How did your academic experience differ from your time spend at Victoria? Did the academic experience meet your expectations? Lectures were fairly similar. There weren t any tutorials for my courses (I think they have workshops for some courses though). How did the style of teaching at your host university compare with that at VUW? How did the workload compare to what you would expect at VUW? There were more exams/quizzes spread out over the year rather than a couple and then a large exam at the end. This meant that if you didn t necessarily do well in one quiz there were opportunities to make up for it. A couple of my classes had optional finals that would take over your worst exam grade but these happen nearer the end of the semester so if you want to travel its best not to have to do these. What would you recommend as an appropriate course load for other VUW students visiting your partner university? What specific courses would you recommend to visiting VUW students? Why? I would recommend taking 12 course hours a week (that s four 3 hour classes but its possibly to take 6 hour classes too). What advice would you give VUW students about succeeding academically at your host university? Make sure you read the course syllabus and understand what is required of you to pass.
What was your impression of the computer facilities, library, and internet access at your host university? The library offered a good place to study although it can be quite busy. Wifi is offered throughout the university for free but they only give you a small allowance through the week and will slow down your Internet after that. You can buy more internet though (but it s probably best just to use your accommodation s Wifi). E: Accommodation What form of accommodation did you stay in? A private dorm called The Castilian What were the pros and cons of this form of accommodation? It wasn t managed that well (some cold showers, a power outage, and heating problems). Was a decent sized room and you can get a food plan with it. The people in the Castilian were generally freshmen which can be strange if you re older. What accommodation would you recommend to future students? Co-ops. Check out http://collegehouses.org/ I would recommend Pearl Street. How early can you move into accommodation? Around August 22 nd I believe but early move-in is possible in some places. What options were available for meal plans or cooking facilities? How satisfied were you with the food? There were meal plans available. The food was fairly good and it was possible to eat healthily but the food was pretty processed. If you lived in off-campus housing, how easy was it to find? What should future VUW exchange students know about living off-campus? The Castilian is easy to find, its right next to campus and just off Guadalupe Street. Do you have any tips of advice for future students when applying for accommodation? Apply early for co-ops, if they don t get in touch with you then get in touch with them. F: Personal & Cultural Connections What was it like making friends? How successful were you at making friends with local (i.e., not international) students? Making friends was fairly easy with international students as they are typically in the same boat as you. Local students (at least the ones in my accommodation) chose to usually stick to themselves but were friendly. I became friends with people that weren t at the university too through a friend that used
Couchsurfing. Meeting people through Couchsurfing could be a good idea when you first arrive in Austin and need a place to stay but plan it early so you re not stuck. What was it like to adjust to the culture of your exchange country/university? America is fairly easy to adjust to as its relatively similar to New Zealand. Everything is a lot bigger (e.g. the university has 55,000 students) and the food can be pretty unhealthy. What, if any, cultural differences did you find particularly challenging? How would you recommend students to prepare for these differences? There wasn t anything too challenging to adjust to. What parts of the culture did you most appreciate? How proud people are of their country (not necessarily their government though). In Austin, they are big on music, film and food. How were you treated by local people? By university staff and faculty? By students? I was treated well, students were sometimes surprised when I spoke in class and had another accent. People generally thought I was from Australia, sometimes England and one person thought I was from South Africa. As far as you could tell, how easy would it be for students with disabilities to study at your partner university? For students who are visible minorities in your host country? For students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered? Austin is a pretty accepting place I would say. Students with disabilities shouldn t face too many issues with regards to access and discrimination either. Did you face any issues regarding discrimination in your host country? What were they, and what advice would you give to future students? I didn t face any discrimination. G: Extra-curricular/Social Activities What organized activities (clubs, sports, etc.) were available to students? What extra-curricular activities would you recommend to future exchange students? There are a lot of clubs you can join and recreational groups. If you have a hobby then they ve probably got a club for you. What do you recommend other visiting students see or do on their weekends or holidays? Go to 6 th street, Barton Springs, take trips to Dallas and San Antonio, go to football games and tailgate, explore the natural parts of Austin, go to the Capital building, go to ACL festival and go to Franklin BBQ (be prepared to wait 3 hours and arrive before 10:30am but its worth it). Also go to the Bob Bullock State
Museum and watch the Star of Destiny movie, it s pretty cheap and gives a history of Texas but it s actually interesting. What opportunities were there for students to work on-campus? Off-campus? There are opportunities on and off-campus, but it depends on your visa whether you can work. What volunteer or internship opportunities were there for students? I m not sure about volunteer opportunities but I m sure there are some. There are internship opportunities but I think a lot of them go to local students and are for people that are there for a year or more. 5 things to take to your host country or region 1 Preparedness to try new things 2 Some kiwiana to keep in your room (marmite for people to taste) 3 Some cold weather gear for when winter arrives (it got down to about 4 degrees). You could just purchase it over there though. 4 Visas and Documents 5 A laptop or ipad 5 pieces of useful advice would tell a VUW student going to your host university 1 Be prepared for the heat, it was 40 degrees when I arrived in August 2 Go to football games 3 Get Uber, its great for getting around and to places that buses don t go to. 4 Make the most of your Visa and travel around the US before and after you ve been in Austin 5 Get to other places in Texas like Dallas and San Antonio (see the Alamo) Top 5 Things to do What are your Top 5 Things To Do future VUW students at your host university or city/country? 1 Eat Texan and TexMex food 2 Go to football games 3 Go to ACL festival 4 Go tailgating 5 Travel around the US
H: Personal Experience Please write one paragraph about your exchange experience. Plus, don t forget to submit some photos to the exchange office!! Going on an exchange is something that I have always wanted to do and now that I have done it I m glad I did. Being able to travel independently gave me skills to deal with unknown situations as they arose and the whole experience has helped me grow as a person. I ve been able to see some of the US and am now eager to head back to see the places I missed and to catch up with the friends I made over there. The most important thing I learnt over there was to be prepared to try new things. I would recommend going on an exchange to anybody that is interested.