Posted in October 2016
Bart Hutten, University of Maryland, Post 1
Hi everyone!
My name is Bart, I am a 21 year old Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management student at Delft University of Technology. I’m lucky enough to spend a semester in College Park in the States! I’ll try to give you an impression of my experience here in a few blogposts, feel free to email me if you have any questions related to studying abroad in the USA.
Before I came to Maryland, I went on a vacation with my family through the American Southwest. The national parks (Yosemite, Grand canyon, Bryce canyon) that we visited were definitely the highlights of this trip for me. We then flew to the east coast where my family dropped me off in College Park and my study abroad time started! The first few weeks at the university were simply amazing. I met many interesting people and there were a lot of fun events and parties going on. To top it off, I went to NYC with a Dutch friend who also studies at Delft University of Technology.
The Americans I met so far all seem really nice and more open than the Dutch. Everybody is in for a conversation about anything, so making new friends is pretty easy! Many of them I met haven’t been outside the states and were very interested in cultural differences between Europe and the USA.
A few weeks ago the First look Fair event was hosted on the big mall right at the center on campus. All the sports/social/ clubs were there and I applied for almost 10 (mostly sports) clubs!
I am too busy with classes to try all the new sports though (lacrosse, American football etc.). Unlike Delft, attendance is often mandatory and they check it with ‘surprise’ in-class quizzes. These quizzes can be a pain if you didn’t pay attention in class and the teacher suddenly hands out a quiz for you to make. In addition to these quizzes, I have many weekly homework assignments which are all graded. It works well if you keep up with it though, I had my first midterm last week and I found that I did not have to study as hard for it as I would have in Delft.
The first two weeks of classes is called the add/drop period, since many students tend to oversubscribe on classes (they have a lot of electives they can take towards their major!) and use the first two weeks to see if they like the courses and drop/add some. I found out that I did not meet the prerequisites for one computer science class, so I was able to swap it with another engineering course.
The weather here in September was pretty nice. Sunny and just as humid in Delft, you only notice that more because it tends to be hot. Around 35 celsius in the afternoon is quite normal for this time of year and it is often ‘sticky’ at night. Luckily my apartment has airconditioning which makes life much more comfortable.
Naturally, I am also following this year’s elections more closely than ever, but I’ll leave that and other topics for future blogposts.
All the best from College Park 🙂
Bart
Bernice Oosterling, University of Michigan, Post #1, Fall Break
Hi everyone!
I’m a senior in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management at the TU Delft. Thanks to the Global E3 program I’m able to experience an American semester at one of the world’s best universities for engineering: University of Michigan!
Ann Arbor Michigan has been my beautiful hometown for almost six weeks now.
As soon as I got in Ann Arbor I moved into my dorm, which is located on North Campus (the Theatre and Engineering campus).
My first week at the University of Michigan was already a very exciting week! It was a week full of introductions and orientations and new experiences. The Michigan Welcome week is not only filled with official orientations but it’s also an introduction for sports clubs, sororities, fraternities, cultural clubs etc.
Despite my busy schedule I decided to join the marketing team of Michigan’s largest theatre group MUSKET! Joining one of the student’s clubs is one of the best things to do to get some hands on experience and new friends.
I am lucky that I’m studying at U-M in fall semester cause it’s their football season and Michigan owns the largest stadium of the US (“the big house”)!
Football games take place every Saturday in the month of September and October. Our very first game was against Hawaii and we won with are score of 63 vs. 3.
Me and my friends took the change to experience a real American football game! Michigan’s Wolverines get pretty excited to support their team. The whole city is filled with Michigan fans and supporters. It’s amazing to see how an entire city supports their own team!! Everyone is dressed up in their Maze & Blue outfits.
Here in Michigan I’m enrolled in junior and senior Industrial Engineering and Operations courses. After my first week it was very clear to me that the American universities are very different from the Dutch ones. Instead of having “just” finals or projects you’ll have a lot of homework. Now six weeks later I’ve already turned in more than 30 assignments and I just finished my first midterm. Luckily the degree of difficulty for these assignments is a bit lower than back in the Netherlands. But therefore, they also expect students to get A’s for almost every assignment.
Most of my classes here are very small and therefore most of the professors know the names of all of their students which is very nice.
Besides my courses, my friends and I try to explore Michigan and its surrounding states during our weekends. Last weekend we went on a road trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes. This is the Northern area of Michigan. It’s a beautiful area to camp, drive and hike!!
In two weeks our Fall break will start and we will spread our wings to Chicago, Illinois! That’s something to look forward to during my midterm week!
Cheers,
Bernice
Eveline, University of Maryland, post 1
Hi everyone!
My name is Eveline and I am a twenty year old Industrial Design Engineering Student at the Technical University of Delft. This semester I am studying at the University of Maryland in the United States.
About six weeks ago I arrived on campus, one day before orientation started. I flew to Washington with a girl from Delft that I already knew from my student association. The morning after we arrived we got up early to attend the exchange orientation program. It started off in a gorgeous building on campus called ‘Tydings Hall’ with a lecture on the University of Maryland. That day we were introduced to little facts about the university and the facilities on campus. We got divided into little groups to tour the campus and have lunch. After a full day of orientation activities the study abroad office had organized a ‘Welcome Dinner’ for all the exchange students. I met a lot of new people whom I still do a lot with.
Orientation lasted for four days, and after the first weekend things started getting serious and lectures started. It took me and my friends a while to get used to the very different educational system here: choosing your own classes, building your own schedule, all the homework, quizzes and midterms. I am working very hard to maintain all the assignments I have to hand in and keep up with all the readings, as you never know here when your professor will ‘surprise’ you with a quizz!
Even though I am very occupied with all the school work, I am still enjoying myself a lot here. There a lot of things to do around campus, such as sports and joining clubs (there is a club for basically ANYTHING you could ever think of, and you are free to join any one of them!). I notice that the engineering students at this university have more work to do than most other majors at this university.
Washington is very near by, it takes about 25-40 minutes to travel to the city center either by train or uber. I have visited the city four times thus far, and me and my friends have also travelled to Philadalphia for a day. Next weekend we are visiting Baltimore and Annapolis, and in a few weeks we are going to New York. Busses here are very cheap, and there is so much to do not too far away from the university.
Of course I have also witnessed a few traditional football games already. The stadium on campus is huge and the games are such an experience: cheerleaders, marching bands, food and all the university merchandise you can possible imagine are there to make the whole day even more impressive than it already is. American schools sure do take their athletics seriously!
Talk to you soon!
Eveline
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