Details

• United States of America
• BaWiRe-16
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

1) Get a US phone number with Boost Mobile or Mint Mobile; 2) Get a physical credit card or Revolut card if you don’t already have one; 3) Book your outbound and return flights together as early as possible. For the return flight, choose a flexible ticket so you can change your departure date free of charge. (Toward the end, plans often change, trips come up, or you might can go home earlier so free rebooking is a real game changer.)

2. Accommodation

Here is a polished and slightly more formal revision of your text: All exchange students are assigned to on-campus housing at Canyon Creek Heights North. Choosing off-campus housing makes little sense in terms of both social life and proximity to the university. WU students are usually placed at JSOM (the business school), which is about a 15-minute walk at a relaxed pace or a 10-minute brisk walk away. Apartments are typically designed for four people, with two bedrooms on each side sharing one bathroom. The bathroom and kitchen are of very good quality, while the bedroom itself is adequate. One thing I wish I had known beforehand is that, although the apartment is fully furnished (including a sofa, mattress, desks, etc.), it does not include plates, pans, glasses, or cutlery. You either need to bring a basic essentials set or purchase inexpensive items from retailers such as Amazon or Walmart. There is also a kind of second-hand market for these items among students during the first week, although I did not personally use it and cannot comment on how it works. The only minor drawback for me personally was that the windows cannot be opened, as fresh air is regulated through a ventilation system. Overall, however, the on-campus housing is very solid.

3. Academic life at host university

Regarding academic culture, teaching, and grading: the professors I had were very good and brought a great deal of practical experience, which I particularly appreciated. Grading is relatively lenient. It is quite easy to achieve good grades, as professors often apply a grading curve, exams are rather manageable, and assessment is based on multiple assignments and coursework throughout the semester. The student culture is generally more relaxed, which I occasionally found frustrating in group work, as I am used to putting in a high level of effort as a business student. That said, I also met ambitious peers with whom it was very enjoyable to collaborate.

5. Every day life in the host country

Campus facilities for sport a really nice. The basketball courts are outstanding, and there is a well-equipped bouldering wall, a 25-meter swimming pool, tennis and pickleball courts, as well as soccer fields (although there does not to be a running track). In terms of studying, the library is decent. Regarding public transport: You are little bit stuck on campus, because public transport is not really existent. There is the Dart Silverline, which offers a nice connection between airport and uni, but apart from that there are only some buses, which take for ever for everything. My recommendation: Socialize as much as possible and make new friends. It took me 3 month to make really good friends, who then took my everywhere. Especially in the US, without a car its tough. You can also try to buy a used car or rent it second hand, but of course that brings more risk and expenses with it. On campus there are also Zip-Cars (cars which you can rent.) They have reasonable prices for 1-3 hours, but for a usage over this time its a little bit pricey. The uni has a lot of events, almost every day there is something. Cheat Code for cheap road trips: Get a membership for AAA (= car club or american öamtc). that costs between 40$-60$ per year. With that you get a free gold membership at Hertz Car Rental Service, which includes a waiver for the young driver fee (everybody who is between 21-25y needs to pay a young driver fee, which is very expensive) and you get a additional 5%-10% off your rental. Then book a car via an austrian VPN (WU VPN vor example), because this way its cheaper than from an american internet. This way you really safe a lot of money.

6. Testimonial

I had the best time ever! I traveled a lot (Austin, New York, Cancun Mexico, Fort Worth, Miami and 2weeks Westcoast trip from San Francisco over Los Angelos to Las Vegas with all the national parks.) and the last month on campus was by far the best, since at this point I had established all my friendships, and in the beginning it just takes a while to break the ice it was so fun. However if you not socializing at all, it could happen that you are little bit stuck on campus.