Details

• United States of America
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

start on time as it is really a lot of work to organize everything; people from umich were really helpful, quick and nice concerning any kind of support if you had any issues or problems with preparing for the exchange

2. Accommodation

Umich provided a spreadsheet where students from Michigan who would go abroad could put their information for subletting and incoming exchange students like us could put their information as well - usually they sublet their rooms for a lower price than they would pay, that was really helpful as rent in Ann Arbor is very high. At Michigan it is not common for exchange students to live in on-campus housing - Ann Arbor is a town mainly consisting of student houses, so off-campus housing is the most common. You can either live in private residences or houses, I lived in a private residence called Verve in a 4 bedroom/4 bathroom apartment. A lot of my exchange friends lived in houses, there's pros and cons to both: the houses are sometimes more comfortable, personal and easier to host get-togethers, pres or parties but also a bit worn-out while the residence I lived in was very new and therefore modern and clean - I even had my own bathroom. Another advantage of my residence was that there was an in-house gym and common areas to study plus some of my exchange friends lived in the same building so we could hang out anytime which was fun. A disadvantage was that there weren't any official subleasing contracts, so I needed to take over the complete leasing contract and do an arrangement with my subletter which was extremely time consuming and a very long process; houses usually do have official subleasing contracts. The residence was 5 mins of walking distance to Ross, especially in Winter it is really useful to live nearby the university as it will be very low negative temperatures most of the time. Concerning safety, Ann Arbor is really safe even at night because there is mainly students living there.

3. Academic life at host university

Teachers and staff are really helpful and trying, they respond fast if you need any kind of help. Ross is a nice building, there is a lot of seating and studying spaces, there is a cafeteria, many water refilling stations and a Starbucks within the building. The academic culture is a bit different there: class participation meaning you need to contribute to the class, is really important and counts for 20% of the grade in most classes.

5. Every day life in the host country

there is busses that go around Ann Arbor that are free if you show your MCard, downtown is walkable, going to the big grocery stores is a bit far, so you can either order or go by bus, some of them are coming regularly, some are not; the university organizes a lot of activities, there is a free university gym about 15 mins from Ross by walking, there are lots of business related events at Ross; there are some bars near Ross, some are near state street and some are downtown (Main Street)

6. Testimonial

It was a great experience, my highlights were the amazing people I met, the helpfulness of staff and teachers at university and the university spirit and sense of connection. It was interesting to experience university life in the US where university is celebrated and something you identify and define yourself with. It connected everyone, especially the sports games and the excitement and pride around the university's sports teams is incredibly strong.