Details

• United States of America
• BaWiSo-19
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

It is important to make sure that you know what you want and what you are looking for in an exchange semester. Prioritize what is most important for you (either living in college town or a major city, having a variety of sport teams etc.). Moreover, make yourself familiar with the requirements at the different universities regarding English proficiency and GPA requirements for example. In order to prepare for the actual semester abroad, make sure to get your documents as soon as possible to prevent any last-time stress.

2. Accommodation

I was living in the residence hall which was suggested by the University of Iowa. The process is pretty easy because you get assigned to a number in the line with a time slot for you to log in into the Housing portal where you can select a residence hall and room type. I was in Mayflower with one roommate. The residence hall was a bit outside of the campus and it took about 20 min to walk to Campus. The busses run frequently which made it way faster to go to class or to campus in general. The residence hall and Iowa City in general were overall very safe. In regard of tips, I would recommend choosing a residence hall that is on campus (like Daum, Currier or Burger) if you mind the way. On the other hand, Mayflower offered bigger rooms with an own kitchen and bathroom.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus infrastructure is really good, especially as a Business student because all classes are on the East side of town. The classes are easier in comparison to the WU but more effort because of weekly quizzes, homework and project throughout the semester. Attendance is often required and overall the teaching style is more personal because of smaller classes.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transportation around campus is free and runs frequently on the weekdays. Iowa City is a college town and therefore very safe, even at night. There is nothing much to do around Iowa City regarding leisure activities but it's not really needed either. There are many social events every week and events like the football or basketball games really make up for that. Besides that, the university offers a huge variety of sport facilities on and around campus for almost every sport you can imagine. Moreover, the University of Iowa is a bar college and therefore the options to go out are endless. Because of that, I would recommend going in the winter semester as the football season is from August to December and to be 21 as the bars and clubs are strict with the age requirement.

6. Testimonial

The semester at the University of Iowa was one of the greatest experiences of my life because of the people I met and the things I could witness and experience throughout the 4 months. From the football game where 70.000 people cheer for the same team to the great sport facilities and opportunity and the places in the US I visited during my exchange semester. I joined the Financial Management Association and signed up for the Golf and Pickleball club and met some great people there. Moreover, I visited Los Angles, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon during fall break and I believe it will never get easier to visit those places than during the exchange semester. Furthermore, events like Homecoming and Halloween are really worth experiencing in the US. Overall, I think the University of Iowa is a great university to witness the real college life and therefore I would definitely do it again.