Details

• United States of America
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

In general the application process at WU worked out pretty well. The only thing that happened to me is that my interviewer forgot to reach out to me for scheduling an interview so I would recommend reaching out to the International Office from time to time to ensure that this does not happen to you as well. Furthermore, when preparing the exchange, I had a lot of guidance from the University of Minnesota, which always reminded me of the next steps and deadlines. Keep in mind that you need to hand in a proof of language proficiency. I took the TOEFL test at a testing center. I would recommend taking it as soon as possible so you do not get stressed out by the first application deadline, which appears to be very soon after the nomination.

2. Accommodation

Accommodation was provided by the University of Minnesota: There were three options of which two were on campus and the third one was off-campus. I lived in Yudof-Hall on campus, which was an apartment building. Keep in mind you might not get the room-category that you applied for: I applied for a single person room and ended up getting a 4 person 2 bedroom apartment. To avoid that, you can reach out to Housing & Residential Life via E-Mail and state that you need a single-room for a specific reason. The location of the building is amazing, it is in the heart of campus with a 20 minute walking distance to everything (grocery-store, classrooms, stadium,....). The most other exchange students however lived in the off-campus facility which they offered us, so if you want to keep in touch with the other exchange students you should probably choose this option. Keep in mind, that in off-campus housing you have a lot more freedom regarding alcohol consumption and many other things.

3. Academic life at host university

The classes I took overall were not very challenging and compared to WU's classes they have been very easy. Additionally, the classes are focused more on group work and projects rather than only exams, which I really enjoyed. Moreover, the professors will all know your name and call you out if you are loud or look distracted. The difficulty of classes really depends on the professors you get so make sure to look them up on ratemyprofessors.com and on umn.lol

5. Every day life in the host country

Public Transport works pretty well and is free for students, but be aware to not ride alone in the evening as it can get dangerous. Other than that the environment is very safe and the UMN Police Department does a great job keeping the campus and Dinkytown safe. The University of Minnesota hosts various college sports events and I recommend to visit as many as possible (apart from football and basketball they are all free admission). Moreover, there are various other options such as clubs to get involved in social life there and that has been an amazing opportunity to connect with new people.

6. Testimonial

What made my time really special are the people that I got to know there. We were a group of some exchange students and some Americans and spent all of our free time together. This made us grow incredibly close and we really had a hard time separating in the end. Moreover, the seamless organization of the exchange by the University of Minnesota was incredible and made me feel very welcome there. College sports and the fact, that the Minnesota Golden Gopher football team did not lose a single home game this season did the rest and made this exchange the best possible experience. I really want to thank WU for this wonderful opportunity that they gave me and for which I will be forever grateful.