Exchange Report

- Inform early on: the most important information can be found on the international office's web page - read exchange reports from other students to get a feeling of what is important to you and what factors to consider - compare partner universities for courses and reputation - evaluate partner universities based on factors important to you (housing, academics, location, ...) - check if you can transfer credits for more WU-courses than just "courses abroad" and plan your semesters accordingly - consider cost of living in destination and visa factors - get your proof of language proficiency done early if you need it - keep deadlines in mind - take care of housing early on - contact other outgoings

I lived on campus in the language house. The language house at UMD is a program where international students and regular American students who want to learn a certain language live together in a suite-style dorm (basically an apartment). I was too late applying to the program but I was still put into an apartment in the language house, but just a general one and lived with four other international students. You have the option to live on or off campus. I would strongly suggest choosing to live on campus. Living cost might be a little more expensive and you probably have to share a bedroom, but I would say it is still worth it. If you take a dining plan, you can go to the dining halls as much as you want (and I really took advantage of that). Also if you live in the language house, you are located in the centre of the campus which is super convenient. It might be the best located dorm on campus. You can also live in a regular dorm, but this is more of a gamble I would say (if you get a good or bad one). You can also live off-campus but I personally did not want to go through the struggle of finding housing and as I said on campus is really convenient. I shared a bedroom with another international student which worked out fine as I did not spend a lot of time in my bed room. You might be lucky and get a single room, but that's also more expensive. Another advantage of the language house is that you don't live an a regular dorm as you know it from the movies (shared room with bathroom and kitchen on the hall with all the other residents) but it's basically an apartment with 3 bedrooms and you only share a bathroom and a kitchen with four others which worked out well for me. I didn't use the kitchen at all because I had the full dining plan. If you're not a big eater you can get a small dining hall plan, where you can only go for a total of 100 times and can use the kitchen. Trader Joes and Lidl are in a walking distance of like 15-25 mins. If you want to know more about who the dining halls or living in the language house work, feel free to contact me. Regarding safety: I felt super safe and I didn't really hear something about incidents. I heard that there can be some crime in College Park, but not on campus. There is an on-campus police station and there always watching out.

Campus infrastructure is pretty great. Everything is pretty thought through and close to each other, even if it is a big campus. I took all my classes in the business school so I didn't really had to walk far from my dorm. I would say the academic culture is more chill than at WU. You have more mandatory attendance and more of a regular, steady work load, as there are more small assignments, but the exams are less than at WU and it's generally easier to get good grades. Usually the worst grades in a business school class are C's. Getting an A or a B is generally easier than at WU.

If you live on campus you don't really need public transport to get to your classes, or to get food, or to the gym, or anything at all. I only used public transport to go to the DC. There is a metro station in 20min walking distance and gets you to DC in 30mins. When I didn't want or had the time to walk I used Veo. Veo are electric scooters which you can find all over campus and work really well (and it's fun). If you have further distances to travel in limited time they are the perfect choice and I also used them to get to the metro station. Public transport in DC is pretty good for American conditions. The metro works really well and gets you where you want to go. Safety in general is pretty obvious in America, but I have to say that DC is comparably better than the rest of the country. In my spare time I loved to go to the gym. There is a big gym on campus and free for all students. There is a big weight lifting area with everything you need, there's a big pool if you like to swim, two basketball courts, three badminton courts, a sauna and a lot more. Outside of the gym there are eight tennis courts. I also joined the tennis club. They have practice three times a week and everyone can just go no matter if you're a beginner or an intermediate (if you're a pro you can play for the serious team). Tennis club is more of a social thing. Usually a lot of students come and fill up the courts and play and hang out. On the weekends my friends and I usually went to the bars just right outside campus which are pretty fun. We also went to DC sometimes but it is way more expensive if you go out there. They have a lot of sport events too. I went to almost every football game (they have it almost every weekend) and to some basketball games. If you're a sports fan I would suggest you should go in the fall semester because that's the time where all the fun sports are going on.

I would say it was a crazy experience to go to a strange country all by myself and moved in into an apartment in a strange university with four guys from different countries. That experience gives you so much new things. I was so lucky that one of the guys that moved in with me turned out to become one of my best friends and we are still in contact. I have met to other guys which I considered to be my best friends. One of them I just asked if I could sit next to at an orientation event. Long story short I ended up spending thanksgiving at his house with his family which was the most amazing memory I have of this trip. The exposure to so many new and strange things let me grow personally and really did broaden my perspective (I know it's a cheesy saying, but it really did). I feel more confident: in social situations; with me living by myself; being able to adapt and make things work in a new culture and make friends... I built friendships all around the world. I can't wait to visit my friends in London or Kopenhagen. I balanced academics with unforgettable experiences and a lot of sports. I also experienced a lot of American culture which was one of my big goals: I traveled the east coast, ate at diners, took a road trip, went to New York City, shopped at Wall Mart and a lot more. But it's also important for me to say that it wasn't always perfect and easy. I had high expectations and felt a lot of pressure to make this semester work because it is not cheap financially. There were times where I felt alone and stressed. But it is important to enjoy the moment, where you are at and just say yes to things.