Exchange Report University of Texas at Austin

Transcription

1 Exchange Report University of Texas at Austin Emma Bao Spring

2 January 2014 Part 1 - Monthly Activity Log As part of the freshmen orientation activities, we had a brilliant city tour around Austin. There we got to see the Capitol, Lady Bird Lake, Hill Country, Mount Bonnell and also the famous 6th Street. That's the first time we exchange students started to have a general idea how the city we would stay for 5 months was like and to realize how perfectly Austin made itself a combination of nature and modern society. After the city trip, we also had a campus tour around UT Austin with the company of a senior local student. Different from HKUST, UT Austin is much bigger and more spread out with buildings for various departments. Just like the typical Texas style, everything in Texas is huge. It's also at that moment that we started to look forward to the following days. February 2014 At the beginning of February, the international office organized a trip to New Orleans for all exchange students. This was really amazing. Exchange students lived Sheraton, just in the city center, close to the French Quarter. In the 3-day trip, we walked around the French Quarter to visit the buildings with different architectural styles, tried different kinds of foods including the best puff in the world, oysters and French food, visited the navigators and watch the NBA games of New Orleans Pelicans VS Chicago Bulls! More importantly, exchange students from all over the world started to know each other more and become good friends. The international office also had a Buddy program for us, gathering UT students together with the exchange students. I had Stephanie and Betty, two girls who had been to HKUST for exchange, as my buddy and they were so nice to drive us to places that everyone can enjoy the great Texas BBQ. I even had the same course with Betty, so I could easily ask any questions that I had about study or life. Having a buddy is like having a good guide and friend into a strange and brand new life. I will definitely treasure this memory and keep in touch with these cute guys. March 2014 In March we have the spring break! Of course, traveling around US is what every exchange student would do and enjoy. Within 5 months, I traveled all across the country from the west to the east and visited Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, Niagara Fall, etc. We tasted a lot of food, tried all kinds of activities like canoeing, gun shooting, etc. US is a great country to visit and 5 months is just too short. The SXSW is another thing that I felt lucky to participate in. South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of film, interactive, and music festivals and conferences that take place early each year in mid-march in Austin. It began in 1987, and has continued to grow in both scope and size every year. In 2014, the conference lasted for 10 days 2

3 with SXSW Interactive lasting for 5 days, Music for 6 days, and Film running concurrently for 9 days. Lady Gaga was also there! At that time, we got onto the 6 th Street, had party with people and enjoyed a lot of the music and fun. April 2014 Another very exciting event that I had in UT Austin is to meet the exchange students that are coming to HKUST for exchange next year. This is a good chance for us to show them how brilliant HKUST is and what kind of life they can expect. I showed them the photos of HKUST and every one of them said "Wow! It's so beautiful!" UT Austin is treating me well with its nice people and great exchange program, so I really hope that I can be an ambassador of HKUST, to welcome them, to give them some help and make them feel the same way I do in HKUST. This is something that I feel really proud of. May 2014 As we were approaching the final, we were working closely with friends and teammates on all kinds of group projects. Of course, we went to the outlets near Austin for crazy shopping! After the final, I flew to San Francisco and visited friends in UC Berkeley. 1. Visa Procedures Part 2 - General Exchange Information Guided by UT staff s instructions, the visa procedures should not be a big problem. All the instructions are very clear and helpful. Students are suggested to apply for the visa earlier. 2. Accommodations As the school has told us that only very few quotas are open to exchange students to apply for on-campus housing, we all found ways to find off-campus housing like apartments and co-ops. I subleased the apartment from a UT student who went out of Texas for internship in that semester, which turned out to be a good choice. The apartment is clean and quite and we can cook for ourselves. However, I think the on-campus housing is still worth applying for as they are really convenient and good. 3. Course Registration The course registration is very easy for exchange students. After we submitted preferences for courses before we arrived in Austin, the McCombs staff would have one-on-one consultation with you to discuss about course registration so as to understand your priority. As HKUST and UT Austin have many exchange 3

4 students come and go, they have a good idea of the course system in HKUST. Therefore, they can easily waive out pre-requisites. Most importantly, they would make sure that we get into the courses that we want. 4. Teaching & Assessment Method I took 4 courses in total in UT: FIN 374C Financial Planning and Policy for Large Corporations Professor: Joe Hahn I would definitely recommend this course to finance students. The professor has worked in the finance-related sectors in oil & gas industry for a long time, so he is very experienced and teaching from a practical perspective. He delivers most of the things in excel spreadsheets, which is very helpful and straightforward. After taking the course, students should be able to have a general idea of how to build a full model for a company. We have assignments every week and also mid-term and final. The course content is solid and a bit demanding but the exam is not difficult. ACC326 Financial Accounting Intermediate Professor: F. Atiase The professor is experienced and helpful. The course outlines that she provides for taking notes are sometimes not very clear but the professor is always very patient to repeat the key points for you. The workload is medium, with 2 exams, 1 final and some quizzes. The review sessions before the exams are very helpful and the exams are not difficult. ACC359 Managerial/Cost Accounting Professor: R. Atiase The professor has quite strong accent, which makes his class a bit hard to follow. He gives lesson in a straightforward way by going through every slide. The workload is also medium because we have homework for each lesson and we have 2 exams and 1 final. The course is easy and what we have learned in HKUST would help us to master the course better. 4

5 ARC308 Architecture and Society Professor: Larry Speck This is the course that I recommend most. I would never regret seeking department approval to let me an exchange student take this course. It's basically an introduction to Architecture and Society. The professor was a well-known architect and used to be the designer of Austin airport. He had a very interesting way of giving exams, which is providing four potential essay questions one week in advance. All the essay questions were based on the buildings on campus. Therefore, I got a very good chance to have a close look at the buildings on campus and apply what I learned in class to the real cases. In this way, I can understand the theories and methodologies better and also feel much more connected to the campus. Given the heavy workload of the course (4 tests, 5 think sheets, one presentation, three reading materials, etc.), I still love it most. 5. Sports & Recreation Facilities The on-campus gym is one of the biggest in the US universities, so start to enjoy a healthy life style! 6. Climate Last winter is the coldest winter in the US for 20 years. We have the whole January and February with temperature of around 0 degree. One good thing is, in Texas, schools will be closed if temperature falls below 0 degree! However, after April, we have very hot weather of more than 30 degrees, so both winter clothes and summer T-shirts are recommended to prepare. 7. Food In Texas, BBQ, Tex-Mex food, stake are the must-try and you will love them! Luckily things are not that expensive in Texas, compared to New York. If you miss Chinese food, you can still find good Chinese restaurant in Austin. 8. Transportation Relatively speaking, the public transportation system in Austin is a bit outdated, especially compared to Hong Kong. We don't have a car, so it might take us more than 1 hour to get to the nearest Walmart by the bus which comes only once per 30 minutes. However, after a month, we started to get used to it and learned to plan in advance on any traveling plans. Also we got to know more people who owned a car, so we could sometimes just take a ride if they were going to the same destination as we did. 5

6 9. Expense Item HK$ Flight tickets (China-US round trip) 12,500 Traveling 50,000 Housing 18,000 Food 15,000 Miscellaneous 10,000 Total 105,500 Travelling documents Laptop & Camera & Adapter Part 3 - Items to Bring and Contacts Mobile phone (You are recommended to use family plan from local service providers, which will save a lot of money) Clothes (Better to prepare a down jacket, but you can always buy one in the US) Necessary medicine Part 4 - Best Practices of Host University The McCombs School of Business is one of the top business schools in US. I greatly appreciate the chance to study there. It has a long history, therefore it has a well-structure system for students to learn, grow and get prepared for future. The professors are very experienced as well. I still remember the various facilities like Trading Lab and Career Center which enables companies to conduct interviews on campus. The McCombs gives everyone a very good platform into different business perspectives. During my exchange, I learned to talk in different ranges of dialogue settings, for example, causal chatting, business presentation, etc. In my Architecture discussion session, I need to debate with others on architecture concepts. In my Accounting course, I need to present to professor on a business simulation case. All that I experienced and learned in UT Austin helped me to improve and get prepared for my future careers. If more information is needed, please get my contact from SBM Exchange Team by ing at bmugexch@ust.hk 6