Exchange Report BOSTON COLLEGE Xinyu YUAN - 2015 Spring BOSTON COLLEGE - XINYU YUAN 1 OF 6
PART I. MONTHLY ACTIVITY LOG JANUARY School starts around Jan.9 and you probably should prepare to leave after celebrating the New Year. After settling down, lots of administrative things will need your attention while getting used to the snow and storm. It may be a little bit hard at the beginning and you may be homesick. But I do want to say that you will get over and start to enjoy Boston. This is the best month for you to grow. You need to decide which course to take during the semester in January. The minimum courses required is 4 and maximum is 5. I would suggest you to take 4 courses so that school work will not bother you too much when enjoying your Easter break/spring break(we do have BOTH). Boston College has a strong UG program in general and the business school is one of its core competence. Whether you would like to take more business courses or enjoy some fun courses that HKUST does not offer is purely up to you. FEBRUARY There will be a lot of storms and this may not be the best month to walk around Boston. You will get the chance to appreciate the winter look of the beautiful campus as well as the snow before you get sick of it because you will meet them again in March. Stay warm and enjoy lobsters! MARCH March will welcome you with a Spring break. This is the best time to explore other cities/states other than Boston. Popular destinations are warmer places like Florida, California or cities in Mexico. I went to Orlando and it was a great experience. Midterms generally start right after spring break and will last until April. Meanwhile, the temperature will get back to 0 degree in March. BOSTON COLLEGE - XINYU YUAN 2 OF 6
APRIL Spring finally comes! And it s time to travel(again)! I choose Chicago for the Easter break destination and I would like to recommend Chicago rather than New York if you can only choose one of them to go. They both are financial center in USA. Chicago takes a flight less than 3 hours and New York can be reached by a four-hour bus ride. Moreover, Boston Marathon is in April and is definitely worth your time watching. Everybody just went crazy on that day. MAY Personally, I think May is the prettiest month in Boston. However, the good time does not last long and everything will be wrapped up on May 12th. It s time to have all the finals and say goodbye to Boston College. Before you leave Boston, don't forget to visit other famous universities across the river like Harvard or MIT. MIT Sloan School of Management in May Harvard Early Spring BOSTON COLLEGE - XINYU YUAN 3 OF 6
PART II. GENERAL EXCHANGE INFORMATION VISA Boston College issues exchange students F1 visa. For visa application, you can follow HK Government website; around 200USD is required for F1 visa. If you choose to go in spring semester, your student status will be valid from JAN to MAY. Then you are allowed to stay in USA for 60 days (grace period) to travel around. ORIENTATION Students going to Boston College for exchange in fall will enjoy a full package of orientations together with freshmen. However, going exchange in spring only brings you a half-day lecture covering the routine works. Boston College will arrange one IA (international assistant) to every exchange-in student and you can always ask for help. ACCOMMODATIONS You can choose either on-campus housing or renting on your own. Me and three other students from HKUST rent our own apartment which located not far from school. The advantage of off-campus housing is you can choose your own roommate and I spent a wonderful semester living with Julia LIU. The disadvantage is most of the apartments in USA does not provide furniture thus you will need to purchase all necessities by yourself. For overall pricing, on-campus housing is more expensive than renting. COURSE REGISTRATION Boston College uses a extremely traditional registration system which can be confusing at the beginning. I would like to suggest you ask if you have any questions. You can always reach out your IA, business department or international student office for help. Courses I took in BC are Corporate Finance, Multivariable Calculous, Econometrics and Macro Theory. SPORTS & RECREATION FACILITIES Do take advantage of Boston College s great sport facilities. Healthy lifestyle does exist and everybody in BC goes to gym. A semester gym membership cost around $150 this can be covered by the school mandatory Blue Shield insurance. You can claim a reimbursement for a full amount after purchasing it. COST/ EXPENSES I would say that cost is pretty high in Boston. Living and eating can already add up to a notable amount of money. Traveling around USA will probably cost even more. A small tip is to utilize your university student status when traveling around: most tourist sites give discount to students. Museums in Boston give a even greater discount for students studying in Boston. BOSTON COLLEGE - XINYU YUAN 4 OF 6
HEALTH AND SAFETY Boston in general is a safe and clean city; don't worry too much. TRANSPORTATION Boston College shuttle should be enough for school. If you want to go outside, you can choose subway (old and slow) or Uber (fast and cheaper than a taxi). CLIMATE You will experience -20 degrees for a while if you choose to go in Spring. Boston is much colder and dryer than Hong Kong. PART III. CHECKLIST Warm clothes Slipper Credit Card Plug Adaptor Stationary And everything else you will bring when traveling Optional: These are things you will need. You can either carry in your suitcase or purchase them after arriving in USA Pillow & blanket Umbrella Drinking bottle Warm boots Shampoos and lotions Towels Sunglasses Kettle if you want to drink hot water at home Notebooks BOSTON COLLEGE - XINYU YUAN 5 OF 6
Welcome to Boston College Thank you! BOSTON COLLEGE - XINYU YUAN 6 OF 6