Linda Stoby Höglund (linda.stoby@gmail.com) I spent two semesters (2014-2015) at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and had a great experience. I could not have wished for a better stay. CLASSES, SCHOOLWORK & STUDENT RESOURCES I had only been a student at Uppsala University for a year by the time I got accepted to the exchange program. I graduated with a degree in Business and Economics from Stockholm School of Economics in 2013 but subsequently decided to pursue studies in politics and American studies at Uppsala University. I did a fair amount of research of the different universities Uppsala has partner agreements with in the US. University of Michigan stood out to me because of the diversity of classes they offer, the academic rigor and I knew that Ross School of Business has an excellent reputation and I was interested in taking classes there. The partner program with Michigan applies to the College of LS&A (excluding Ross, the school of Engineering, the graduate schools etc.). LS&A offers every subject possible and there are endless choices of classes within the college. Although Uppsala students at Michigan are officially limited to taking classes in LS&A, it s more of a formality. In reality the professors at Michigan exercise the power to decide who may enroll in the class they teach. Once I figured that out I decided to seek out the professors of the classes I had an interest in taking. Some I met with in person, others replied to my emails and a few I wasn't able to meet with until the first day of class. If you have a strong interest in taking a particular course my best advice would be to simply show up to the first day of class and talk to the professor afterwards. I got into several classes that were officially "full" this way. Michigan is very bureaucratic and there are numerous gatekeepers who made my process of signing up for classes more difficult than necessary. Hence, I would strongly recommend contacting the professors directly rather than any administrative or department staff. I found that most professors were friendly, helpful and willing to hear me out. I was rather stressed out about the fact that I had not sorted out my classes before I left Sweden. A lot of classes fill up fast but many of the professors seem willing to make an exception if you explain that you are an exchange student and motivate why their class is of interest to you and what you could contribute with. Initially I also enrolled in some graduate classes that I unfortunately had to drop because of clashes in my schedule. Enrolling in graduate classes seemed fine too even though the partner agreement is technically only for undergraduate level (the only classes out of bounds appeared to be the ones on the MBA program). The professors I had were, without exception, really good and very knowledgeable in their subjects. They always offer office hours where you have the opportunity to talk to them and ask for help. The relationship between the professors and the students are fairly informal and the professors seem to care about their students performance a lot more than what I have experienced in Sweden. The class sizes varied from 10 to 50 people in my courses. On Wolverine
Access (where you sign up for different classes) it's possible read about how a course is structured (the number of lectures, seminars and tutorials it has). It's also possible to see how big a class is and if there's a final examination, weekly essays or presentations. It might be a good idea to pick classes with different forms of examination because the final weeks of each semester are quite stressful and it's a little relief if you don't have a massive final exam in all of your subjects at once. Another thing to note about classes is that different professors often teach different sections of the same course. Thus it can be useful to speak to other students about any differences between the professors (it s also possible to check out ratemyprofessor.com). The professors have profound influence on how their class is taught and although the material is supposedly the same, the way it's taught can vary vastly depending on the professor. I would also add that it's possible to get denied entry to one class by one professor and than get accepted by another. For instance, I asked one professor if I could join her section and she didn't think I had the right prerequisites for the class. I asked a different professor who taught the same course but a different section and he was happy to accept me. University of Michigan offers courses in every subject possible. I would really encourage students to take the opportunity to branch out and try something different. I really enjoyed my time at Ross during my first semester but I also took classes in the Screen Arts and Culture department and at The School of Dance, Theatre and Drama. Michigan has fantastic resources and I absolutely loved their film department. During my second semester I decided to take several film classes and also took a class that allowed me to complete an internship with The Ann Arbor Film festival. Fall semester: ACC 471 The principals of accounting FIN 415 Corporate investment decisions TO 411 Decision support with Excel THTREMUS 385 Performing arts management SAC 290 Introduction to media production Winter semester: FRENCH 231 Intermediate French WOMENSTD 351 Leading feminism SAC 300 Dramatic narrative SAC 402 Television production II: Sitcom pilot The course load at Michigan is quite heavy. The semesters are very intense and since you take several classes at once, the workload can sometimes be overwhelming. I don't think the expectations are necessarily higher than at Uppsala University but it's simply a different way of studying. It's about completing many things rather fast and less focus on writing longer essays or research papers. In my finance classes we also worked in groups to solve cases. In
my film classes we got a lot of hands- on experience and we spent a lot of time completing projects on the weekends. The resources available to students at Michigan surpass any that I have seen at any university in Sweden or anywhere else. Michigan has money and it shows. Computer labs are well equipped and staffed. I spent a lot of time in the film department and the school has no less than three TV/film- studios and brand new equipment along with helpful and knowledgeable staff to help students with their work on nights and weekends. One thing that I thought was slightly disappointing was the library. Michigan has several libraries but textbooks were rarely stocked. On the other hand, the bookstores on campus would always stock them and you could rent them for the semester if you didn't wish to purchase them. University of Michigan also has a great alumni network and many professionals from the industry would come and guest lecture in class. In my film classes we had several directors, screenwriters and producers come and speak to us about the film & TV industry. Ross offers great network opportunities for anyone interested in finance and in my women s studies class we had several female business and community leaders talk about female leadership based on their own experiences. The university also attracts some other great speakers and I went to a few talks by various writers and politicians. ORIENTATION The university organizes an International Student Orientation the first week of the semester. It mostly revolves around practicalities and they give you a tour of the campus. They also organize a few trips to IKEA, the Institute of Art in Detroit and some other places. I went on the trip to IKEA to get some stuff for my room but apart from the mandatory sessions, I didn't go on any trips. The orientation is nothing like what you experience when you start university in Sweden. I met some nice people during the international orientation, but it wasn't where I met most of my friends. Many of the students at the orientation are freshmen, very young and completely new to the world of academia. The Center for Global and Intercultural Studies (CGIS) organizes events for exchange students. I went to an ice- cream social and met the other exchange students as well as my two buddies. It was the first and only time I met them. I never felt the need to get in touch with them, and they never contacted me either, but I m sure there are students who become good friends with their buddies. CGIS organizes trips and socials throughout the year. I nevertheless didn t go to any of them and neither did any of the other exchange students I knew. HOUSING IN ANN ARBOR I arrived in Ann Arbor about two weeks prior to orientation. It was good because it gave me time to find housing as well as familiarize myself with Ann Arbor and the surrounding areas. I stayed in a motel called Lamp Post Inn the first three days and then I moved to another motel called The Red Roof Inn. If you plan on staying in a hotel and look for housing when you arrive, I would recommend making reservations well in advance. I made the mistake of waiting a little bit too
long, and rooms filled up fast and got very expensive. I can recommend Lamp Post Inn as it's the only budget hotel within walking distance to the university campus. I was also slightly worried about not having sorted out my housing situation before I left home. I had been looking at craigslist as well as at the university s own housing site (https://offcampushousing.umich.edu/). I had emailed with people but nothing had come out of it. Once I got to Ann Arbor I went on craigslist everyday and set up meetings at places I thought would work out. Although craigslist has a reputation for being sketchy sometimes, I found that most of the listings I saw seemed genuine. Housing in Ann Arbor is fairly expensive. I've spent three years studying in Stockholm and rents in Ann Arbor were almost as bad. Most rooms I looked at would charge between $700- $900 for a single room + utilities. I think I calculated that my monthly expenses with food and utilities would come to around $1200- $1400 which was more than I had expected. I also got very unlucky with the exchange rate since the dollar got really strong over the year, which made everything a lot more expensive for me. Another issue was also that all leases for housing run for twelve months, starting in either August or September. Since school finishes on April 30th it means it s likely you ll have to pay rent for a couple of months when you're not staying there. Trying to sub- let to someone over the summer is also difficult because a lot of people are trying to do just that. In the end I found a room in one of the co- ops on craigslist. I didn't think the co- ops would be for me, but it turned out to be an excellent match. The co- ops are an inexpensive option for housing. I paid $700 per month including all food and utilities for a single room. You can also sign a lease for only fall and winter semester and then add days if you decide to stay after the semester ends. I stayed in the Ella Baker Co- op and I can really recommend it. It's a graduate student co- op and the students are slightly older (I think the average age was 25-26). The house had 32 residents and most lived in single rooms. I enjoyed having my own room when I wanted to study or simply felt I needed some privacy. At the same time, there were always people around who were up for doing something if you felt like being social. The people I lived with in the co- op became some of my closest friends and we hung out a lot together. The co- op I stayed in was also conveniently located close to South University Avenue, where there are a lot of bars and restaurants. I had less than a ten- minute walk to the business school and about a fifteen- minute walk to central campus. One of the greatest benefits of the co- op was also the communal kitchen and that we cooked together. There are no grocery stores in central Ann Arbor and getting to a reasonable priced grocery store is a hassle if you don't have access to a car. Since we got all the food delivered to the house and had dinner served every night, this was something that I didn't have to worry about. I don't think I can speak highly enough of the co- ops. There are of course troublesome aspects of living with a lot of people, but I found that the vast
majority of my housemates were very friendly, outgoing and cooperative. We had a few house parties, but it wasn't a party- house with parties every weekend. The house was always fairly clean and the bathrooms and kitchen were cleaned daily. People were also respective of quiet hours so there was no problem sleeping at night. I should perhaps also mention something about north campus, as several of the housing options I looked at were located there. I am very happy I didn t decide on living there since I had almost all of my classes on central campus. I had one class at North campus during fall semester and it was a bit of a hassle to catch the bus in the morning. The buses are free and run late at night but I would definitely not recommend living on north campus if you think most of your classes will be on central. Around central campus is also were a majority of the student activities take place and where the restaurants and bars are. TRANSPORTATION If you live close to central campus it s fairly easy to get around Ann Arbor, either using the university buses or the town buses. You can ride for free, using your M- card. The buses run to the mall, the grocery stores, sport arenas etc. Ann Arbor has a developed public transportation system for US standards, but buses still don t run very often, at night or on time. Ann Arbor is, on the other hand, very walk- able and it s easy to get around the downtown area by foot. INSURANCE & FINANCES I found that I had enough money to live comfortably in Ann Arbor. CSN was sufficient and I had also saved some extra money for traveling. Ann Arbor can be very expensive and there are a lot of expenses in the beginning of the semester. You have to pay for orientation, and I had to purchase some furniture. The university will also make you pay for their insurance although if you have Kammarkollegiet Student- UT insurance this is not necessary. I had several meetings with a representative of the university as well as many conversations with staff at Kammarkollegiet to work it out. I was very persistent and after a long process Michigan finally accepted the Student UT insurance and I didn't have to pay extra for the one the university offers (which costs $117/month). Hopefully it set precedence for future students from Uppsala coming to U of M. I still have the documents I sent in to get Student UT approved so feel free to get in touch with me if you'd require similar paperwork. Other expenses, like dining out, are somewhat similar to Uppsala. The quality of the food may, however, not be as good. There are a ton of fast food restaurants on and around campus. Some days I would bring a lunch box with leftovers from the day before or I would go home and eat if I had a longer break. Other days I would eat with friends or grab something in one of the cafeterias on campus. I never found lack of money to be an issue though.
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT & FREE- TIME There's an infinite number of organizations and clubs to get involved with at Michigan, ranging from sports, the arts, philanthropy, to politics, business, technology and more. Greek life is quite big and there are a lot of active sororities and fraternities. A good way of learning more about what's offered is to pay a visit to "Festifall" which is a huge fair on central campus in the beginning of fall semester. You can walk around and talk to people involved in various clubs and find out more about what they do, what kind of commitment they require and if they have any further information sessions. I signed up for several clubs, among them an intermural soccer team as well as the nordic ski- club. In the end I was mostly involved with Wolv- TV, the TV station on campus. It was fun and I met a lot of people through the club. I was also involved in MRun, which is the school's running club. I wish I had had more time to get involved in other clubs but with a heavy workload in school it was difficult to find the time. University of Michigan also has great gym facilities where you get to work out for free, so I did that too. I would highly encourage anyone studying at Michigan to get involved as much as possible. It s easy to sign up for clubs, go to their first and second meeting to figure out if it's something you like. It s also where I made a lot of friends. My stay wouldn't of course have been the same without all the great people I met and the friends I made. I had read in some other reports that making friends with Americans can sometimes be a challenge when you re on exchange. I guess that can be true to some extent but I really didn't find it hard to meet Americans. I found that they were very friendly, easygoing and curious about Sweden. It s true that you nevertheless have to make a bit of an effort to get to know people. Most Americans are easy to talk to if you take the first step and introduce yourself rather than waiting for other people to talk to you. Getting involved in sports and other clubs was an easy way to meet people as well. I also became good friends with a lot of people in my classes and then got involved in projects outside of school. During the summer, for instance, I volunteered as a production accountant on a feature length movie that was shooting in Michigan. It was another great way to meet people with similar interests while also gaining hands on experience and learning a new skill. I managed to do some travelling during my stay as well. The school has ski- clubs and outdoor clubs that organize group trips during breaks, but I mostly travelled with my friends. I went on a road trip to Canada over fall break, to Washington DC and Philadelphia over Thanksgiving, to California over winter break and to Nevada, Arizona and Utah over spring break. During the summer I also travelled upstate Michigan, to Chicago and to New England. I didn t expect to do as much travelling as I did because of how expensive I thought it would be. It is however possible to travel comfortably on a budget in the US if you fly low cost airlines and split expenses like car rentals and accommodation with friends.
SUMMARY I can honestly say I have had the best year in Michigan. I loved the classes I took, my professors where great and I was very happy with my housing. If I could have stayed for another year, I would have taken the chance in a heartbeat! University of Michigan has so much to offer its students. It's a huge school and it can be overwhelming at times, but don't be afraid to be a bit pushy and seek out the classes and the activities that interest you. Michigan offers widespread opportunities but you really have to pursue them. Help and advice is available to students, but no one is going to hand you anything. If you take initiative and know what you d like to get out from the school, the possibilities nevertheless seem endless! I would also like to add that the application process to the exchange program and all the paperwork you have to do for Michigan can be overwhelming. Once I got accepted I had my doubts if I even wanted to go on exchange at all, because I thought I would be too old to enjoy college in the US. I never once during my eleven months in Michigan regretted my decision to study abroad and it was the experience of a lifetime. My advice to anyone who s even remotely considering going on an exchange would be: JUST DO IT! If you decide to go on an exchange to University of Michigan you ll have thousands of classes to chose from, you ll likely have regular sleepovers in the library to finish homework on time, you ll meet old Wolverines who are the best in their professional fields, you ll root for the number one football team in the biggest stadium in the world, you ll only wear maize and blue, you ll rather die than go to Ohio, but most importantly, wherever you go you ll F o r e v e r G o B l u e! I m very happy to talk about my experience at Michigan or answer any questions so don t hesitate to get in touch!
The Big House The University of Michigan Football Stadium The Law Quad on central campus
The Michigan Theatre in downtown Ann Arbor The Law Library on central campus
The director of The Big Bang Theory is holding a workshop Shooting for one of the film classes