Exchange Report

Exchange Report
Fall 2015
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Chan Hau Wan Alvin
Risk Management and Business Intelligence
Monthly Activity Log
August 2015
For my trip to Madison, first I took a flight to the Chicago O’Hare International
airport, then I was headed to Madison by the Van Galder Bus. I arrived Madison at
27th August and it was cooler than I expected. But with the help of my exchange
friends, we managed to check in our dorm and settle down for the first few days.
For the first few days, there were various welcoming activities of the exchange
students. In particular, the International Student Services (ISS) offers a wide
variety of services and programs to international students at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, like there was an ISS welcome reception that gave exchange
students general orientation information, and the ISS also held a trip that let us
brought daily supplies and food. Besides, I have joined a tour to the Wisconsin
State Capitol Building and it was gorgeous!
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September 2015
School started at 1st September, and I found the American students were much
more hard-working than I expected. They seldom skipped classes and were quite
active during classes. Apart from academic studies, I also joined different events
organized by the residential dorm committees. For your information, I lived in the
Adams Hall, which offers a multitude of opportunities that introduce residents to
other world cultures through activities and programs. Like there was a day trip to
the Devil’s Lake, where I hiked with my international friends and the scenery was
fantastic. Also, I have been to Milwaukee, another city located in Wisconsin
during weekends. It was an Indian Summer Festival, that I enjoyed traditional
Indian shows and games with my friends. The house committee also organized a
trip to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The highlight event in
September was probably the football match. Americans love football very much
and they are just crazy about football. I had been to one of the football games
and everyone was wearing red shirts to support our team.
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October 2015
The temperature started declining from October. My Wisconsin called it was the
autumn, but it just felt like the winter in Hong Kong and the temperature often
stayed at single digit degree Celsius. But luckily, since Wisconsin is dry and not as
humid as Hong Kong, the weather was not as cold as indicated by degree Celsius.
Meanwhile, October was a busy month as the midterms were coming. In UWMadison, it was normal to have two midterm exams for each course, and
therefore the workload was quite heavy indeed. Despite of the academic studies,
I often spent my time with my international friends. As I am a classical music lover
and also I clarinet player, I have participated in their regular school band
rehearsals and performed in the auditorium, which some of my friends came and
supported me! Moreover, I have been to the NBA pre-game session and it was my
first time to watch an official NBA match in the America!
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November 2015
The second round of midterms came in November, but despite of the midterms, I
was quite free indeed. So I had been to Canada with exchange friends during a
weekend in November. Although the trip was short, we spent a nice time in
Toronto and we visited the Niagara Falls, CN Tower and Casa Loma. Besides, at
the end of November, it was the Thanksgiving, a huge holiday in America! During
the holiday period, I went to the west coast, like the cities in California and also
Las Vegas and visited the Hollywood, Disneyland, Golden Gate Bridge, Venetian
Las Vegas Hotel… Another highlight was the Black Friday, that there were huge
discounts on items and I found lots of good deals in outlets.
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December 2015
So it was my last month in Madison and I really love the city so much. After my
final exams, I attend various farewell events, some were held by the hall
committees, and some were organized by my international friends. I am really
grateful that I met those people, and we still keep in touch after my exchange
programme. At the end of December, it was the Christmas holiday, and I stayed at
the east coast during the Christmas. Everyone decorated their house and
shopping mall in Christmas theme, that the lightings and music were just
fantastic.
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General Exchange Information
Visa Procedures
The visa application to UW-Madison is not difficult. After you are admitted by the
college, they will send an admission package to SBM, which you could find
guidelines and documents for the visa application. After that, you have to go
through an online application in the Consulate General of the US website, pay
certain application fees and then make an appointment with the US ambassador.
The interview with the ambassador was very easy and the ambassador asked me
about my intention to the US and my financial background. Normally the process
only takes around 3 days to a week, but due to some technical problem in the
Consulate General’s computer system, my passport with visa was available after a
month. It seems to be safer to apply for visa earlier.
International Services & Activities
There is an organization called International Student Services (ISS) in UWMadison, which provides support and information to international and exchange
students. In particular, they organized an orientation day and day tour to
introduce the campus and facilities. Besides, at the beginning of the semester,
there was an ISS reception day, which different student societies set up booths
and recruited members. If you want to join student functions, do visit the booths
at the reception day. I also strongly recommend the buddy programme, that you
may meet a friend from the Wisconsin School of Business. The buddy can
probably introduce the campus and city to you, and help you to address you daily
problems, especially when you are totally new to the campus.
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Accommodations
I lived in the Adams hall, which is an International Learning Community (ILC).
Adams hall is a good place to gain international exposure because most of the
residents here are exchange or transfer students. They came from various
countries so you do not need to afraid that you are stranger while talking to them.
Also, the floor committee often organize many free functions, like hiking day,
performance night, or even free day trip to Chicago! So I think Adams hall is really
a nice place to have fun and meet international friends during your exchange
programme. However, only single rooms are available in Adams, so if you would
like to meet a local roommate, you might have to consider another dorm or
apartment.
Course Registration
UW-Madison is using the same registration system as HKUST, so it is easy for UST
students to enroll into classes there. There are diverse types of classes available
and the enrollment time is quite early, so you might have plenty time for choosing
the courses and also for the new courses assessment process. Be aware that the
maximum credits that exchange students could register at UW-Madison is 18 per
semester.
Transportation
The UW campus is very big, and sometimes it is time consuming to travel among
classroom located in different buildings. Remember to get a free bus pass at the
beginning of the semester at Union South, so you can travel by bus totally free
during the whole semester! In fact, you can arrive most of the places around the
campus by catching the bus 80.
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Cost/Expense
Airfare
Accommodation
Textbooks
Food
Travelling
Telecommunications
Insurance
Grocery
Total
Cost (USD)
1290
3100
150
1600
3500
250
550
300
10740
Items to Bring and Contacts
 Winter clothes
 Passport and visa documents
 Credit card
 Chargers and Adapters
 Laptop
 Medicine
 Lotion
 Pocket Tissue
If more information is needed, please get my contact from SBM Exchange
Team by emailing at bmugexch@ust.hk.
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