ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

Exchange Report
ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey,
Campus Estado de México
Autumn 2014
264587
PREPARING FOR THE EXCHANGE
I studied fall 2014 at ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México.
Finnish Citizens don´t need a visa when they are travelling to Mexico if they are
staying under 180 days. In the plane to Mexico you’ll be given an immigration form
that you have to fill. Save the form until you’ll leave the country. You’re not
permitted leave the country without the form and you’ll have to get a new one
from your embassy in México City.
School started by orientation week 4th of August and lectures started on the next
weeks Monday. You pick your first course selections before your arrival in the
internet. Some of the courses might be on top of each other, but you can still
change courses during the first week of your studies in Mexico. Course selection in
English is pretty limited, but in Spanish the variety of courses is comprehensive. On
the first week you’ll have to pay administration fee of 1600 pesos (90€) in one of
banks of the school’s campus.
Tec de Monterrey demands you to get a medical insurance and it is easier if you
take it from Finland. Check your vaccines before your arrival from
http://www.rokote.fi/matkailijan-rokoteopas/maat/meksiko/
Flights to Mexico cost around 650€ - 1000€ roundtrip. There is no straight flights from
Helsinki to Mexico City. If you are not sure of your returning flight you can book a
flexible ticket from Killroy, which might cost you a little bit more but gives you the
freedom to fly when you want. Changing the return flight costs about 50-80€.
ACCOMODATION
I lived in Casa de Las Once which is located only a 5 minute walk from
the campus. It’s one of the newest exchange student houses which
accommodates 11 people. Everybody has their own room and there is
also common areas in the house. Cleaning lady comes three times a
week to clean the common areas, but you have to clean your own
room by yourself. Internet didn’t work properly in the beginning of the
semester so we demanded our landlord Carlos to improve it so he got
us another internet connection to the house.
In our semester we had people from Sweden, Netherlands, France,
Germany, Peru and Dominican Republic. The rent was 3500 pesos
(210€)/month and it included water, internet and electricity. Also in the
beginning of the semester you had to pay one month deposit which
you get back after the semester. You can look other exchange
student houses from
http://www.cem.itesm.mx/international/studyinmexico/.
I can recommend Casa de Las Once and Lindo house, which are the
newest ones of the exchange student houses. Rents vary from 3000 to
3500 pesos /month and include all the utilities (water, electric and
internet-connection). Other option is to live in the City center of
Mexico City, but it takes 1-1.5 hour to come from there to the campus
during the rush hour. The rules say that you can’t have parties at the
house, but we might’ve slipped from the rules sometimes.
Studying
Schools basketball and tennis courts.
Schools campus is pretty American style and there’s a Starbucks,
Subway, pizzeria, sushi restaurant, salad bar, two gyms, library,
swimming hall, running tracks, basketball courts, tennis courts and
several banks.
In the area of Atizapan de Zaragoza there’s not much to do but you
can always take a cheap taxi to the nearest shopping center or to
Mexico City. The two best shopping centers near the campus are
called Mundo E and Plaza Satelite where we went to watch movies
from time to time. Taxi to there should cost around 100 pesos.
There’s some cheap street restaurants near the campus and 10 minute
taxi ride away from the campus is a shopping center called Plaza de
Lago de Guadalupe where’s a Walmart, barber shop, variety of
restaurants and Telcel store where you can buy an telephone
subscription. Sim card costs about 100 pesos and includes 50 pesos of
balance. 1GB of internet time for 30 days costs about 300 pesos, but
you can buy smaller amounts as well.
Schools football field and running track
Orientation week started on 4th of August and the lectures started next
week 11th of August. School was a bit more like studying in high school
than in a university. Group sizes varied from 9 to 30 people and there
was much more interaction in the classes compared to studies in Aalto
University. There is mandatory attendance to the classes, but you can
be absent 6 times on the semester per course. You don’t need to buy
books, because all the material like articles and lecture slides are on
the internet.
Semester is divided to three periods and at the end of each period
there’s an exam week. It’s possible to organize your schedule that you
don’t have school on Fridays and you can have long weekends during
the semester. I didn’t have any school on Tuesdays or Fridays, but my
lectures were on Mondays and Thursdays from 8.30 am till 7 pm, which
was kind of tiring sometimes. On Wednesdays I had a one 3 hour
lecture of Group Dynamics.
Courses
Supply and Inventory Management IN2020
This course was definitely the hardest course that I had and there was
same kind of things than in Aalto University’s course Operations
management (Tuotantotalous). Lecturer gave us homework
approximately once a week, but they took only about an hour each
time. Exams were held in the end of each period and smaller exams
might be held during the period.
Business Strategic Foresight AD2012
This was the best course that I had and the lecturer was passionate
about the topics. There was a lot of group work in the lectures and
interesting topics. Homework was mainly reading articles that lecturer
gave us and in the three exams of the course there was some
questions of the articles and other materials handled at the lectures.
Innovation, Markets and Technological Development AD2011
This course was held by American teacher, who was passionate about
the topics. We read a lot of articles about start-ups and discussed
about the in the class. There was a one big presentation in the end of
the course which required a lot of work and gave 25% of the courses
grade.
Spanish as a Foreign Language 1 A HI1007
This was a Spanish course starting from the beginnings but everybody
in our group which was only 9 people had studied Spanish before so
we moved on quickly to harder subjects. Teacher gave us some
homework during the course and the three exams of the course were
pretty easy to accomplish and get good grade.
Group Dynamics CC2011
In the Group dynamics there is a one three our lecture once week,
where studying is based on listening the lecturer and group
assignments during the classes. It’s a course where the focus is on
group dynamics and on effective group working. There is some
homework and essays but still an easy course compared to the other
courses that I had.
Mexican Culture H2028
The course was a kind of an introduction to Mexico and its culture
where we handled issues regarding on doing business in Mexico,
Mexico’s diverse history and social problems. There wasn’t a lot of
homework, but we had to return couple essays and keep a one
presentation during the course. Sometimes the lectures got a bit boring
and I wouldn’t take this course if I could choose again.
Free time and travelling
There was three different organizations (ConexionMX, Mexchange &
AMIKOO) which organizes trips and parties during the semester.
ConexionMX is an organization that organizes trips to Acapulco, Beach
Festival and to Cuba in the December when to school has ended.
Mexchange also organizes parties and trips to Acapulco, Cancun,
Cuba and Oaxaca.
Acapulco trip (AUG 15-17) Weather
Mexchange organized a trip on our second weekend to Acapulco.
The price of around 3000 pesos included transportation, 2 nights in a
hotel on the beach and all you can eat and drink. On a Sunday we
had private yacht tour.
Conexion Beach Festival
3 or 4 days on the beach with 1500 international students and DJ’s
playing all night. Prices vary from 2400 to 4100 pesos depending do
you want sleep in a tent or in a hotel. I can recommend hotel, even
though it’s a bit more expensive choice.
Independence’s day trip
2 or 3 nights in Guanajuato and a day trip to San Miguel. San Miguel is
a small beautiful city 3 hour drive from Mexico City. Definitely one of
the most beautiful cities of Mexico. On independence’s day there’s no
school and you can also make a longer trip to somewhere without
getting absents.
Cuba trip
After the lectures have ended and the exams are over, in the
beginning of December ConexionMX organized a one week trip to
Cuba. This trip costs 890$ USD, but it included flights, accommodation
in an all-inclusive hotel. We visited Havana and tourist destination
called Varadero. If you’re going to Cuba I recommend you to spend a
longer time in there than just a one week.
Other destinations where I visited during my stay in Mexico were
Oaxaca, Puebla, Puerto Escondido, Mazunte, Cancun Isla de Mujeres
and Playa del Carmen.
Final comments
I didn’t fear any danger during my time in Mexico, but I guide you to
read carefully US Department of State travel warnings in relation to
Mexico’s safety situation.
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/mexic
o-travel-warning.html
One of the exchange students got robbed at night when she was
alone at night walking to home, but I didn’t hear about any other
crimes. Use taxis at night and avoid walking alone, because it’s more
likely to get robbed when you’re alone.
I can recommend Mexico as an exchange destination to everyone.
The school isn’t so hard than in Finland except in some of the harder
courses. Mexican people are friendly and easy going. Most of the
Mexicans don’t speak any English and I recommend you to study
Spanish before you go there, because it helps a lot to get around in
there.