UQ Program: Bachelor of Engineering
I went on my exchange to the Purdue University, in the United States, in the second semester of my third year of my Bachelor of Engineering degree. One of my original reasons for choosing it was because of its reputation in the aerospace field, which goes well with my discipline, but as it turned out the experience was great in so many more ways.
One of the first things I noticed was how friendly the people were – the American students I met were anything but shallow, showing immense interest when we met and a constant willingness to chat. I felt very welcome at Purdue. ISS – International Students at Scholars – at Purdue was always available to help, and really smoothed the way for me and other international students, especially at the beginning of the semester.
The academic side of things was interesting. In the US they spread the workload fairly evenly over the semester – it means you’re constantly working, but the workload isn’t too heavy. The teaching quality at Purdue in particular was stellar, and made it so much easier to keep up. Probably the most difficult thing to get used to was how much the lecturers engaged with the students, really making some classes feel like high school – definitely a positive thing, since I found I learnt better that way.
Where I lived in Indiana, everything was cheap. What’s more, you get to buy things tax-free at Purdue, if you’re a student. It’s so good to buy whatever food you like and it barely costs five dollars – that is, when you’re not in those fantastic dining courts. Full-time students there have to pay heavily for tuition, but as a UQ student on exchange there, you just pay for it as if you’re at UQ, so you avoid the most expensive parts of the study there. Housing and dining plans made about US$5500 for me, the semester I was there. Even if you splurge, you wouldn’t be looking at much more than seven or eight grand for a semester.
The sheer fun I had on this trip is just one thing. I found it to be a time of enormous personal growth – the friends you make, learning what it’s like away from home, just experiencing a different (albeit still a very Western) culture, and much else – and consider it an experience I’ll remember and cherish for the rest of my life. If you can go on exchange, do it.