Brigham Young University Marriott Business School Ng Fung Ki Year 3 Acct & Fina Fall 2015 1
Part I - Monthly Activity Log August Before arriving BYU, I stayed in Los Angeles, California for 2 weeks. Apart from visiting different theme parks and all those famous attractions you could search on the Internet, I also organized myself there to prepare for the exchange life. I opened a bank account there. You can use the acceptance letter of BYU and your visa to apply for student account. The bank account I opened is a Bank of America one and it is good to use until 2018 without any charges. Keep in mind that you need to state that you may travel across the country or else they will block your bank account for safety reasons when you use the card outside the state you set up the account. I highly recommend you to set up an account because a debit card is very convenient and it helps you track your money flows and you can withdraw all the money when you leave the states. I also set up my phone number there which is good to use in all states with unlimited data usage. BYU had a one-day orientation for the exchange students in late August, which purposed to familiar us with the locations of the building and the facilities. This was helpful not because you could remember the places within a day but they would introduce you the local students here and they will assist you whenever you need! Also, you can get to know other exchange students and have some companions when you travel around the states. We headed to Salt Lake City for the Temple Square and joined different activities together in the first week in BYU. The orientation will also tell you about the jargons and phrases you will hear in this religious school that will help you a lot in many social circumstances. September Universities in different states actually have different commencements to avoid traffic, as students from all states will start their road-trip back to school. BYU usually starts its school in the late August but very close to September. I had my first ward activity and was able to get to know the residents around me. A ward is a small community within a region and you will get to know all the people easily if you constantly joined the activities. Apart from joining these ward activities, I also went to tunnel singing on Sunday night. You will definitely be amazed by the spiritual side of this school because all the students gathered together voluntarily to sing hymns and share spiritual thoughts. This event is held every Sunday night at the Marriott Centre tunnel without any organization. Near Provo, there were Swiss Days at Midway where the Swiss in Utah will gather and sell the things they made or grew during the year. It is best described as a handmade merchandise market. I went there with my roommate, as she is half Swiss and enjoyed this 68-year-old event. There will be some performances and parades and you can try the snacks there. You can also watch the election for Swiss Miss Royalty there and I found this tradition really interesting because it is for kids. If you are a marathon-lover, you can also join the 10K race held this day. October 2
Both of my roommates fathers are bishops of the LDS Church, so I was able to get tickets to watch the General Conference held annually in Salt Lake Conference Centre. It is a very big thing for LDS members and I met some people drove all the way from Canada for 16 hours even they did not have the tickets. The Conference usually has a theme and spreads positive and inspiring messages. To immerse in the local university life, it is better to have an interest in sport. BYU Football Team is quite well known among national colleges and it was the season for football at the time I exchanged. Thus, I bought a roc pass and went to almost every home game in BYU and that is how you experience the atmosphere of the college maniac. The roc pass is not only good for football games but also other sport games like basketball and you can sell it legally when you leave BYU. The campus is located near the Y Mountain and it is one of the best places for hiking near BYU. Together with the Family Home Evening group, we hiked up there for an hour and got to see the night view of Provo and Orem. This activity is considered as one of the checklist items for BYU students and it is recommended to try once with your friends. November The highlight of this month was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the biggest festival after Christmas in the US. All the students will go home to spend a week with their family. I went to Meza, Arizona and spent my first thanksgiving with my roommate s family for a week. While I stayed at their house, I joined a huge family dinner and did some thanksgiving shopping. As I took most of the Finance courses for junior students there, I was also welcomed to join the networking events held by the Finance department. I joined a faculty dinner Women in Business, apart from getting to know more about the job market in the US, I also met some BYU business school alumni who work in different finance-related industries. December - January I was told that I was lucky enough to see the snows in Utah because it is known as one of the best places for skiing, shedding and all those activities related to snow. I went to Seven Peak Park in Provo with my friends and we did shedding there in early December. After all the finals, I drove down to Arizona again with my roommate to visit the Grand Canyon and it is astonishing to see the snow covering the mesas. It is recommended to visit the national parks near Utah states like Zion and Arches National Park because you can buy a pass that is good for all the national parks at a relatively low price and I am sure that will be an unforgettable experience. Part II General Exchange Information 3
1. Visa Procedures After you finish all the application procedures on BYU website, they will send you details of applying for a J-1 visa. The instructions are pretty clear, just do not postpone the application because you are required to have an interview before the embassy will issue the visa. 2. Orientation Activities BYU offers a one-day orientation, which you will make some new friends but there are much more to discover on campus at the Wilkinson Centre. You will find a lot of booths in front of the Wilk the first few weeks in BYU. Different students societies are recruiting members. They will also have some orientation activities so do the dormitory you live. The resident committees will also hold building meetings every week 3. International Services & Activities There is a mentorship program for international students in Marriott Business School. It is recommended to join this program as it is free of charge and the mentors are actually the students in BYU. They can help you immerse in the local life and the pace of business school rapidly. 4. Accommodations Studying at BYU has to comply with the Honor Code and you will need to choose BYU approved housing. You can either live on campus or off campus. There are 4 on campus housings at BYU and I lived in Wyview Park. Wyview Park is an apartment style housing with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room which you share with 2 or 3 other students. Only students over 19 can live there and it is the only on campus housing that does not require a meal plan. A meal plan can be very expensive and if you enjoy cooking, Wyview Park will have the most equipped kitchen for you. Though it is the farthest housing on campus, it has shuttles for residents to travel from main campus or to run some errands. I strongly recommend you live on campus for few reasons. First, it is easier to release the whole year contract with the assistance of BYU housing office when you have to leave after a semester. It can be a headache if you live off campus and you will need to sell the contract by yourself. Second, the qualities of on campus housings are more guaranteed as regular cleaning checks are required for every student and better maintenance services are provided by the school whenever needed. Third, it is easier for you to immerse to local life if you join the activities held by the dormitory committees when you know no one here. However, BYU will not send information about when to apply for housing like HKUST, it is better for you to do it right after you got accept by the school. The spaces got filled up quickly and 2 exchange students did not know how to find a housing, so they lived in hotels for the first week upon their arrivals. This is quite troublesome and off campus housing can be very expensive when there are limited supply. 4
5. Courses Registration BYU pre-registers students in their courses before arrival. Students must get preapproval for any course they wish to take. You will have to send emails to HKUST to ask them in assisting you to register in the courses you wish to take and get the permission-to-code from BYU to add any classes. Again, BYU will not send information about when to register for courses, so please do this right after your application is accepted as it will take a long time to get approvals. BYU no longer offers their accounting programs to exchange students, so keep in mind that you will not be able to take any junior and senior accounting cores and transfer back to Hong Kong. 6. Teaching & Assessment Methods The workload in BYU is similar to UST but it is less academically difficult. It is also less stressful because most of the courses use absolute grading unless stated by the professors. There are also past papers for you to practice the exams. Professors and TAs are very friendly and they will assist you with your homework whenever you need. 7. Sports & Recreation Facilities There is a building in BYU for students who majored in performing arts or physical education. All the facilities there are open to all students and you can find an indoor swimming pool, a gym and all sorts of courts. You can join those intramural sport teams to have regular practices. 8. Cost/Expenses Items HKD$ USD$ Airfares 13,000 Housing 1,500 Meals 1,600 Course materials & 200 Stationery Gas 50 Telephone bills 200 Miscellaneous charges 500 Total 13,000 4050 This breakdown does not include the travel expenses during my exchange. It varies from people to people. I spent about USD$5000 with most of the expenses on housing. I lived in a private room in Wyview Park with $300 monthly rental. As I do not need to have a meal plan and there is a well-equipped kitchen in Wyview, I usually cooked by myself and dined off campus with friends. For course materials, I needed to buy some case study packages for the classes and I took an ice skating course, which 5
required an extra $60. To minimize the cost, I used e-books instead of virtual textbooks because the price of a textbook is 3 or 4 times higher than that in Hong Kong. 9. Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities As mentioned above, the first week of school there are a lot of societies recruiting members and some of them offered free memberships. You can also join the ward activities to get to know the people around you. 10. Health & Safety Students are required to have an insurance that met the school s requirement. 11. Food Apart from on campus canteens, there are a lot of off campus places for dining, ranging from Mexican food to Korean food. However, it could be difficult to find those places as Provo has a relatively underdeveloped transportation system. Therefore, it is recommend that you should go with your local friends when you are craving for some food. 12. Transportation In Provo where BYU located, buses and shuttles are the main public transports. However, I usually had rides from other students so I do not really know about the price of the fares. But one thing is that on Sunday, the whole Provo and Orem regions will not have any public transportation running, so it is better to plan ahead what to buy on Saturday. 13. Climate Utah can have a relatively extreme temperature depends on regions. Salt Lake City can snow very badly which you can hardly see the roads. While Provo is less extreme, it will get quite chilly since October and start to snow in early December. It is recommended to bring a pair of waterproof boots because of the snowy weather in Provo. Provo does not rain much and it can be very sunny so you may need a pair of sunglasses. It is also very dry during winter which you will need tons of lotions. 14. Communication Whatsapp is not prevailing in the US, people usually use Facebook Messenger or SMS and MMS for social purpose. Therefore, a good data service provider is very important. I used a T-Mobile monthly renewal plan with unlimited data usage which is good enough for receiving calls and messages but that was really expensive compare than that in Hong Kong. 6
For academic purpose, students usually use emails or Y Message, which is a communication tool in the learning suite. 15. Cautionary measures Though Utah has a low crime rate compares to the rest of the states, there is a place in Provo, which is known as very dangerous. There are some gangsters or tria gather at night near the Provo River. One time my roommates and I visited the stores nearby, a woman with mental disability stopped us and started to Part III - Items to Bring Passport with visa Acceptance Letter Laptop Down jackets Jackets Sunglasses Sunscreen Checklist Lotions you usually use Stationery, including calculator Camera Smartphone Money, Credit card USB Waterproof boots 7