itesm tecnológico de monterrey, campus estado de méxico

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Exchange Report ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México Autumn 2014 264587

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Page 1: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

Exchange Report

ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México Autumn 2014

264587

Page 2: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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€.

Page 3: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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.

Page 4: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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

Page 5: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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

Page 6: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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.

Page 7: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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

Page 8: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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.

Page 9: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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.

Page 10: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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

Page 11: ITESM Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México

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.