Student Exchange Report
Mexico, spring 2016
363666
290069
Travel report of our exchange studies in Mexico - ITESM CEM (TEC CEM)
1. Preparing for the exchange
Preparing for our exchange semester in Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Estado de México (TEC
CEM, also referred as ITESM CEM) started already in the summer of 2015. First we checked what
we had to do during the autumn before the exchange studies - we booked our accommodation for
the semester since we really wanted to stay in probably the best student house next to the campus
(Mexico Lindo Housing). What we found out is that when going to Mexico for exchange, it’s not that
difficult to complete the paperwork - for example no need to fill out too many forms etc. Aalto took
care of all the important information and kept us updated about the deadlines.
TEC CEM wanted us to send them some forms, for example a copy of our
travel insurance. Also before we got accepted to study in the school, we
needed to fill out our personal information in the school’s system and
provide them copies of our passports. Luckily, this was done easily and
their system was also in English. After filling the information into their
system, it took around one month before the acceptation letter was sent to
our e-mail. They will also send you an email which contains a Spanish
language test which has to be returned to them. It decides the level or your
Spanish class if you decide to participate in one during your semester. But
be noticed that you can also do that exam in Mexico during the orientation
week (but we’ll recommend you to take care of it before leaving Finland).
All in all, the stuff you have to do for the school in Mexico isn’t something you should stress about
too much, Aalto and TEC both give you proper advice on what to do and you just have to fill out the
forms and send them on time.
For Mexico, you don’t need to apply for a visa but you will have to fill an immigration form when you
are travelling there - probably already in the airplane. In the form you put for example the nature of
your stay and your Mexican address along with your personal information. This form gives you the
right to stay in Mexico for 6 months which is perfectly enough for the whole exchange semester. If
you want to expand your stay, the easiest way to do it is to travel into another country for a while
and when you come back you will get a new immigration form for another 6 months. Please note
that you shouldn’t lose the form as you will have to pay around 20 euros if you do so. If you have
any problems with the officials about the nature of your stay, just show them your acceptance letter
and things should be ok.
2. Exchange studies
The spring semester in TEC CEM lasted from the 4th of January roughly until the 20th of May. For
us, the orientation week was the first week: from 4th of January until the 8th of January. We
recommend you to arrive Mexico a bit earlier to get to know the place a little and just to feel more
relaxed. The orientation week was really informative and fun! As for the end of the semester, the
classes ended already on 4th of May and after that it was time for the final exams. For us, the
semester ”ended” on 11th of May since we finished then our last exam.
Studying in a Mexican university differs a bit from studying in Aalto. For example, there is mandatory
attendance in every course. Depending on the course, you are allowed to have three or six absences
(three, if you have the class once a week and six if you have it twice a week). If you exceed your
amount of accepted absences you will fail the course. Also, you will get an absence if you are more
than 5 minutes late from your class. Luckily, this wasn’t so strict for us since we were international
students and our teachers were really nice. But still, it is highly recommended to be on time in
classes! As referred earlier, there are two types of classes: ones that you have twice a week 1,5h at
a time and the ones you have once a week for three hours.
The lessons are more interactive than in Aalto and the group sizes are smaller. This makes the
teaching feel a bit more easy to comprehend since it is easy to ask questions from the teacher and
take part in the conversation. Still, sometimes the teaching methods felt like we were in high school
once again - they are really to the point and there is a lot of things you have to learn by heart. This
is why we felt that in many classes the teaching lacked the opportunity to give the students a deeper
comprehension of the subject.
In TEC CEM we were offered a huge amount of courses to choose from. Since the university is so
big the range of classes offered was also enormous. It was possible to take both undergraduate and
graduate courses. We took only undergraduate ones since we were doing the exchange as a part
of our Bachelor’s degree. You can choose the courses pretty freely and there is no particular path
to follow with them. The courses offered were both in English and Spanish.
We both did six courses which were almost the same ones for us. The only exception was that Kalle
did the course Culture of Mexico when Viljami did the course Photography and Digital Imaging. Here
we present some brief information about every class we took.
Organizational learning and knowledge management (AD-1006.5, 8ECTS, 6cr)
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Lecturer: Consuelo Maria Garcia Alvarez
Language of teaching: English
Evaluation: 2 partial exams (individual and group), different returnable papers and a final
assessment session
Contents: Different things about how organizations can control their knowledge and learn.
We were taught many models about the subject and we also went really to the point by
defining what is knowledge and what are different types of it.
Usefulness of the course: This course was mainly about learning things by heart and
memorizing for example the authors of different knowledge management models. In our
opinion this wasn’t that useful and probably we will never use these things in our future
working life.
Other notable things: The teacher speaks really good English which makes the teaching easy
to understand. Please note that this class class has a rather big workload compared to the
usefulness of the course. Other notable thing is that in this class learning is done in groups,
so there are also group exams.
Group Dynamics (CC-2011.1, 8ECTS, 6cr)
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Lecturer: April Wilson
Language of teaching: English
Evaluation: 2 partial exams and a final exam, different returnable papers, group presentations
and a final negotiation
Contents: This class handled group dynamics in an organizational context. Different things
about working and nonworking groups were taught to us. We also discussed what makes a
group efficient and the teacher presented different roles that may arise in a group.
Usefulness of the course: In the end, we’d say this course felt like one of the most useful
ones for us although sometimes it felt like we were only playing games in the class. April is
a really good teacher and we feel we really learned more about working in a group which is
inevitable in our future.
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Other notable things: The teacher is awesome! She has a perfect English as she is an
American and she has background as a psychologist so that really gave a good spicing
compared to the teachers we normally had. The workload of this class isn’t too much to
handle.
Spanish as a foreign language II (HI2017.1, 8ECTS, 6cr)
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Lecturer: Leticia Neria
Language of teaching: Spanish/English
Evaluation: 2 partial exams (individual and group), a final exam and several returnable
papers
Contents: This class was a Spanish course for the intermediate level students. In the class
we went through many different grammatical things about the Spanish language.
Usefulness of the course: This course we consider as a must if you want to improve your
Spanish skills. If you have studied Spanish before, try to get to the intermediate level since
we found it suitably challenging.
Other notable things: The teacher is really good and nice.
Promotion, media and public relations (MT2021.1, 8ECTS, 6cr)
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Lecturer: Rafael Aguilar-Manjarrez
Language of teaching: English
Evaluation: 2 partial exams (individual and group), a final exam, a research term paper and
several returnable papers
Contents: This class handled marketing communications by introducing for example the
subjects of sponsorship, brand narrative and public relations along with many other subjects.
Usefulness of the course: Most of the stuff taught at this course was rather simple and really
basics so we didn’t find it that useful.
Other notable things: The teacher is a really nice man who is always willing to help you in
different things. Still, this class has has rather large workload with weekly returnable papers
which are normally at least two pages long.
Negatiation techniques (NI-1002.2, 8ECTS, 6cr)
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Lecturer: Joseph Smith
Language of teaching: English
Evaluation: 2 partial exams (individual and group), a final exam, and some returnable papers
(often optional)
Contents: This class handled different negotiation techniques you can use in business
negotiations but also in everyday life. The teacher presented us many different studies and
theories about negotiation techniques.
Usefulness of the course: We found this class to be really useful for our future working life
since it gives you a toolbox to use for almost every kind of negotiation situation.
Other notable things: The teacher is a really nice man who as an American speaks perfect
English. The exams of this class though were mostly memorizing lists by hearts which we
didn’t find that useful.
Culture of Mexico (H-2028.2, 8ECTS, 6cr)
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Lecturer: Leticia Neria
Language of teaching: English
Evaluation: 2 returnable essays (individual and group) and a presentation
Contents: This class handled Mexican culture from different points of view. We handled
history of Mexico, the everyday life of Mexicans and discussed what it means to be a Mexican
along with many other thing
Usefulness of the course: Kalle found this class to be really useful if you want to learn different
things about your new home country.
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Other notable things: The teacher is really nice. Note that Aalto only accepts a certain amount
of culture related courses to your exchange studies.
Photography and digital imaging (AV1000.1, 8ECTS, 6cr)
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Lecturer: Marco Antonio Marín Àlvarez
Language of teaching: Spanish
Evaluation: Several returnable photo exercises, some other homework and a final returnable
portfolio
Contents: This class started from the very basics of photography, but in the end it was about
quite advanced techniques. The course included some history of photography and camera
technology, but mostly it was about taking photos and returning them as exercises, usually
in every two weeks. We did many photoshoots outside and in a studio and visited a couple
of museums.
Usefulness of the course: This was probably the most interesting course that I had. Of course,
you’ll have to be really interested about the subject in order for it to be useful, but I could see
this as a good course for marketing students. The teacher pushed me to do better and I really
developed my skills as a photographer.
Other notable things: The teacher was really nice, but he wanted us to return most of the
photos in real prints. This meant some costs and stress about getting the prints from
somewhere. Also, the course required a DSLR-camera.
3. Free time and other information
Cost of living in Mexico is much cheaper than it is in Finland. A normal monthly rent for a room near
the campus is under 4000 pesos (200 euros). Food is also pretty cheap and we counted that you
can easily live a month in Mexico with the monthly student support that Finnish students get (about
500 euros). For our classes we didn’t have to buy any books so studying itself was also almost free.
In TEC CEM making friends is made really easy by an organization called AMIKOO. They do
basically the same job as tutors do in Aalto and they are there to help you with any kinds of problems
you might have. You will meet them already in the orientation week when they organize different
events and parties for all of the exchange students. You will also get your own AMIKOO which is
basically your own tutor.
The area where TEC CEM is situated is called Atizapan de Zaragoza and it is in the state of Estado
de Mexico. So the school is actually not in Mexico City (Mexico DF) and the journey from the school
to the city centre lasts about 40 minutes with an Uber. The area is not the worst in Estado de Mexico
but be aware that it is also not the safest. Mexico itself isn’t completely safe but you will do just fine
with using your common sense. So in Atizapan (and Mexico) you shouldn’t walk alone by night time
and also you should avoid too long trips by foot. The best way to move around are Ubers, since
Taxis might sometimes be dangerous. So remember to install Uber to your phone before coming to
Mexico.
The weather is mostly warm in Atizapan. During the first weeks of the spring semester it might get a
bit chilly but for instance in March and April the average temperature is about 25 degrees celsius.
Mexican culture is something to really wait for! The food is amazing (forget the Finnish Tex Mex stuff
you find in the grocery stores) and people are probably the nicest we have ever met. Also the culture
in the end isn’t that different from what we have experienced in Finland and is quite easy to adapt
to. Just take it easy – ahorita & mañana.
Mexico offers incredible chances for travelling. The nature of the country is amazingly diverse so
you can find everything from volcanoes to raging rafts and from jungle to sunny beaches. There are
a couple of travel agencies that offers trips to the most famous sites to see. Two examples of these
agencies are Mexchange and Conexion. These organized trips can be fun and take you to places
which are not so easy to access on your own. We highly recommend to go to a couple of these
organized trips. Still, travelling on your own can be cheaper and much more free since there will be
no schedules. Note that the distances in Mexico are really long so you normally might have to take
an airplane (relatively cheap) to some places if you don’t want to spend 24 hours in a bus. Also, it is
easy to travel also during the semester since you can use your absences for your trips.
We made several vlogs about our travels in Mexico and they can be found here:
bit.ly/mexicovlogs
There you can see which places we visited and also something about everyday life in Mexico.
4. Final comments
We highly recommend Mexico as a place to come for your exchange semester. The school is good,
the culture is awesome and most importantly, the opportunities to travel around Mexico and Central
America are just something unbelievable. Right now, we don’t feel like we would have done anything
differently regarding our experience here.
During our exchange we learned a lot. We improved our Spanish skills, learned from different
cultures by meeting people from all around the world - and made real friends! We also learned about
ourselves and realized how lucky we Finnish people really are. It’s true that travelling teaches you
skills that you will definitely need in working and personal life. Now we feel like the best way you can
educate yourself (in addition to just studying in a university) – is to travel and see the world. Do we
recommend Mexico? YES.
If you have any questions about our stay in Mexico and of the culture etc., you can contact us for
more information. We’re happy to share you our experiences!
- 363666 & 290069