The University of Texas at Austin
Fiona Mok
ACCT & MGMT
Fall 2015
Part I – Monthly Activity Log
August
I departed from Hong Kong on 10th August to Dallas, and from Dallas to Austin, taking American Airline.
There was no pick-up service arranged by UT but the McCombs Business School provided a free super
shuttle voucher for all exchange students from airport to their dorms. It was around a 20-minute drive
from the Austin Airport to the campus area. After settling down, I went to apply for a UT ID card as
students can take the public transportation for free with the UT ID card. After arrival, it is advised to
complete the TB test and related vaccination as soon as possible, as you cannot register for classes until
you have completed all these procedures. I had around one week to explore Austin before school starts.
I came across a Christian Organization called ‘Bridges International’ during the orientation activities.
They are a group of Christians who aim at helping international students to adapt to life in Austin. They
are welcoming and offer help. I strongly recommend exchange students to reach out this organization.
School starts on 26th August, it was really a great experience to have joined the school commencement
ceremony in front of the UT tower.
September
September was a relatively relaxing month as school as just been started without a lot of workload. In
mid-September, I went on a short trip to San Antonio with other exchange students. We took the
megabus from Austin to San Antonio. We spent 2 days in San Antonio and had pretty much all tourist
spots visited. We went to the Alamo which was mainly about Texas history. The Riverwalk was definitely
a good place to visit. It is basically a river surrounded by pedestrian walkway, with lot of stylish
restaurants at both sides. If you are not a big fan of walking, taking the boats is also a good option to
explore around the Riverwalk. Apart from spending time in downtown, we also went to the San Antonio
Zoo. It was a fun day seeing lots of different kinds of animals. There weren’t a lot of people but the
weather was quite hot and dry. In late-September, we spent our mid-Autumn festival in Austin, and
went to see the ‘supermoon’ at the UT Tower. It was a fun experience to share the mooncakes with
other international students and introduce them our traditional festival.
October
October was a hectic month with assignments and midterm. I was also busy looking for graduate jobs.
In mid-October, I had 3 midterms in the same week and 1 essay assignment, the workload was quite
heavy. Aside from Academic work, I went to the Texas State Fair held in Dallas with other exchange
students. It was about a 3.5-hour journey taking the megabus. Texas State Fair is an annual event that
takes place in Dallas. There were rides, performances and unique food – fried oreo and gigantic turkey
legs! It was a fun event to relax and know more about Texas culture. I also went to Toronto for a few
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days, to visit the Niagara Falls. I heard it was better to visit the Falls from the Canada side – I made the
right choice! It was really awesome and spectacular! The Falls was around 2-hour drive from Toronto.
On the last day of October – we celebrated Halloween together. It is very common for people to wear
different costumes and disguise in different characters during Halloween – it was funny exploring these
cultures!
November
I went to watch the football game held on UT campus. It was an entirely new experience for me. I
strongly recommend exchange students to watch at least one of the games, and get themselves familiar
about the rules before going. It was super fun and I could feel the strong spirit and I was proud to be a
longhorn! We had around 5 days thanksgiving holiday in November, I travelled to Houston to visit my
relatives. There is a huge China Town in Houston, with authentic Chinese food! However, it can be very
inconvenient to travel around Houston without a car. In late-November, I went to San Antonio for a NBA
match with people from ‘Bridges International’; they were so helpful and offered us rides from Austin
to San Antonio. Although I am not a big fan of NBA, it was truly amazing to have watched one of the
best teams – Spurs, playing in live! NBA tickets are available online. The ticket of the match I watched
was USD$32, which was reasonable. Besides, I also went to the Six Flags Fiesta in San Antonio. I strongly
recommend ride-lovers to visit Six Flags – it was so much fun!
December
It was the month for final exams. Before final exams, I made use of the 1-week preparation period and
went on a short trip to San Francisco. There was an event called ‘The Trail of Lights’ in December in
Austin. It is basically a light show for Christmas celebration. After finishing all examinations, I took a trip
to Washington DC, Boston and New York, then came back to Hong Kong for New Year Celebration.
Part II – General Exchange Information
1) Visa Procedure
To obtain a Visa, you need to pick up a DS-2019 form from the SBM office, then fill-in two forms on
the internet, and schedule an appointment with the US Embassy. You will need to pay for the fees in
7-11, and keep the receipt. More detailed information can be found on the US Embassy website.
After obtaining the visa, you’ll need to keep it safe. If you decide to travel out of US during your
exchange, you must bring along your Visa in order to re-enter US. You can stay in US up to one
month after the expiry dates on your Visa.
2) Orientation Activities
There were Orientation Activities held by the International Office and the McCombs Business School.
The orientation covers basic UT history and facts. You can also get to know a lot of international
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students. For the orientation held by the Business School, they will introduce the course registration
procedures in greater detail.
3) International Service and Activities
The International Office is responsible for answering our enquiries with regard to our immigration
and visa documents. They also hold different activities from time to time to help international
students adopt to life in Austin, such as short trips to San Antonio and Houston, exchange student
coffee hours etc.
4) Accommodations
Exchange students are required to look for their accommodations on their own. There are several
choices: co-op, apartment and school dorms. Co-ops are a cheaper choice but residents need to
perform 4 hours of labour per week, in exchange for meal plans. There are several organizations for
co-op, like collegehouses and ICC co-op. Apartment offers greater flexibility for student but it may
be more expensive. I found an apartment through ‘Simply International’, and had a single room with
private washroom, and a shared living room and kitchen. The monthly rent was USD$1125 with
utilities included. My apartment was located at the 27th street (business school is at the 21th street),
which is around a 15-minute walking distance. Exchange students are advised to look for their
accommodations earlier, as housing can be competitive in Austin, especially for 6-month short
lease.
5) Course Registration
The staff in Business School was very helpful in helping us register courses. We were first asked to
fill in our course preferences for their planning purposes. On the registration date, staff will
automatically help us to enroll into business courses. For non-business courses, students will have
to register by themselves. The minimum credits that you have to take are 12 (4 courses).
These were the courses that I took:
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ACC 362 Auditing to Control (equivalent to ACCT 4510)
Moderate workload. 2 Midterms (MCs + short questions), 1 Final (MCs only) and 1 project.
-
ACC 380K.2 Financial Standard and Analysis II (equivalent to ACCT 4010)
Moderate workload. 2 Midterms and 1 Final. The course is regarded as a MPA (master in
professional accounting) course. Approval is needed to be obtained prior to course registration.
McCombs staff will help student to seek approval and approval usually granted under normal
circumstances.
-
MAN374 General Management and Strategy (equivalent to MGMT 4210)
Moderate workload. 1 Midterm essay and 1 group project.
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-
FIN371M Money and Capital Market (equivalent to FINA 3304)
Heavy workload. 6 group homeworks, 2 midterms and 1 final exam.
6) Teaching and Assessment Method
Professors at UT encourage in-class participation and discussion. They expect students to review
relevant chapters and notes prior to each lesson. Some classes have heavy component on in-class
discussion. It is perfectly fine if students do not know the answer to professors’ questions. Overall,
the learning atmosphere at UT is great and students are strongly encouraged to voice out their own
views.
7) Sports and recreational activities
The Gregory gym is a great sports complex, with outdoor and indoor swimming pool, a large gym, a
climbing wall and a basketball court. Student with their UT ID can have free access to the above
activities. There are also sports classes for students to sign-up such as yoga and aerobics. Apart from
sports activities, students can also chill within campus at the Union. There are snooker tables and a
bowling court. There are also weekly free movie shows at the Union on every Thursday evening.
8) Cost and Expense
Items
HKD
Air Ticket
17,000
Accommodation
50,000
Visa
3,000
Travelling
20,000
Living Expense
12,000
Insurance (Required by UT)
7,000
Total
109,000
9) Social clubs and Networking Opportunities
At the orientation week, there will be counters setting up within the school campus. Students can
freely choose to join any of the clubs. I took part in an organization called ‘Bridges International’,
they have weekly gathering and festival celebrations. During the semester, the career centre will
hold some career fair and students can freely join those activities to network people from different
industries.
10) Health and Safety
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Prior arriving to Austin, student need to have their vaccinations done (detailed will be announced
by UT through emails). After arrival, students need to have their TB screening done ASAP. The
mandatory health insurance required by UT is around USD$1,000. It covers basic clinic appointment
and basic medication. There will be an insurance card mailed to your US address after paying for the
insurance. Students need to carry their insurance card to clinic in order to have their charges
waived.
11) Food
There are wide varieties of food to choose from around campus. Food choices are not a problem at
all. Eating on campus would be generally cheaper. An economical choice would be to cook on your
own. I usually get food from Walmart every week.
12) Transport
Compared to other cities in US, the public transport system in Austin is quite well-developed. With
your UT ID card, student can have free access on the public transportation. There are two bus
routes that I take most frequently – 801 and 803. They are rapid routes that take you basically to
most of the places, including supermarkets, shopping places, the capital etc.
Generally, it is quite inconvenient to travel to the suburbs of Austin, as there are not many bus
routes to suburbs. Exchange students are advised to have a driving license for convenience, or even
meet someone who has a car!
If you would like to travel to nearby big cities, megabus is a good choice. Ticket prices usually range
from $5 to $20. If you make advanced reservation online, it can be even cheaper at $1!
For cheap flights, possible choices would be Southwest airline, Frontier airline etc. One point to
note, there will be additional charges for baggages.
13) Climate
It can be very hot and dry during summer in Texas. In August to September, it is usually 35-40
degree Celsius. It gets cooler in late October, dropping to around 15-20 degree Celsius. Austin rarely
snows in winter, it is usually 3-10 degrees in winter. Students going on exchange on the fall semester
are advised to bring both summer and winter clothes, preferably with a thick jacket as well.
14) Communication
UT campus offers free wifi access to students. As for mobile plans, there are two major carriers :
T-mobile and AT&T. T-mobile is cheaper but its signal is poorer than AT&T. Students are advised to
join a family plan with other students to have a cheaper plan. I registered a plan at T-mobile, with
$25 per month, Unlimited data (up to 10GB 4G), text and talk.
15) Cautionary measures
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The Texas state law permits citizens with gun license to carry concealed guns. It is generally safe
hanging around in Austin. Just pay attention to people around and be careful when travelling.
Part III – Checklist
1. Clothes ( summer & winter)
2. Immigration document (Passport + DS 2019)
3. USD Cash
4. Adaptor
5. Laptop with charger
6. Suit (for presentation / career fair)
7. Sunglasses
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Part IV – Photo Gallery
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