University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC)

No. There were definetely surprises, though these were all interesting parts of the learning experience.

I believe Chapel Hill to be an excellent university in terms of both academic and social aspects. It is quite isolated which means the student is forced to spend a large amount of time there though this added to the sense of community. Students should be aware when attending universities in typically 'southern' states of some prejudices towards religious beliefs and homosexuality. That said I had friends of different religions and of homosexual orientation who still very much enjoyed their time.

I loved every minute of it!

whatever course you will take up, teachers were so friendly and interact so much with students, you will learn somethin...

Off campus buses didn't work on weekends. I lived off campus!

Keep aware of all on campus activities

The courses at Chapel Hill are very high quality. The teachers are well qualified and really interact with their students. The classes offered were of a higher stage than where my studies were up to back home, but I managed to adapt quite easily.

Yes. Lectures were compulsory and only two could be missed throughout the semester. This would have been fine, if it were not for the fact that international students are entered into classes last and therefore get the least favoured pick of class times. I was therefore stuck with classes starting 9am or earlier all five weekdays! I would suggest international students be given special consideration in terms of picking class times, perhaps with preferences given earlier.

On campus housing cost quite abit more than my apartment at home. There really aren't any cooking facilities in the dorms, so students go out for food much more than at home; naturally that is more expensive. The night life in Chapel Hill doesn't begin to compare to Groningen, so I spent much less on going out. On the other hand, I spent much more on travel because I wanted to see as much of the US as possible while I was there.

Less on food and nightlife because it was cheaper, so although I ate and drank well it was not expensive. Phone was not cheap, especially not longdistance. I traveled more than usual, so that got expensive, and when I moved off campus I still paid $100-200 less than at home a month.