Comments about the WHU Program from Past Participants

for more complete comments, please check out the binders in 1055 BIF

Location

"Vallendar was a very small town. The residents were either students or elderly couples. WIth the exception of the students, the locals including business owners did not have fluent English, but it was not hard to communicate. The town itself is very safe. From where I lived, the walk to the campus was roughly 6 minutes. I felt very safe and comfortable walking alone at night if necessary. The level of safeness I felt was a major contributing factor to my wonderful experience abroad. Do not be discourage by the size of Vallendar, the school and students make the town fun." - Elizabeth Worthington, Spring '12

“Vallendar is a small town of about 10,000 people. It is situated on the Rhine, which makes it very picturesque. The town is small enough that most people know each other, so there is always a very friendly atmosphere.” – Caitlin Hruska, Spring ‘11

“The school I attended is located in the town of Vallendar (pronounced Fall-en-dar) in the Rheinland-Pfalz state of western Germany. The town has a population of about 8,500, some of which is a seasonal population since many the town’s residents are students. The closest city to Vallendar is Koblenz, which is about 4kms south. Vallendar is such a quaint, small town, and I loved the bakeries on every corner. The greenery and valleys are wonderful and so beautiful in the spring.” – Amy Ziegler, Spring ‘11

“In terms of location, Vallendar is a completely unique study abroad experience, but one that might not be for everyone. The town of Vallendar is only about 10,000 people but feels much, much smaller. There is really only one main street (Hellenstrausse) and two grocery stores. The school is incredible small. However, Vallendar becomes a home-away-from-away. It's not a big bustling city like some people expect to experience on study abroad. But you will get to know the people at the local coffee shops, the bakery, and the grocery store; they will smile at you when you come in and remember what you like to order. The scenery of the Rhine is stunning and not overcrowded with big city traffic. It's quaint and homey, and you really feel like you are truly living abroad in another country experiencing every-day life, instead of feeling like an American thrown in a huge city in another country for five months. I started off apprehensive about the small size of Vallendar, but I quickly grew to love it as a second home. That being said, Vallendar itself offers little in the way of activities. But just 10 minutes down the road by train or 15 by bus is Koblenz, the third largest city in the Rhineland. It's got tons of shopping and restaurants and bars and clubs, and no lack of things to do. Koblenz is a great time at any time of day.” – Alexandra Vickers, Spring ‘11

Courses

"Registration was very easy at WHU. Out first day the school walked us through the registration process step by step via a PowerPoint presentation. Except for a handful of classes, it was not hard to get the classes you wanted. The classes that had restrictions were not any that you would receive credit for back home. We did not register until the second or third day so classes were not confirmed prior to arrival for us. Â My favorite classes were International Marketing and Business Ethics. The marketing professor was very knowledgeable of the field and a lot of the examples referred to were US companies which was very interesting to hear their point of view on some of our industries. He was also very very funny. I always looked forward to that class because I knew we would be laughing. I liked Business Ethics because the professor flew in for the week from the US. The class was very relaxed and the materials used to present the content made it interesting. Â I would not recommend Introduction to Modern Banking. It was not the class I thought it was going to be. The professor held class at odd times and presented the material in a not very exiting way at all. The content was all from a European perspective and used a lot of models that are not even relevant to us. In addition, the professor seemed as if he was not used to teaching the material to an audience that did not have the same level of knowledge that he did. Â The strengths were that the classes were always taught by professors and the relationship and availabilty of the professors to the students. All the class materials were always available to students. The weaknesses included the exams being strictly memorization based. The full time students memorized the content of all the powerpoints for the class." - Elizabeth Worthington, Spring '12

“My favorite class was Business Ethics. The class was very interactive. While most exams were generally based on memorizing slides and recreating them for the exam, the exam for this class required us to APPLY our knowledge, not just recite it. I would not recommend taking International Economics. The exam does not test all class concepts equally and the exam is 100% of your grade. So, if you know most of the material, and the exam (which counts for 100% of your grade) tests the few concepts you don't understand out of the majority, you will do poorly. I thought the quality of the classes was very poor. The classes are generally very lecture-oriented. Exams focus on recitation of memorized information, rather than application of class concepts. All classes are on a bell-curve, so even if you perform adequately, if other students perform exceptionally well, you risk failing the class due to the curve. The class was on block scheduling, so we only met once every week or two, which I didn't care for. It is hard to build upon learning when class is held so infrequently. I was able to take some very unique classes not offered at U of I, such as Family Firms and Business Ethics, and enjoyed those classes very much. I liked being on the quarter system, too. Professors and TAs hold office hours, and offered reviews of exams after they are taken.” – Caitlin Hruska, Spring ‘11

“Course offerings were posted but you could not register until you got to WHU. This was to our advantage as international students since we could schedule our classes and trips together in conjunction with other students. Prof. Dr. Thorsten Sellhorn and Prof. Dr. Hogl were extremely international student friendly but also very demanding making classes challenging and rewarding. The strengths of the program revolve around the quality of the professors. These are top-notch professionals that dedicate themselves to making students better, including intl. students. Higher education has a much better reputation in Germany and is highly respected so you really get the best of the industry to teach. The school's fame also brings in EXTREMELY important individuals to teach courses and offer instruction, including Senior Partners of Big 4 accounting firms, and high-level government officials. The workload is much more and stresses independent discipline outside the course. There would be approximately 6 lectures prior to the final exam. Many classes devoted 100% of the grade to the final exam with NO HW.” – Steven Heiss, Spring ‘11

“My favorite class was Global Supply Management. Although it was not the easiest to sit through for 3 hours, I really enjoyed the topic and retained a lot of information from that class. There is a group case study project which forces you to partner with the other students. I really enjoyed that because I learned so much from the full time WHU students. The professor, Lutz Kaufmann, was very nice as well and I liked the structured layout of the class. Definitely do NOT take Marketing Research Methods unless you really want to challenge yourself. I personally am not an econ person, and the class was semi similar to econ 203. I was able to drop the class and pick up another one because I did not want to take that final. I also heard that European Economic Integration was a hard class, although I did not take that one. We had no/little homework, one exam as your final grade, and met only 6 times in a quarter. The teaching was a completely different structure. Although it was convenient for traveling or hanging out in Vallendar, in order to pass classes, we had to strictly memorize. While I loved everything about Vallendar, I do not think the school itself did a very good job of teaching or of measuring our understanding. The teachers had powerpoint slides, so no books were required. There were some online readings, but I only read a few articles and did fine. The professors were highly qualified and from prestigious backgrounds, but yet the teaching style bored me. Find a buddy to study with, and then the material won't seem as boring and will stick better during exams.” – Amy Ziegler, Spring ‘11

“About 4 days after our arrival at WHU, we spent a full day at the school learning going through various registration processes. The staff also presented us with a packet containing all information about the process to take home with us to use when we registered, which was extremely useful. Class registration opened the next day. Course offerings were listed online on the WHU website and were organized according to semester in school ("freshman" equivalent, "sophomore" etc). There are also special "exchange student" classes offered, such as German language, History of Germany, etc. While classes are always listed online for informational purposes, you cannot sign up for classes until the designated day. It was fairly easy to get the courses I wanted; however, the larger problem was time conflicts. A lot of courses conflicted in time, but it was easy for me to find other courses to take if that happened. Perhaps this was because I found WHU to be very flexible for marketing/management majors; it may not have been the same for accountancy/finance majors. After viewing and selecting courses, it was just a matter of a simple click to confirm your enrollment. Overall, the process was very straight-forward and simple to navigate.”

“My favorite classes were International Marketing and Managerial Leadership. In both classes, the professors had not only an extreme mastery of their subjects, but were also extremely passionate about teaching. Professor Fassnacht, who taught International Marketing, was a really humorous guy who loved to get international perspectives from the different students in his class. I would also recommend that any exchange student take Business Ethics. While the class may seem like a blow-off class, the experiences you will take away from the class are extremely valuable. At times the classroom discussions can get infuriating, especially with American business methods in mind, but it is a great way to learn how to deal with international views in a professional context.”

“I would highly dissuade exchange students from taking any economic/marketing statistics classes at WHU (European Economic Integration, Intro to International Economies, Marketing Research Methods, etc). I had the unfortunate experience of having to drop European Economic Integration because the professor was so completely incompetent at communicating the material (which is ESSENTIAL at WHU). Intro to International Economies seemed like it would be a valuable class, but really all it was a re-hash of Microeconomics that I had already taken freshman year. I signed up for Marketing Research Methods in an attempt to gain credit for BADM322, an almost identical class (on paper) at U of I. However, WHU's economics sequence is vastly different from our Econ102/103, Econ202/203 sequence. Economic statistics must be taught very differently at WHU; I did not have trouble in classes at U of I but struggled just to understand the basic statistical concepts.”

“The grading scale at WHU was very different. Grades were given on a 1-5 basis, 1 being the best and 5 being a failure. However, there was no standard grading increment; instead, median grades were random. You could get a 1, a 1.3, and a 1.7, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7, 3.0, 3.5, and a 4. That was it. Therefore, the WHU to U of I grade transfer scale needs to be dramatically modified to include -/+ to reflect the in between grades at WHU. The workload at WHU in comparison to U of I was nonexistent. 95% of classes were solely graded on the final exam; no homework, projects, etc. Class and final preparation came down to your own independent efforts outside of class taking notes, participating, reviewing slides, and the like. I personally hated this style and find it very ineffective for learning, as there is no real way to gauge your progress and understanding of the material.” – Alexandra Vickers, Spring ‘11

Housing

"Â I lived in an apartment. It was furnished a lot of the pieces of furniture/appliances were left by the past students that lived there. There was no meal plan. You could eat lunch at the cafeteria on campus each day but had to put money on your card first. I was satisfied with my living situation." - Elizabeth Worthington, Spring '12

"I lived in a residence hall attached to a nunnery. It was set up like a dormitory, with a kitchen that residents shared. The nuns were very strict about petty things, like turning off the power cords and threatening to charge residents 1 euro each every time a hallway light was left on (they were left during normal waking hours because they are frequented by students, but still turned off when everyone went to bed). There was also a very heavy language barrier between student and the nuns, which made communication difficult. The nunnery did have a beautiful garden for students to enjoy, though. The bedrooms were clean and comfortable and the laundry facilities were better than those most students had.”

“My living accommodation was in a private apartment in a landlord's house, separated from the landlord's private residence though. This was one of the best parts of my stay at WHU. My landlord was extremely friendly and helpful. He would drive me to the train station if I had large bags or couldn't use a bus for some reason. They would have me over for coffee and cake in the afternoons sometimes. My last 4 meals in Germany were made by my landlords. Oh, and the wife did my laundry so that was nice too!” – Steven Heiss, Spring ‘11

“I lived in Haus Wildburg, which was basically an all-female dorm owned by nuns. I would STRONGLY discourage U of I from sending any more female students to live in Haus Wildburg, or discuss this issue with Philomena, the Housing Director. The building was old and outdated, the rooms were cramped, the bathrooms had no water pressure and barely any hot water, and the kitchens had very little cooking supplies. The nuns that owned the propriety constantly berated us for having people over (anything more than 2 people was a party, and forbidden), not to mention that they didn’t speak any English so we could barely communicate with them. We had to buy our own food and had free use of the designated kitchens, which worked out fine. Our rooms came furnished with a bed, desk, wardrobe, and a sink, and we did not have to have any roommates (which was nice). Also, weirdly enough, the nuns decided to put all the Americans on the first floor and all other nationalities upstairs. I didn’t really appreciate that as I thought we were excluded, or the nuns had a grudge against Americans, and I lost a lot of potential contact time with other international students because of that. The nuns also had this ridiculous gate that had to be closed from 8PM-8AM, but was also ridiculously hard to open. After a while we just started avoiding it and jumped over the wall surrounding the complex instead. Overall, Haus Wildburg was a depressing experience and I did not feel welcome at all living there. If I had not made good friends with the girls on my floor, I don’t know what I would have done otherwise, but thank goodness I did.” – Alexandra Vickers, Spring ‘11

Student Life

"Coming in, we were assigned a student buddy and an academic buddy who is supposed to be a professor at the school. The program is all about what the buddies make it. My student buddy was awesome and showed me around, we went to dinner/lunch a bunch of times and she also invited me to dinner at her home near by." - Elizabeth Worthington, Spring '12

Useful Advice

“Register for classes recommended for international students. These classes are better because you can be on a level playing field; the German students are accustomed to a very different style of learning than American students.” – Caitlin Hruska, Spring ‘11

“I suggest to do some research on apartments there if you can. Getting a private one might be more expensive, but it's nice to have your space and freedom. Also, really try and get to know other students besides U of I. My closest friends were from Maryland, they had such different experiences and lifestyle although they lived in America. Getting exposed to different people helps expand your perspective on certain areas in the world and you can learn so much from them and their culture.” – Amy Ziegler, Spring ‘11

“Never be afraid to try something new, whatever it is. Some of the most on-the-spot decisions turn into some of the best moments of your study abroad experience. Be open to everything and anything. Befriend the locals; they always know the best spots and will more likely than not help you out with something if you are polite and courteous (i.e., don’t act like an American college kid). Keep a journal for as long as you can everyone tries to and some succeed, but most stop at some point. Try to keep it going as long as you can.” – Alexandra Vickers, Spring ‘11

Costs

"Semester Expenses: visa - $0, books - 30 euros. Monthly expenses: food - 70-100 euros, housing, 350 euros, local transportation - 20 euros." - Elizabeth Worthington, Spring '12

“Semester Expenses: visa - $75, books - $100. Monthly Expenses: food - $100, housing - $550, entertainment - $50, local transportation - $30, travel - $300.” – Steven Heiss, Spring ‘11

“Semester Expenses: visa- $0, books - $0. Monthly Expenses: food - $450, housing - $450, entertainment - $150, local transportation - $50, travel - $1,000.” – Amy Ziegler, Spring ‘11

“Semester Expenses: visa - $0, books - $85. Monthly Expenses: food - $350, housing - $480, entertainment - $70, local transportation - $30, travel - $1,200.” – Alexandra Vickers, Spring ‘11

Better Because of Illinois

Comments about the WHU Program from Past Participants

Location

Courses

Housing

Student Life

Useful Advice

Costs

Useful Websites

Accommodations

Flights

Trains

Information on Germany and WHU