Student Report
Vienna University of Economics and Business
Fall 2012
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
- When and how did you receive information from the exchange university?
- Any difficulties in preparing (application, housing, contact, courses, etc)?
Information concerning the acceptance to the university, Vienna University of Economics and
Business was sent to us per mail, first from BI Norwegian Business School, International
office, then afterwards from the University in Vienna. In the first mail, we received login
information to their student web, this was, at this point of time just for a short survey, for
statistics concerning the schools students base.
Some weeks later we received information from Vienna University of Economics and
Business concerning applications for dorms in Vienna, courses at the school, introduction
week at school, German courses and buddy network. When you receive a buddy (you have to
apply for it) you are able to contact this person for questions on a more personal basis.
Housing
- Was housing provided by the university, or did you have to find your own housing?
- What support did you receive from the school in locating housing?
- Any special issues or good ideas for prospective students?
On the website of the university you can read about different dorms or private apartment that
students are renting out for a semester. The university provides the dorms that are offered.
The four of us lived in: dorm, rented apartment by a student and rented privately at the open
market. In general we highly recommend applying for a student dorm, this is much more
social and a way to easier get to know other exchange students. The most popular dorm that
are offered but none of us lived in was Haus Erasmus. This is a dorm where most of the social
“get togethers” take place.
One of us lived in Kandlgasse. This is the most expensive dorm but also the dorm that has
probably the best standard. You will not have to share the dorm with other students and the
dorm is also located in a good area. Recommended as well. Searching for a student dorm we
recommend reading other student reports and/ or reading the comments on the facebook page
concerning the different dorms.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
- How did you apply for your visa?
- What problems, if any, did you encounter?
- How much did the visa cost?
As a Norwegian citizen you don’t need a Visa to live in Vienna (since Norway is a member
country of the EEA), but you need to inform the government that you are living there. This is
done through filling out a “Meldezettel” which you deliver at an office in your district within
72 hours after you arrived. If you are staying more than three months you have to re-register
to inform that you are staying longer then three months, this cost some Euros, otherwise if
you stay less than three months, its free. Before leaving you will need to de-register, to inform
that you are now leaving the country. Might seem as a little bureaucratic system, but this is
required for everyone staying in Vienna for a certain period.
Travel
- How did you travel to your destination? Any problems?
The most preferred way of travelling to Vienna is probably by airplane. It takes around
three hours, and the airport is located with a close distance to the city centre. It cost
around 40 euro by taxi from the airport, and approximately 10 euro with train. The
cheapest tickets from Oslo is bought trough Norwegian or Air Berlin. The price
difference varies a lot, so it is best to buy the ticket a relatively long time before
departure.
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
200-515 euro
None, we got all the material that we used, provided by
the teacher. Otherwise we rented books in the library.
Approximately half the price of what you would have
paid in Norway
Student ticket for the collective transport is 75 euro
Culture and language
- Did you have any language problems with the faculty or other students?
- How were the possibilities to experience the country and the culture?
There are in general a lot of tourists in Vienna so the people living there are used to speak
English, and a lot of them are fluent. In that matter we did not have any difficulties being
understood if we didn’t speak that fluent German. The school offers a German course in
the beginning of the semester as mentions earlier in the report, and a business German
course that last the whole semester for 6 CEP points, at every level.
To experience the culture it is recommended to apply for the culture course in the
beginning at the semester. All necessary, and more detailed information concerning the
opportunities incoming students have for learning the culture and the language will be
given by mail.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
-
The school and its surroundings
Current faculty divisions and special areas
Approx. number of students (graduate and undergraduate) and number of exchange
students
Study structure
WU has over 26 000 students, which makes WU the largest university for
economics and business in Europe. Each year approximately 1000 international
students study at the WU. The WU faculty is made up of 12 academic
Departments and 14 interdisciplinary Research Institutes. Strategic emphasis of
the university is placed on research in finance, business law and Central and
Eastern Europe. The campus is divided into six buildings with lecturing rooms
and small classrooms, in addition to the library and the cantina.
WU is located in the northern part of Vienna, the 9th district. The public
transportation is in general very good in Vienna, thus WU is easy accessible from
everywhere. Although it is situated in the north, it will only take 10-15 minutes to
get to the city centre with tram, buss or the metro.
The 12 academic departments are departments of:
- Business, Employment and Social Security Law
- Cross-Border Business
- Economics
- Finance and Accounting
- Foreign Language Business Communication
- Information Systems and Operations
- Management
- Marketing
- Public Law and Tax Law
- Social Sciences
- Statistics and Mathematics
- Strategic Management and Innovation
- Total students:
26 800 approximately
- International students:
6700 approximately
- Incoming exchange students:
1 100 approximately
Course registration
- Were you able to register for courses before arrival?
- If not, when did you register? Any difficulties?
- If the school has a lottery or bidding system, describe this system and your experience
in detail.
- When and how long was the period for adding/dropping courses?
Course registration: The number of students in Vienna exceeds its capacity. The
registration itself takes place before arrival at a certain date and a specific hour. Due to
lack of capacity, there is limited enrolment to most of the courses and many of them
therefore get full only few minutes after the registration has started. It is therefore
important to decide early what courses to choose and be ready to register as soon as
the registration opens. In case the preferred courses are full, it is possible to sign up for
a waiting list few weeks before the semester starts. It is quite usual that people sign up
for too many courses and that one therefore gets the preferred course after being on the
waiting list. It is possible to register for new courses until the course itself starts, and
one can de-register from a course at any time before eventual mid-term exam or
presentation in the course.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
The arrival date varied but the 28th of September
was latest day for physical enrolment.
October 1st
Varies but officially the semester ends on January
27th.
Normally in January, but some courses offer
international students to take exam in December.
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
Arrival
- Was the administration and faculty well-prepared for your arrival?
- Did the school’s students participate in the reception of the exchange students?
- Describe the introduction week?
They were very well prepared and offered all the information needed. Additionally,
two information sessions were organised, the first on the 7th of September and the
second on the 28th of September. Furthermore, the international office (Zentrum für
Auslandsstudien) arranged an Orientation and Cultural program that lasted from the
7th to the 28th of September. The Program consisted of trips, museums and visits to
Austrian companies. Those who attended were very satisfied and got to know a lot of
students before starting the semester. Parallel with the program, WU offers an
intensive language course that provides 30 hours of teaching at your individual level.
Both these activities are highly recommended.
The International Office
The people working at the international office are very professionals and take care of
all kind of problems you might have.
They provide all necessary information in English
Promoting BI and Norway
Concerning promoting your home university there is a Student Abroad Fair, which is
held every year. All of the schools were represented either by students from Vienna
who had taken exchange to the different schools or by the students from the respective
schools, who were on exchange in Vienna. This day were held on the 15th of
September. Unfortunately, none of us were able to attend the Student Abroad Fair
representing BI when we all had mandatory classes at this time.
To better get to know the different cultures, the buddy network arranges International
dinners where the purpose is that everyone makes a dish from their home country, for
others to taste. Attend, and to bring traditional Norwegian food is a good way of
promoting Norway.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
- Describe the teaching style.
The teaching style is mostly done on power points slides and through class
discussions.
-
Language of instruction? Any problems?
All the professors spoke very well English. There is no problem understanding what
they are saying.
-
How would you evaluate the level of study in relationship to the level at BI?
In Vienna you get grades based on class participation, mid- terms, presentation and
final exams. As a reason of this you are working more continuously though out the
whole semester.
-
Did professors use cases, group work or lectures (or a combination)?
In almost every course you were divided into groups and had either class presentation,
group work or both.
-
How is the workload compared to that at BI?
The reading material and workload for the final exam is less compared to BI, due to all
the presentations and group works
-
Describe the relationship between professors and students.
Very well. Due to smaller class rooms you connect easily with the students and the
professors. We are proximately 30 students in each class.
-
Describe the relationship between the students in the classroom.
Like mentioned earlier you know a lot of the students when in your classes due to the
OK- program, language course or other organizations. Or otherwise you will easily
connect and get known with other students since every one want to get known and
become friends with as many as possible.
Course materials
- Describe the course materials used (books/literature, online articles, Powerpoint, etc).
We used papers delivered in class and power point slides from the lecture. You could
also borrow a book at the library if you wanted to know more about the subject.
-
In which language were the course materials?
All in English.
-
How do you estimate the level of the course materials in comparison to BI?
A bit less than at BI due to the presentations, mid term exams, etc. (usually when you
have a presentation or group work you have to gather more information than what you
learn in class)
Exams
- Was the exam based on the course materials or on the lectures?
It was based on the power point slides and the papers delivered in class. The professor
will give you sufficient information before the exam on what to read.
-
How was the course evaluated (include all that apply)?
Final exam (include form: written, oral, home assignment, presentation, etc.)
Mid-term exam
Presentations
Group work
Class attendance
Class participation/debates
Library and technology
- Do students have easy access to the library and its resources?
- Were computers provided around campus/in the library?
The library is easy accessible at the university and contain computers. Otherwise the
university got a huge computer room as well. However the library is very small and
does not have enough space for all the students. For that reason you sometimes have to
find other places at the university to study or study at home. This will improve when
the university will get new facilities, since they at the moment build a new university
campus.
Description of courses
Liv Heidi Li
Course code & name
0502 Local and Regional
Development
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
Approved as Comments
Presentation
Written final exam
None
Elective
1384 Principles of
Strategic and financial
controlling
Bachelor
Midterm 20%
Final exam 60 %
Report and
presentation 20%
2159 Risk management
and insurance
Bachelor
Four written exams.
Grade based on
average grade.
2153 International
development and world
monetary system
Bachelor
Midterm,
term paper
Final, term paper
Accounting,
recommend
good
understanding
of the balance
sheet
Recommend to
have a good
understanding
of basic
statistics
Strategy
Elective
Elective
Three
different
courses that
covers the
same theory.
The teaching
style varies
from teacher
to teacher,
and the level
of more of a
theoretical
focus or
quantitative
focus.
Assignment
for every
lecture. The
assignments
are graded
and needs to
be passed.
Lasse Mørck
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
2263 Sustainable
Business: Managing
for Tomorrow
Bachelor
1384 Principles of
Strategic and
Financial
Controlling
Bachelor
Group presentations
1/3
Class participation
1/3
final exam 1/3
Group presentations
15 %
midterm 20 %
class participation 5
%
final exam 60 %.
1533 Seminar on
Current European
Tax Law
Developments
written essay 100 %
Prerequis Approved
ites
as
None
Elective
Comments
None
Elective
We learned about
sustainability and
what impact it will
have on the world.
None
Strategy
The course was 50 –
50 strategic decision
for firms, and
financial analysis of
firms.
No prerequisites
were required, but
the course itself was
hard to understand
with non pre
experience.
2313 Negotiation
Management
Bachelor
written essay 100 %
None
Elective
The lectures were
divided into 50 – 50
class and negotiation
situations with other
students, we were
delivered different
cases to solve each
time. Very
interesting.
2064 International
Strategic
Management I
Bachelor
Group presentations
40 % class
participation 10 %
final exam 50 %
None
Elective
Very interesting and
relevant
management course,
we learned a lot
about different
strategies and we
had to prepare
presentations for
every lecture.
Please contact us through international office if you have any question.