Name of the University: European Business School (EBS)
Exchange semester: Fall 2012
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The school is in a little town called Oestrich-Winkel 20 minutes north from Wiesbaden by train. So is
no problem for students to live in Wiesbaden. The school consists of three main buildings and is pretty
old but in ok condition.
There are not too many students at the school so it is pretty easy to get to know the other exchange
students, but it’s more difficult to get to know the German students. It might have something to do with
me not having sufficient German skills.
Each module consists of 6 ECTS and contains 2 courses. You have to pass both courses to pass the
module and you cannot just pick one of the courses from the module.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
We got plenty of information from BI before we left and EBS was sending us a lot of information
regarding apartments and what to bring, so I was very satisfied with this part.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences
Don’t need visa in Germany. I ordered the plane ticket way in advanced so it was pretty cheap.
Academic Calendar
When I first arrived in Frankfurt at 20.august there was a car waiting for me at the airport. The car
drove me all the way to my flat for ten euros. The first week I was attending the intensive course in
German and got to know a lot of other exchange students.
The exam period was from the mid of November until Christmas, pretty much the same as in Oslo.
The exams were very short compared to the exam at BI so you had to be very efficient.
The last day of my semester was my last exam at 21.December. After the exam I took the train to the
airport before flying home.
Reception
There were always people at the reception to talk to if you had any questions. They were always
helpful and polite. During the first weeks we had a lot of contact with the administration to ask about
which courses we could choose. The problems for free electives students was that you had to choose
courses that didn’t crash and you were only allowed to have two crashes during the whole semester.
Housing
At EBS they had something called the “Flat Hunt”, so no problem at all to find an apartment. If you
didn’t attend the flat hunt, things could be much more difficult. I was living with three other guys above
an old doctor. The school had a lot of places that students could choose from, after that you only paid
the rent to the land lord.
Costs
The most expensive cost was by far the rent. The food was a bit cheaper than in Norway and the
alcohol was very cheap. We didn’t need any books because the professor uploaded the relevant
material online.
The International Office
In the administration there were two people working a lot with the exchange students, so if you had
any problems you just contacted them.
Social Activities
After one week I already got to know a lot of the exchange students because we had a facebook
group telling us where everyone was gathered at the different times. This was a very helpful tool to
arrange things with the other exchange students. After some weeks we created a soccer team that
played in a tournament arranged by EBS (facing other EBS teams).
Culture and Language
We spoke English most of the time because very few of the exchange students had the German skills
to do otherwise. At restaurants and at the supermarkets we tried to talk German because the workers
didn’t seem too happy to talk English.
Cultural and Social Effects from the Exchange Experience
I think the exchange semester gave me a lot of insights in different cultures. I met people from all
around the world and with different religions. My English also improved a lot during the stay.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The Teaching situation
Most of the courses are taught in English and there were a lot of presentations and activity during
classes (at least the one I attended). So with respect to BI there were a lot more class discussions.
Some of the professors used a lot of cases, while some others were reading from their power point
slides. The workload is pretty similar to BI and the professors were always available after classes if
you had any questions.
Required Literature
All of the literature was in English and the level of literature was pretty much the same as at BI. The
exams were mostly based on lectures.
Exams
The exam was 90 minutes and most of the students were not able to answer all of the questions
before the time was up. In order to pass the exam you had to get above 50%
Other
The students had easy access to the library, but you could only borrow a book for one day. There
were not that many computers at the school so most of the students brought their own.
Description of Courses
Course name:
Prereq.
Exam
Major at BI
Approved as
(Common/elective/extra)
Written
Finance
Elective
Managerial Economics
None
Derivatives
Real Estate Economics
Controlling
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Total: 24 ECTS. 6 ECTS per modul