Student Report
Name of the University: Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Exchange semester: Spring, 2014
.
I.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
We got endorsed to Universidad Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona for our exchange period. After
applying in our 2. Semester, we received information in the middle of February 2013, almost
a year before we arrived to Barcelona. This process did not encounter any difficulty at all. The
exchange office at BI are really helpful, just make sure to be on time.
We were two students that got a spot in this university, and got fast in contact with each other.
This is recommended. We took a flight some days before semesterstart, so we could be a little
known with the city and our housing. From the airport we easily took a taxi to our housing.
We were housing two different places during our exchange, the first month at a student
residence hall, and the last five months at an own apartment. The student residence hall was
provided as one of several options by the university, and the process signing up was easy.
After some week we moved out and into an apartment. The residence hall had to many rules
and was really expansive. We easily rented an apartment through an agency instead. Leaving
in an own apartment was much better.
During our stay in Barcelona, the Spanish economy was really bad. Everything was really
cheap, especially compared to Norway. The prices at the grocery store were around 60% of
the prices in Norway. Following is a briefly assumption of our budget pr. person:
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 3200,NOK 0,NOK 3500,NOK 700,NOK 800,-
There were not many problems with the language at the faculty, but a little in the generally
life. Most of the teachers and students spoke English and the information was easily to obtain.
It is a lot of exchange students in Barcelona, and this people natural become your friends. We
had an integration week that helped us get known to each other. In situations outside the
faculty, the language often got a problem. Older Spanish people normally don’t speak English
very well (or not at all), so we had to learn some phrases on Spanish. I really recommend
doing some Spanish courses, this is organised well by the university.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Universitat Pompeu Fabra is a school with around 7.000 students divided into 7 different
campuses (http://www.upf.edu/campus/en/). Students from BI will be attending the Campus
Ciutadella. This is a campus with 3 different buildings, located next to each other. This
campus is located next to the “Ciutadella parc” and the location is fantastic, with walking
distance to the metro, the tram and the beach. The main faculty at this campus is the economic
and business sciences. There are students from all over the world studying here, and upon
arrival you will find that there are a great number of Erasmus students. As an exchange
student from BI, it is important to be aware that the school system is completely different in
Spain and in Norway. Here you are expected to participate in class, go to mandatory seminars
each week, do presentations and give an overall impression throughout the semester. It is very
similar to the Norwegian high school system, where a part of the grade is your participation
evaluated by the teacher. This of course means that the final exam is a smaller percentage
than what we are used to at BI.
The university is very welcoming in terms of exchange students, and with the OMA office
(Mobility and Welcome Office) and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) organizations help
it is easy to get in contact with other students. Already at day one there was an welcome
meeting where you got a lot of information, and registrated to become part of the ESN and the
most important: The welcome week and the “buddy program”. This was a week of social
activities and this is where I met all my friends from all different nationalities. Throughout the
semester/year there was a lot of social activities and trips through ESN and the other
international students.
As the school system is a bit different from home, with a lot of group activities etc., there is a
lot of interaction in the class. Therefore you will easily get to know the Spanish students well.
One thing that is VERY important to know about this school is that they have “trimesters”.
This means that they have 3 semesters during the year, and during the spring semester you
have “two semesters” with spring break in the middle (around March/April).
You apply for courses at BI before you leave. My tip is: choose way to many courses.
Because during the add&drop period (which you will be informed about when you get there)
a lot of courses is chosen, and you may end up with “left over” courses that you may not like.
So therefore it is easier to add to many, and then drop them during the add and drop. The add
and drop period is 2 days long, around 2 weeks after the school have started, so you have a
chance to try them.
III. ACADEMICS
As mentioned, UPF has a very complex teaching style. Your final grade in each course will be
decided dependent on several factors, such as participation in class, seminar quizzes, mid
terms and group projects as well as a final exam. The professors use a lot of PowerPoint and
articles and books are often not necessary at all. There are lectures two times a week (1,5h
each session) and seminar once a week. Usually the lectures are not mandatory, while the
seminars are. The lectures are mostly theory, while the seminars are activity.
The classroom fits around 40-50 students but there are often many more registred in the
course, that only show during the mandatory sessions. Therefore there are groups in the
semniars with three different times to choose from (you do this through “Aula Global”, the
student intranet).
The quality of the courses varies a lot, as is the English level of the teachers. It is important
that you choose courses taught in English, as there are many courses in Catalan and Spanish
as well.
Some of the courses are very good, while others are not. It is quite hard to compare the
courses to courses at BI, as the teaching methods are very different. In terms of workload I
would say that some of the courses are similar to the ones at BI, while others are more
practical and has less workload.
There is a library at campus, but the seats are rather limited, so if you want a place to study,
you should be there early. Stationary computers with connection to printers are also available
for all the students, and you can buy printing cards similar to the student cards we use to print
at BI.
Course code & name
21140: Operations
management
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
2 hour multiple
choice
Basic statistics
Approve
d as
Logistics
Bachelor
2 hour multiple
choice
None
Elective
Bachelor
40 minutes
multiple choice
None
Elective
Bachelor
30 minutes
multiple choice
(online at home)
None
Elective
Bachelor
2 hour multiple
choice
None
Elective
Bachelor
No final exam
None
Elective
5 ECTS
21139: International
Marketing
5 ECTS
21246: International
Business History
5 ECTS
21866:
Entreprenurship
5 ECTS
21144: International
Strategic Management
5 ECTS
21878: Business
Games
Comments
Quiz every
week in
seminars +
class
participation
(40% of the
total grade)
Final exam:
60%
International
marketing
plan: 40%,
Participation:
20%, Final
exam: 40%
Seminar
preparing’s
and
participation
(40% of the
total grade)
Final: 60%
Seminar
30%, Case
study: 20%,
Business
model: 30%,
Final: 20%
Final project:
50%,
Participation:
10%, Final:
40%
Business
simulation,
where you
got grade
during the
class,
midterm, the
final ranking
of your firm,
and
presentations
This has been the best 6 months of our life. Regardless of where you go, exchange is
wonderful. But Barcelona is a magical place we never will forget. During this semester we
experienced so much, met so many amazing people and learned things we would never have
done back home. This exchange semester during our Bachelor at BI got us thinking of doing
our masters abroad as well. We recommend Barcelona to everyone.