GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Student Report
Name of the University: Universidad de Navarra
Exchange semester: Fall / Spring, 2013
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
Before we left we got enough information from the university to select course’s. They also
reminded us of deadlines by email, and we were also able to apply for a language course
before the semester started organized by the school. The university also helped us to find
housing, so there were no difficulties in the preparation.
Applying for a visa
Not necessary to apply for visa cause we are European citizens.
Travel
Getting to Pamplona can be quite difficult, but the easiest way to get there is by taken
Brussels Airlines to Bilbao from Oslo, and then the bus to Pamplona. The bus ride is two
hours.
Housing
The university does not provide the housing, but they are very helpful and it is quite easy to
find a good place to stay. The university emails you a link to a web page were you can find all
kind of apartments in Pamplona. They will also tell you which areas are the closest ones to the
university and the ones that are more common for students.
Costs
Our rent was 400 € per month. Everything was included, power, hot water and Internet.
We didn´t rely have any books, but it depends on the course’s. The professors usually give out
papers or PowerPoint presentations and readings.
About the transportations, Pamplona is a small city, so you don´t really need to take much
public transportation. We usually walked a lot during our stay.
Food is really cheap compared to Norway, especially if you cooked a lot at home. I
approximately used about 30 € a week on food. The university also have cafeterias and dining
rooms were you can get a good meal for about 5 € as well.
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
3000 NOK
80 NOK
1000 NOK
60 NOK
2000 NOK
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Culture and language
We didn´t experience any problems with the faculty or other students. Students and professors
spoke really good English, so the communication was not a problem.
The university arranged several trips to places in Spain for the international students. We went
to Madrid, San Sebastian and Biarritz. These trips were quite cheap and really worth it.
Cultural and social effects from the exchange experience
The exchange experience is something we will recommend to everyone. You learn so much
about yourself and about other cultures and people. I think this experience will affect us only
in a positive way. You get to know so many interesting people from all around the world, and
get the chance to visit them in the future. This experience will hopefully affect the future
career and possibilities by first of all improving your language skills and by getting contact
form different places, and friends for life.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
- The school is placed in the outskirts of Pamplona. The surroundings is beautiful with a
mountains in the distance and a green an clean park as the campus grounds. The
school itself is divided in to different buildings for different faculties.
- Current faculty divisions and special areas
- Architecture, Communication, Law, Business and Economics, Medicine.
- Classes threw out the semester, term papers and midterms in the middle and then the
exams at the end.
Course registration
- We were able to register for courses before the arrival, without much problem.
- And the add drop period was 2 weeks.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
5 of January
7 of January
25 of may
End of may start of
April
The day of the schools
saint, and also the day
of your faculty’s saint.
Other:
Arrival
- The administration and faculty was prepared and the proses of starting at their school
went by smoothly our student cards were a little delayed, but that was the only thing.
- There were some students who had signed up to be buddies or helpers that participate
in the welcoming of the new exchange students.
- Rather then week, there were a couple of days. A trip to San Sebastian, a walk around
campus, and pinchos at Estafeta as welcoming. The rest was up to the students.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
The International Office
- The international office is easy to locate and most of those who work there speak
English.
- The school has several brochures in English, and the international office is as long as
their open easy to ask.
Promoting BI and Norway
There was no form of promotional activities.
Social activities
- We kept most to international students, but the native students were friendly and nice
- The exchange students were great. Lots of new friends and connections all around the
world.
- There are a couple of trips for the exchange students, as earlier mentioned San
Sebastian, but also Madrid.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
- The teaching style based on lectures. The professor holds a class for a number of
students varying from groups of 10 to somewhat 50 students.
- The English level is good, but strong accent made it a little hard to understand from
time to time
- The courses we took were easier then the ones at BI. But the academic level of the
professors was good if not better.
- The teaching is primarily theoretical?
- The professors used cases, group work and lectures. But mostly lectures.
- The workload is bigger threw out the semester, given the midterms and term-papers
but the overall work put down in the courses is far less.
- Describe the relationship between professors and students.
- The relationship between professors and students is professional, but the professors’
seam to care more for the students and most of them learned all the names of their
students.
- The students speak when asked and raise there hands from time to time, but the
majority of time is spent I silence.
Course materials
- Articles, books but mostly PowerPoint’s all in English.
- How do you estimate the level of the course materials in comparison to BI?
- The courses were interesting, but the motivation was different then in BI. More
directed towards the experience then the academics.
- The courses we took was more directed towards a broad overview of the subject.
Exams
- Was the exam based on the course materials or on the lectures?
- The lectures were the basis of the exams, and attending to class helped a lot towards
your grade on the exam.
- How was the course evaluated.
o Final exam – written or oral
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
o
o
o
o
o
o
Mid-term exam: written and oral presentation.
Small assignments and/or papers
Presentations
Group work
Class attendance
Class participation/debates
Library and technology
- The library is easy to access and is available to all the students of the school, all you
need is your student card or to ask one of the guards to let you in.
- There are several computers located around campus also in the library, wifi all over
campus made it easy to use your own computer.
- The school use something called ADI to give out information to the students combined
with email.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Example:FIN123
Finance
Business Policy
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
4-hour written
exam
2-hour written
exam
None
Mid-term,
term paper
Marketing II
Bachelor
2-hours written
exam
Mid-term,
term-paper
Global Political
Economy
Bachelor
2-hours Written
exam
Mid-term,
Group
presentation
Money, Banking and
international Markets
Bachelor
2-hours written
exam
Mid-term,
term-paper
International Finance
Bachelor
2-hours written
exam
Mid-term,
term-paper
Approved
as
Elective
Comments
A course
about
strategy
and how to
start a new
business.
Marketing
strategies,
good
teacher.
Story
telling, and
English
class. Easy.
Class about
the banking
system, and
how to
implement
monetary
policies
effectively
Macro
finance,
and
monetary
policy.
Some about
the
financial
crisis
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THE STUDENT REPORT
Any other experiences/comments about your exchange experience?: