Student Report
Name of the University: McMaster University
Exchange semester: Fall, 2013
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
The UHIP, the Canadian insurance equivalent to HELFO must be paid by every student,
however this might be avoided if you manage to deliver a HELFO approval. This A4 sheet
must be the standard one, as they don’t accept anything they haven’t seen before.
Also it is important to apply for ESTA if you are transitting through the states.
The international contact from McMaster is very helpful and will guide you through any
problems you might get. All the information from the school is through e-mail. Choosing
subjects was pretty easy, as they are described quite well on their internet site and you have an
add/drop week when you get there.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
This is not necessary in Canada, only thing you need to remember is applying for the ESTA if
you are going through the US.
Travel
We both travelled by plane. No difficulties where incurred, as they are very helpful at the
airport to guide you to the right bus or taxi in to Hamilton.
Housing
Housing was not provided by the university, however they have a great site where you can
apply for a bed in student houses. We recommend every exchange student to live around main
campus in the student houses there. The quality of the houses varies a lot, but this can be seen
on pictures at the site. Housing was cheap and convinent compared to Norwegian prices.
Costs
We paid 470 Canadian dollars in rent each month, this included everything. Food was pretty
expensive compared to what we thought. The prices in the convenience store was very similar
to Norwegian prices. However, eating at fast food chains and other restaurants was pretty
cheap. Books where incredibly expensive, and you are not able to recover the cost when you
sell them. Transportation is not that expensive, and not very used if you live around main
campus.
Culture and language
All the professors, students and inhabitants are fluent in English, as this is their native
language. So as long as you speek alrhigt English, you will get by fine. The culture, in our
experience, is very similar to Norwegian. However, they are much less reserved, and mingling
is done on daily basis. We found the openness very nice, as you got to be a part of their
culture and friend very quickly. Our Canadian friends where very helpful planning and giving
us tips on where to go. Overall it was very easy to get around and experience the country and
the US, as Hamilton is nicely located.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
McMaster main campus is situated west of central Hamilton. Main campus is big, with a lot
of facilities. The area is quiet and almost suburban, and the inhabitants are almost all students.
Several student bars are available, and house parties are frequent. Hamilton downtown is not
very nice; it is a typical rustbelt town with lots of social problems it seems. Go downtown,
and there are more drug addicts and crazy people that talk to them selves than “normal”
people. The secret is to know where to go, King William Street has a few good cafés and bars,
and Toronto is only an hour away with the GO bus. Motown on Wednesdays is something
you ought to experience. Toronto is truly one of the better cities in North America, and should
be extensively explored. Although the description of Hamilton may seem a bit rough, there is
no reason to feel unsafe.
Undergrads study at the main campus, while grad students have to take a shuttle bus to the
Burlington campus, about 25 minutes away. The shuttle bus is free and runs throughout the
day from the main campus. However, it only goes every three hour (coordinating with
classes).
The Canadian study structure is very different from the study structure at BI. As a student you
have a lot of group works and presentations in many of the courses. Participation in class
matters and you will get many tests during the semester that count to your final grade. There
was a final exam in most of the classes we took, but it only counted 30-40%. The courses are
more practical with a lot of cases, and you get knowledge about a lot of corporations. Overall
the MBA courses are less difficult and requires less work than back at BI.
Course registration
We registered for hour courses before we got there (around june). We needed to scan a similar
document as the learning agreement over to McMaster. No difficulties where incurred, as this
process is pretty simple.
The add/drop period lasted around a week, and was very helpful, as you could participate in
one class.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
August 30.
First day of the semester:
September 9.
Last day of classes:
December 4.
Examination period:
Dec. 7. – Dec. 22.
Any special events/holidays:
Thanksgiving (one
day) and reading week
(five days)
Arrival
For the MBA students we had one week with different social events and introduction courses.
However, the exchange student were only allowed to participate in the first day, as the courses
in excel etc were payed by the normal MBA students. So, we where kind of left alone the first
week. We asked to participate with the other undergrad students, but where not allowed to do
this either.
We also participated in the MBA Bound which is a 3 days camping trip where you live in
cottages and participate in a range of social activities. This was an expensive trip, but worth
the money. This was our first time really getting to know the other students. Also, we got to
know a lot of first year students on this trip, but we only had courses with second year
students.
The International Office
The international office was very helpful, and all your problems were helped by them. They
respond to your mails straight away, before, after and under the stay. They also updated us on
events and other academic things.
Promoting BI and Norway
We did not participate in any events to promote BI and Norway, however we talked kindly
about our school to everyone who wondered how it was like. Canadians are very curious, so
we got to say a lot about our school, culture and country.
Social activities
The relationship amongst Canadians and exchange students are very good, as the they are
very open. Some of our best friends over there where natives.
The Bound and Christmas ball was the only activities by the MBA association, but the
international student association frequently arranged trips and happenings. So there is a lot to
do, both arranged and not.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The classes had a lot of presentations and participation is a must. The teaching style was not
so formal, but the cloathing style was. We had to dress up in business casual every day and
full suit on presentations. This was only for MBA students.
The workload is much less than master courses at BI. It could be compared to last year at
bachelor. However you need to do some homework for every class, which would be tested
through participation.
Course materials
Books was the main source for homework. The lectures where much based on powerpoints.
The books and powerpoints are well written and easy to understand.
Exams
The exams was very much based on the lectures, and the lectures was very much based on the
required reading material.
In the courses we took they were evaluated through a final exam (all of them written), midterm exam (written), presentations and class attendance and participation. They where
differently weighted in each course. Class attendance
Library and technology
The facilities where alright. It was very hard to find a place to read at the libraries during midterm and exam periods. Also the internet did not work during these times due to overload. The
equivalent page to atbi.no was fine, but could not load when a lot of people used it at the same
time. There are a lot of different libraries at main campus, so you can choose your own
favourite.
Description of courses
Please list below all the courses you took while on exchange. Your comments are useful for
BI and for future exchange students, include information on the qacadmic level, challenges,
relevance to your studies, if the course was practical/theoretical, any enrolment issues, etc.
Course code &
Master/
name
Bachelor
A701
Master
Intermediate
Exam form
Prerequisites
Approved
Comments
as
3-hour written
Accounting
exam (40%)
course at
hardest
bachelor
course, the
Accounting
Elective
By far the
average
grade was a
fail.
F721 Mergers,
Master
Acquisitions and
3-hour written
Should have
exam (40%)
some form of
difficulty,
Valuation
but a
course
wimsy
Takeovers
Elective
Alright
professor
made it
harder than
it should be
P745 Corporate
Master
Presentation and
None
Elective
Our teacher
Governance
final paper
got fired in
(80%)
the middle
of
semester,
so no real
structure in
this course.
O701 Modelling
and analtytics
Master
Final home-
None
Elective
exam (75%)
Very useful
course,
using
difficulty
spreadsheets
was alright.
On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience?
We had a great time during our stay at McMaster university. The academic
challenge was not the hardest, but the focus on a different take on teaching
techniques was very interesting. The social experience was superb, as there was
a lot of events, trips and all over great people. The cultural experience was also
good, as we got to live with some Canadians who showed us and included us in
their ways of living and customs. We would recommend any students from BI
this school.