Student Report
Name of the University: Bocconi University
Exchange semester: Spring 2015
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
All the comunication was through email, and I received the first on 15.10.14. In this
email I got information on how things would go on in the process. Everything from
here went very smooth with no complications.
Applying for a visa
You don’t have to apply for a visa.
Travel
I traveled with SAS on a direct flight to Milan Malpensa airport. There are three
international airports in Milan, and some are closer to the city than others.
Housing
Housing was provided by Bocconi, but these apartements had a poor location and
werent actually that cheap. We went on airbnb and found a holiday flat and agreed on
a long term agreement. I would recommend to provide housing for yourself, rather
than the university housing.
Costs
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 5200
NOK 800
NOK 2700
NOK 200
NOK 1500
Culture and language
All the professors and students I met spoke great english, so I had no problems
understanding during lectures etc. at the university. There is however a different
picture for the city of Milan in general. The older generation and low educated
population has limited knowledge of the english language. I attended an intensive
italian language course provided by Bocconi. By attending this course pre semester,
you learn some italian and get an understanding of the culture of the italian people.
Travelling in Italy
I had lectures from Monday to Thursday so there were possibilities of taking long
weekend trips. Milan has train connections with a lot of interesting cities in the
northern part of Italy, such as Florence, Torino, Verona, Genoa, Venezia and Bologna.
The distance is longer if you are going to the south, so here I would recommend
renting a car instead of the train. We also had easter vacation where you will have time
to do some traveling. By traveling you will also get a wider view of the Italian culture.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The school
Bocconi university is located south of the city centre, not too far out. Four stops with
the tram and you are at Navigli. The campus consists of several buildings, two is
connected, but the others are not. However, the buildings are close to each other.
Transport to the university is bus or tram. Buses will be a lot fuller than we are used to
in Oslo, and they are also unpredictable on schedule. Bocconi University is one of the
best Business and Management schools in Europe, check different rankings.
Course registration
18.12.2014 I received a student ID and pasword for the online learning platform,
similar to atbi.no, called you@b. From January 8-15 2015 we registered for courses on
this learning platform. Courses are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis, so you
should not wait until the last day to register for courses.
The add/drop period ended on February 25th.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
January 26th
February 9th
May 15th
May 18th – May 29th
(June 10th – June 29th)
Easter
Arrival
The introduction week consists of an information meeting and a welcome cocktail.
This is arranged by Bocconi. In addition you have an organization called ESN
(Erasmus) who has a lot of social activities. They organize trips and parties in some of
the best clubs in Milan.
The International Office
The international office at Bocconi is great! You get all the information you need, and
if you have questions, you can just stop by and get an answer straight away or send an
email and receive an answer some hours later. They can help you with almost
anything.
Social activities
The ESN for exchange students organizes social events and go outs almost every day
of the week, if that is desirable. You could also join the Bocconi sports team.
My impression was that the italians was with italians, and exchange students was with
other exchange students. The italian students were nice, but not so easy to get close to.
Exchange students seemed to be more open to new relations.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
Usually there is lectures with power point presentations, but also variations with
experiments, exercises, guest speakers, cases, field trips and projects. Theoretical
approach with practical examples and cases for most courses. In some courses the
teaching style was more practical. The classes consisted of 40-100 students, depending
on the course, which opens up for more discussion during lectures.
It is about the same amount of work as at BI.
Course materials
The course materials consisted mostly of books and powerpoints, in some cases online
articles as well.
Exams
The exam was based on both course materials and lecture materials. You will need at
least 18/30 (60%) to pass any exam or assignment. There is also two exam periods for
the final exams, where you can choose if you want to take all the exams in one week
in late may, or level the workload, and take some exams in june as well. If you fail on
an exam in may, you can retake it in june, and still pass the course.
- How was the course evaluated?
o Final exam. All of my final exams were written.
o Mid-term exam All of my mid-term exams were written. Only two of my
courses had a mid-term exam.
o Small assignments and/or papers I had to hand in a paper in one of my
courses. We got the questions one week before the deadline.
o Presentations Voluntary for extra grades.
o Group work Some courses have group projects.
o Class attendance Most courses have class attendance. You will typically need
to attend at least 70% of the lectures. However, not all courses check
attendence, but since the exam is based on the lectures its recommended with
high attendence.
o Class participation/debates Some professors use class participation for extra
points on the grade.
Library and technology
I rarely studied at the university after lectures, this is because there is no space. The
library is nice, but there is not room for a lot of students. There is a lot of rooms for
group work, but these have to be booked in advance, and when you are closing up on
exams they are rarely avaliable. I did all my studying other than lectures in my
apartement, because you could never find an avaliable space in the library. The
technology also lags far behind what you experience at BI. The printers at the
university is a joke, so all the students use print shops. There is one right next to
Bocconi.
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
1-hour written
exam + 1-hour
written midterm exam
Organizational
Theory
30214 - Sustainable
Operations
Management
Bachelor
45-minutes
written exam
(Multiple
choise)
None
Logistics
30067 – Economic
History
Bachelor
None
Elective
30221 – Management
of Fashion Companies
Bachelor
30-minutes
written exam +
30-minutes
written midterm exam +
Hand in essay
45-minutes
written exam
(Multiple choise
+ short answers)
+ Field Project
(30% of the
grade)
None
Elective
1-hour written
exam (5 open
questions)
None
Elective
30211 – Lean
Management
30219 – Business Plan Bachelor
Approved
as
Elective
Comments
Waste elimination,
problem solving and
value stream
mapping. How to
create a lean
environment in a
company as they
have done in
Toyota.
Very interesting
course, varied
teaching style and
great professor
(Arnaldo Camuffo).
Takes an
environmental
perspective to see
how to make
operations
sustainable.
A lot of reading,
challenging form of
exam. The course
that took the most of
my time.
A course made for
the exchange
students at Bocconi.
Interesting to get a
look in the fashion
and luxury industry.
A lot of guest
speakers from
different fashion
and luxury
companies.
How to start new
businesses, raise
capital, create new
markets and so on. I
took this course as a
non-attending
student due to
overlap in my
timetable. I had to
read three books,
and answer 5 open
questions from these
books.
Final note
A semester with new challenges. It required a lot of work, but it was all different from what I
was used to at BI and I learned so much. The exchange experience allowed me to travel to
new places, meet new people from all over the world, and I am really happy that I went
abroad this semester, both socially and professionally.