Università Commerciale “Luigi Bocconi” (Milan)
Names of students: Ingeborg Rekdal, Håkon Reistad Fure, Olav
Gulbransen, Christian Anvik, Ingunn Tråsdahl, Knut Solheim
Exchange semester: Fall 2009
1. Preparation and basic information
The preparation consisted basically of finding out which subjects you want to
take at Bocconi. This has to be approved by the faculty dean at BI. There are
many good courses and lots of information on the Bocconi web pages and you
should find out early which courses you want to take at Bocconi. Bocconi opens
for class sign up from August 1st until September 1st , and it is based on the first
come, first serve principal. An idea could also be to enroll in more classes than
necessary, this way you can make sure you get classes you want. You may
change your schedule after the first signup. We received some forms and
additional information from Bocconi that we had to fill out and submit, and BI and
Bocconi provided a good and informative preparation of all administrative issues.
As a Norwegian citizen you don’t need a visa to stay in Italy, but you are required
to register with the authorities if you stay more than 90 days. Make sure just to
read all information you receive Bocconi thoroughly to avoid problems when you
arrive. The Italian way of life can sometimes be found quite bureaucratic.
The time of arrival in Milan depends on if you are taking the Italian language
course or not. The language course started Agust 24th while the first mandatory
meeting was on September 7th, the first day of class was the 15th. The ordinary
semester at Bocconi ends in February, but there are special arrangements made
for exchange students. We were therefore allowed to take the exams in
December.
Italians are not very good in English, it is recommended to learn a few words to
get around. The Italian course you can take at Bocconi is good. It lasts two
weeks, enough time for you to learn the basics. There are lessons six days a
week, and they last six hours each. Further, it is a great opportunity to get new
friends.
2. The school
The school is divided into several buildings, and your classes are usually spread
out between them. The library was a bit disappointing. The library is divided into
different areas, and you are given a seat when you go in. It can be quite noisy in
some parts of the library and there is also a lack of Wi-Fi and PC access. There
are a couple of computers at the library, and there is a large computer room in
the main building. We recommend you use the smaller yet less populated
computer room, just ask the help desk for directions There are two printers in
each computer room, and no scanners. Luckily there are probably 4-5 different
internet-café/ print shops nearby Bocconi, which appears to be the standard
place for all Bocconi students to go fix their print work. Generally the IT facilities
are below the standards we are used to at BI. There are some places for
groupwork in the main building located at each floor, right outside the
classrooms.
The cantinas at Bocconi are good, but since there are approximately 8000
students at Bocconi, it can get very crowed there between classes. There are
professional baristas and an espresso cost about 0,70 euro. There are also
several cafés, bars and restaurants around the campus.
3. Subject description:
The courses at Bocconi count for 6 ECTS points. You have the possibility to
choose among a broad range of interesting topics, where most teachers speak
understandable English. We all had about 10-13 hours of classes each week.
There is also sadly enough quite often a lot of noise from the Italian students that
show little respect for both the professors and their classmates. It is also possible
to be non-attending students in all classes.
8145 International Corporate Finance
Christian. A general course on some of the international aspects in finance,
without going into depth. Professor did not meet expectations. We found this to
be an easy course consisting of two multiple choice exams, 1 hour each,
however we do not recommend this course.
8191 Investment Banking and Structured Finance
The course focuses on two parts of structured finance, securitization and project
finance. Several guest lecturers from banks and rating firms, in addition to having
two professors teaching each part of the course. The professor in charge of the
course is one of the best professors I have had. He has also written the textbook.
Essential to attend classes to take lecture notes which are valuable preparing for
the exam. Also recommended to attend the business game. 1 hour final exam.
Christian recommends this course.
8307 - Mergers and Acquisitions
This was an easy, interesting and good course. The class is among the most
popular and most attended, thus it is advisable to not sit too far back in the
classroom if you want to understand what is being said. As half of the students
had never had corporate finance before, the lessons became rather simple, but it
was overall an interesting course.
8188 - Asset Management
Interesting and good course where you also learn basic Matlab. There are two
assignments that have to be done besides the final exam. The first one is quite
easy, while the second one is a bit more tedious. Knut, Håkon & Christian
recommend this course.
8447 - Financial Econometrics and Applied Finance
Quite theoretical course.
8344 - Management of fashion and luxury companies
This is a course in marketing/strategy. It was an easy and interesting course (if
you are interested in fashion). You can choose whether you want to be attending
or non attending. If you are attending student there is a group assignment in
addition to the final exam. It is not a difficult assignment, but it can be a little time
consuming. The final exam for non attending students is longer (60 minutes
compared to 45 minutes for attending students), and is supposed to be more
difficult. Moreover, the lessons were interesting and varied, and the teacher
good.
8461 – International economics and business dynamics
Not recommended. Ingunn, Ingeborg, Olav & Christian. This course was
somewhat easy, and we did not learn much new. The students are evaluated on
basis of on an assignment/presentation and a final exam. This course is not
recommended by Ingunn, Ingeborg, Olav & Christian.
8823 – Fixed Income (Advanced Methods)
It is supposed to be the hardest course at Bocconi, but the professors are
excellent and if you are considering a career within investment banking it is
highly recommended. Will require some effort though, as it is likely the hardest
course you will ever have.
There are two different exam modules; either you sit two mid-terms or 1 final
exam. If you sit the mid-term you will split the course in two rather than
addressing all at one exam at the end of the year. Highly recommend to choose
the two mid-terms modality.
4. Accomodation
It is not necessarily easy to find housing in Milan. There are student dorms
provided by the university, but we were advised to seek private apartments as
the dorms are rather expensive and are located far away from the university. We
found our apartments through rental agencies, housing web pages (facebook,
halldis.com, eurohomes & others) and friends. You should expect to use between
€500-€900 per month on living expenses. We would recommend to find a place
nearby Bocconi or close to the city center.
5. Social life
The social life in Milan and Bocconi is very good and Milan truly offers something
for everybody’s taste. There are a lot of social activities going on for the student
with international party in one of the clubs almost any day of the week. Milan has
many good nightclubs, bars and places to eat. There are a lot of famous artist
and DJs visiting Milan clubs. We recommend trying out the clubs Le Banque,
Limelight, Hollywood, Old Fashion, Just Cavalli and Gatto Pardo. Gatto Pardo is
definitively worth a visit; an old church with everything in marble and great music.
You should also go exploring the endless amount of great places eating
aperitivo. The concept is that you pay 7-10 Euros for any kind of drink, and then
you eat as much as you want from a huge buffet. Aperitivo is served almost all
over the city, from 19-22 and is a typical “after work” event, where you meet all
sorts of people, students as well as business people. We can recommend the
Navigli area as a great place to find good aperitivos, and specific places like
Cheece, Twelve, Refeel. We would also recommend joining some of the
Facebook groups that are organized by Bocconi students.
It is very easy to travel around in Italy and the train system works very well. We
all did some travelling during the weekends and visited places like Cinque Terre,
Venice, Lake Como, Lake Garda, Verona, Bergamo, Varazze, Barbaresco,
Barolo, Alba, Firenze etc. It is easy to travel from Milan, both by train and car.
6. Other practical and economic conditions:
There are several airlines that fly to Milano, it is therefore quite easy to find
cheap tickets. Just be aware of the amount of luggage you are allowed to bring,
so you won’t need to pay overweight.
Transportation in Milan is very cheap compared to what we are used to from
Norway. A metro ticket costs one euro. A one month travel pass for students only
costs 17 euro (27 euro the first month), which you can use on the metro, tram
and bus. The student card can only be bought in a few selected metro stops
(including the metro stop “duomo”). All of us also ended up getting bicycle
passes so we could use the city bikes that are placed all over Milan. Taxies are
also cheap, half the price of Oslo.
For any further questions feel free to get in touch with us. Our contact details are:
Ingunn Tråsdahl
Ingunn.trasdahl@student.bi.no
Håkon Reistad Fure hakon.reistad.fure@studen.bi.no
Christian Anvik
christian.anvik@student.bi.no
Olav Gulbrandsen
olavgul@hotmail.com
Ingeborg Rekdal
ingeborg.rekdal@student.bi.no
Knut Solheim
knut.solheim@student.bi.no