Student Report
Name of the University: Mangement Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, India
Exchange semester: Fall, 2015
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
First of all, if you want to travel to India on exchange, you have to get used to wait. The same
goes for information. Before you can applie for Visa, you need documention and approval
from MDI. I received this application after summer vacation had started, which meant that
had to go back to Oslo for my Visa. I decided to use the service of www.visumservice.no,
which meant that I did not need to go back to Oslo, during the summer. I recommend to apply
for a 6months visa in July so you have the possibity to travel after the semester is ending (6th
of December in 2015)
I did not receive any practical information, just the expected price of accompdation which
where 10500 INR each month and approx. 500 INR for food at the school for three months
Applying for a visa
Since I got the information I needed to apply for a Visa, after I had travelled home for
summer vecation I used visumservice.no. All you need to do is to send in information to them
(and pay som extra), and they will get the visa on your behalf and go to the embassy.
I think the price for an Indian Visa is around 900NOK. Visumservice.no charges 500700NOK. Had no difficulties.
Travel
I took the plane to India. Since MDI Gurgaon is just 30 km south-west for New Delhi, I took a
direct flight from Amsterdam to Delhi.
Housing
Housing was provided by the university. The accomdation for 3 months was 31500 INR +
500INR for breaksfast, lunch and dinner. I only got
Was housing provided by the university? If not, did you receive support from the school?
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 1300
NOK 100
NOK
NOK
NOK
If you go out for dinner every day your food expenses will rise. I used quite much on
food, mostly because I love real indian food (which you will NOT get at campus). I
also travelled a lot, so the food, transport and other expenses also rise.
If you go to a restaurant in Guragon(on of the most expensive cities in India, a main
course will cost around 50NOK-100NOK. Beer 40-50NOK. If you go to other cities, it
will most likely be cheaper.
If you go to the local beer shop a beer(650ml) will cost you under 15NOK
India is a cheap place to getting around. A tuk-tuk kost 5-15NOK, taxies is 1/10 of the
Norwegian price, flight tickets are quite cheap if you plan, buss and train tickets are
also cheap. Recommended app you should download: ClearTrip
Culture and language
At the campus, all the students and teachers talked english, so you will not have any problems
communicating to them. But when it comes to cleaning staff, security staff, etc. their ability to
talk English is very low. Outside campus and other parts of India where people do not have
education or exposed a lot to tourism, the abilty to talk English is also very low. My
recommendation to you is to learn som basic hindi, so you can impress your fellow students,
and be able to communicate to people if you need e.g. water on a very hot day in a unkown
and dirty market.
If you go to India, you have to experience the country and the culture. During the semester
you have time before the studies starts, during the semester (weekends and holidays) and after
the semester(my ended at 6th of December). At the school there is class participation, but as an
exchange student, you have a bit more freedom than a regular student that can miss three
classes.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
The business school MDI, was located in sector 17 in Gurgaon, around 20min from the airport
(without traffic). The school is “shield from the reality”, with fence around the school. MDI is
a MBA school, and have therefore only 1st and 2nd years students. As an exchange during the
fall, you will join the 2nd years.
The school had a computer lab, a library and a couple of printing rooms that was avaible for
students. I needed to take 5 courses, where every course had two lecture per week.
Course registration
The first week, is a open study week, where students can go to several classes to find the
classes that suit them best. Many of the different courses have classes on the same time, so it
will take some time to assamble the schedule. After decided for the classes, you have to go to
on place to pay, and another one to register for courses. When you had paid and registered,
you could receive the books. The add/drop period ended after the first week.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
25.08.2015
2.09.2015
1.12.2105
2-6 December
Placement week and
Divali. Approx. one
week each
Midterms and endexams
Arrival
You have to register within 14 days after arrival to the FRRO. I travelled one week before the
school started, which meant that MDI had one week to give me one sheet of paper where they
confirmed my stay. Remember that I wrote that you should be used to wait if you go to India?
That applied here to. I got my documention, and needed to pay a $30 fine. So my advice, just
fix it as fast as possible when you arrive at the school. The FRRO office is approx. 10 mintues
away with a tuk-tuk. You also need to fill in an online registration. NB! The recite you get
from the FRRO, do not throw it away. You need it when you are going back in December.
Introduction week:
The 2nd of September MDI had a welcome meeting, where we got som practical information
and met the Indians that was in the IRC(international Relations Committee). We got a couple
“buddies” each. I got good connection with my buddy, but others never talked to them again.
Compared to BI and Fadderullan, their introduction week was nothing. They did not arrange
anything.
The International Office
I did not receive any siffcient and relevant information before my arrival. We got information
when we had the introduction meeting, which was information that we should have received
months ahead. But again, its India. That how they are doing stuff.
Social activities
I love football, so it was easy for me to join the Indians to play. At the school they have a
football/cricket, tennis, badminton and basketball court, as well as a badminton table and a
gym. Indian people are some of the nices people I have ever met, so it is no problem to talk
and be social with them. During the semester there are some activites that happens, but mostly
activites such as business cases that corporations have.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
Different teachers have different teaching style. Some teachers are just talking directly from
the slide, others have cases, where the students are having discussions the whole lecture,
while others have a mixture. Some teachers have huge respect from their students, while
others do not get any respect. The teachers that get a lot of respect is often the best teachers,
but the workload is also big in their classes. As a student at MDI you need to use long trousers
during the class, at the computer lab and in the library.
Compared to BI, the level and quality is lower, and the workload depends on the teacher.
Some teachers expect a 2 page analysis of a case to every class or a presentation of a case,
while other teachers expect you just to show up to the class participation
Course materials
The course material we got was either books or booklets with cases and articles. The
powepoints the teachers used was very boring.
Exams
The exams was based on both course materials(power point) and information from the
lectures
All the classes had a mid-term and an end-term exam. During the semester all of the courses
had written assignments(mostly group), while some also had preseantation as well. During the
semester you would also receive quizzes(both surprise and announced). Some of the courses
have also class attendance as a evaluation. As mention earlier, all the courses had class
participantion. If you skipped to many classes, you would be dropped one grade.
Library and technology
MDI had one computer lab, one library and a couple of printing facilities. During my stay
they extended the WIFI at the school, which meant that we got WIFI in our rooms. Before
that one needed to use a LAN cable
Description of courses
Course code & name
Exam form
Prerequisites
Comments
None
Approved
as
Elective
4-hour written
exam
2 hours written
None
Elective
2 hours written
None
Elective
CRM
2 hours written
None
Elective
Two case
analysis
every week
Two case
analysis
every week
Divided up
in two parts
Marketing in Virtual
World
Project Management
Mergers & Acqusition
2 hours written
2 hours written
None
Some
Elective
Elective
Business Marketing
Master/
Bachelor
Master
Master
On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience?
My choice of going on exchange to India and MDI have to be one of my best decsions I have
ever made. India is a fantastic country, and 4 months in India was far away from enough time.
The culture can not be compare it self to Norway, I got an experience I will never forget. I
also experienced a lot of poverty and suffering, which have just made me more grateful that I
living in Norway.
To be a student in India is also an experience in itself. A collobartion with Indian students
meant that I had to meet for groups meeting at 23.00 in the evening, and not have control of
what we handed in or what we where going to present. But that’s the Indian way. During my
stay I where able to travel a lot, which made it a very fun and socal 4 months.
MDI is ranked as 5th best Business School in India, and all the Indian students that is accepted
to this school will have a job before they are done. Compared to Europe and BI, it is not
comparable. I still belive that my choice of going to India will gain my future career
possibilities.