Student Report
Name of the University: Singapore Management University
Exchange semester: Spring 2015
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
We received an email at the beginning of September regarding how to apply to the school as an
exchange student. There is a lot of information and a lot of different timelines so you should
read through it thoroughly and note the different deadlines. The whole application is online, but
we occurred some issues with links not working and overloading of servers, so it is a good idea
to do it as soon as you get the information. If you have any issues you should contact the school,
and they will answer quickly. After applying online, we had to pay some fees and upload a photo
for the student card etc. The acceptance package was sent to us in the beginning/middle of
November, and we were sent more information on how to register for courses and information
about meetings after our arrival.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
The school gives you all the information you need in regards to a student visa and applies for
you. You will need to pay around 90 SGD or 500 NOK for issuing a multiple entry visa, and make
an appointment for picking up your student pass once you get to Singapore. Be sure to print out
all documents needed and bring them along to make the experience smoother.
Travel
We arrived at the 29th of December, and the trip cost us around 5 200 NOK each with Emirates.
You could alternatively try to find a flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and then take the bus
(approx. 5 hours) or a flight to Singapore from there. It might save you a lot of money, as we
experienced flights being a lot cheaper from there in general. On the way home we first
travelled to Hong Kong to visit some friends, and found a flight home with Aeroflot for 2 800
NOK at the end of April.
Housing
Housing was not provided by SMU, but they did reserve spaces at a local hostel for international
students (35 min away from the school). Through the Facebook page for SMU exchange
students you could also find roommates if you needed to find someone to live with. However,
judging by what other students who lived there said, the conditions were not very good, and you
would have to share a bathroom and kitchen with a lot of other people.
We recommend renting an apartment instead, and a lot of exchange students did. Some popular
apartment complexes in the middle of the city were Sophia Residences and City Square
Residences. We lived in a condo near Jurong East, called Parc Oasis, which is around 25 min
away from the school with the MRT. We would recommend living there as rent is cheaper (e.g.
you can get your own room), especially if some of your roommates are attending NTU.
Costs
Rent
SGD 1,200
Books
SGD 0
Food
SGD 400
Transport
SGD 65
Other
50
Professors provided a lot of material in PPT’s from their lectures, so you would not have to
purchase a book in all courses. If you were to buy a textbook it would typically cost around 50
SGD, though you might also be able to find pdf’s of the required books online free of charge.
Culture and language
Everyone spoke English, however because of a large Chinese population they speak a dialect
called Singlish in which they mix in Chinese words, expressions and sentence structure. Because
of this it can be difficult to understand, especially if you are not so proficient in English, but most
people will gladly repeat themselves/speak slower if you have any issues.
The country has a very diverse culture as the population is very mixed. The majority of people
are of Chinese heritage, so you will notice a lot of Chinese culture. You will also see a lot of
Indians and Indian culture, as they are the second largest demographic. The country also bears
signs of having been an English colony.
As you can probably tell, there is a lot to experience in this small country. It has gone through a
massive modernisation in the last 50 years, and is now one of the major financial hubs of Asia.
As a result of this, there are a lot of impressive modern architecture, such as the Marina Bay
Sands, to explore.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
The school is located in the middle of the city, in walking distance from a lot of great
restaurants, sightseeing spots and shopping malls. The school itself is split in different faculties
for different areas of studies, such as business, accountancy/law, information sciences and
social sciences/economics. Most exchange students are studying business, so you will most
likely have your classes in the school of business.
Course registration
Course registration for exchange students started at the beginning of December. You were
awarded 100 eDollars, and had to bid for courses. SMU sends you some information on which
courses are popular beforehand, so you should expect to bid a bit more for those courses. We
initially bid 25 dollars for each of the courses we wanted during the first window, and got all but
one. If this happens it is not a problem, as you get a lot of opportunities to bid for courses later
on. Once classes started a lot of students were switching courses, so if you are not pleased with
the professor or course it is better to switch. The add/drop period lasted until week 7, but if you
changed any courses after week 3 you would get a grade penalty. We recommend avoiding
courses late on Wednesdays or early on Thursdays as most students go out on Wednesdays for
Ladies Night at local bars and nightclubs. A good idea is also to register for classes on only two
or three adjacent days (for example two classes on Monday and two on Tuesday), as you get
more opportunities to travel during the weekend.
Academic calendar
Arrival date
29 December
First day of the semester
5 January
Last day of classes
3 April (Week 14)
Examination period
13-24 April (Week 16-17)
Any special events /
Holidays
1 recess week during
Chinese New Year
Arrival
Before leaving Norway you get the opportunity to sign up for a lot of events in the introduction
week. These events are popular, so not everyone who signs up gets a spot. You are also assigned
a buddy, but it is meant more for helping you if you have any difficulties in your studies than to
get to know people. Many people only met their buddy once over coffee. There are a lot of
events during the introduction week and semester in general, but it is generally initiated by
other exchange students to meet up somewhere.
The International Office
We got all information we needed on email from the school. If there was something else we had
questions about, they answered quickly on email or if you went to their offices in the SMU
Admin building.
Promoting BI and Norway
The university did not host any events for exchange students to promote their home
country/university, though a lot of local students were interested and asked us about it.
Social activities
As an exchange student you often become friends with other exchange students because of your
similar circumstances. The locals were busier in terms of academics, but for instance by being
on group projects with them you get to know each other.
To our knowledge the school did not host any activities/students organisations for exchange
students apart from in the introduction week. They did however bring events at bars/nightclubs
to our attention through the Facebook group.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The teaching style is very different from the one we were used to at BI. The classes have about
40-45 students, depending of the popularity of the course, and group work is heavily in focus.
Be ready to do presentations if you have not done this since high school (videregående). The
classes can be either practical or theoretical, depending on the course you are taking. The
lectures usually consisted of the professor covering material in PPTs, questions/calculations,
presentations by students, group projects, tests (multiple choice), etc. Most students dressed
very informal in class (t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops), although many dressed up for
presentations.
The workload depends a lot on the course and what your starting point with the material is.
Most courses, however, had a workload similar to that of BI if you work continuously
throughout the semester. The school gives you some information before selecting courses on
the popularity and which courses are taken mostly by juniors/seniors (3rd and 4th year
students), so if you want to get easy courses you could choose courses taken by
freshmen/sophomores (1st and 2nd year student).
Course materials
All courses had recommended books, but all of the material was covered by the professors in
the lectures. They posted Powerpoints on eLearn, which is SMU’s equivalent of @BI.
Exams
The grades are split between final exam, midterm, class participation, projects, and assignments,
and you have to show up for all of your classes. In addition, the school focuses a lot on group
projects, and at some points we had group projects in all courses at the same time. The exams
were generally based on what was covered in the lectures, and if you need to study some topics
more in depth the professors will let you know.
Library and technology
The library had every facility needed, with sufficient equipment, group study rooms, and
printing facilities. However, we chose to study at home, as it was more convenient. Group rooms
were often occupied, as native students work very hard.
Description of courses
Course code
& name
Master /
Bachelor
Exam form
Pre requisites
Approved
as
Comments
FNCE 226
Hedge Funds
Bachelor
2-Hour
written exam
Finance
Elective
Very engaging
course, high
focus on
participation
and discussions
in class. Medium
workload
FNCE 307
Portfolio
Management
Bachelor
2-Hour
written exam
Finance
Elective
Very interesting
course if you’re
interested in
finance/trading
with a good
professor.
Medium
workload.
MGMT 305
Enterprise
Consulting
Bachelor
Group
assignment
consulting an
external
client (SME).
Financial
Accounting
and
Marketing.
Instructors
approval is
needed
before
enrolling.
Elective
A very good
course if you are
planning a
career in
consulting as
you work with
an external
client. Varying
workload.
OPIM 201
Business
Processes
Bachelor
2-Hour
written exam
None
Logistics
Interesting
course about
logistics, not
very high
workload. Be
careful what
professor you
get as they
structure the
course very
differently.
QF 206
Quantitative
Trading
Strategies
Bachelor
2-Hour
written exam
Finance
Elective
Interesting
course, but the
structure can be
a bit confusing.
QF 305
Global
Financial
Risk
Management
Bachelor
2-Hour
written exam
None
Elective
A course which
gives valuable
insights into to
how Basel,
Value-at-risk
and other risk
management
systems work.
In hindsight, being on exchange has been an excellent experience, and we would highly
recommend it. Overall we were very pleased with our choice of country and school, and would
definitely do it again. From an academic point of view, we think it is very nice to have been
exposed to a different way of learning than at BI. You also become a better English speaker,
especially in terms of being comfortable with speaking English, which is a huge advantage when
it comes to future academics/work opportunities. We’ve also come to appreciate BI’s grading
system a lot more as we have more freedom to study at our own pace.
In terms of the social aspect, there was always something going on, and you get a lot of friends
from different countries that you can later keep in touch with. You get to know a lot of locals as
well, as you are doing group projects with them.
Culturally there is a lot to experience in Singapore, and we were never short of opportunities to
see new places. Because of Singapore’s location, it is also very convenient to travel to the
surrounding countries during weekends, Chinese New Year, etc.