Student Report
Name of the University: Singapore Management University (SMU)
Exchange semester: Spring 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
I knew that I wanted to go on exchange in Asia, either Singapore or Hong Kong I read student
reports from both places on at.bi.no, and got a good impression of Singapore. I also read
about different schools in Singapore, but chose SMU beacause it was located in the middle of
the city and the campus was modern and relatively new. I began receiving information from
SMU in the fall 2013. Mostly information regarding the housing, visa, how and when to chose
courses etc.
Applying for visa
You apply online, and the procedure was kind of complicated and sometime confusing. But
SMU had sent guidelines on how and when to apply for visa, which was somewhat helpful. I
also asked some of the other student applying for the visa for help. I think I paid somewhere
between 500 – 1000 NOK. The first week in Singapore you have to go to the ICA building
(immigration office) to collect it. I went there the third day, and ended up spending 6 hours in
line. All the exchange students coming to Singapore tend to go the first couple of days after
their arrival, which means everyone is there at the same time. Pick some days later and early
in the morning, and you don’t have to wait so long.
Travel
We took a flight from Oslo to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Singapore. This took us around 16
hours, which was okay. We paid around 3000NOK. We only bought a one way ticket,
enabeling us to be more flexible on our return flight.
Housing and costs
About housing we would recommend you to find an apartment. We contacted an agent in
Singapore a few months before we arrived. We had an appointment with this agent the first
day in Singapore and we moved in pretty fast. Condos are really expensive in Singapore, so
we had to share rooms. We were 3 girls in one room and 2 boys in the other room and paid
5000NOK each. But most of the condos have a swimming pool, gym, BBQ area, tennis court,
bowling, etc. We stayed in City Square Residence. It was very nice and a lot of exchange
students stayed there. It was around 10 minutes to SMU with the underground. Transportation
is pretty cheap in Singapore. We paid 5-10NOK with the underground, depending of where
you were going. In Singapore, a lot of things are cheap – taxi, restaurants, alcohol, travelling,
shopping, etc. But you are probably going to restaurants, travel and shop a lot, so you will use
a lot of money. I think we used 15.000NOK each month including everything. You can of
course use more or less, but this depends on your standards and travelling. We travelled a lot:
several times to Thailand and Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines.
Singapore is the perfect place if you like to travel! It´s very cheap and most places are within
1-2hour flights.
Culture and language
Singapore is an English speaking and modern country. Most proffesors we had were
American and those who were not, spoke quite good English as well. There were no problems
with the language or the culture.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The school is located in the city centre, consisting of different faculties. Easy access to the
MRT. Small classes with an average of 30 students, more class participation and interaction
with the professors. The school has a well-equipped gym, a swimming pool, big library and a
foodcourt. Also big shoppingmalls close to the school.
Course registration
The course registration is in two rounds. First one in the beginning of December, where you
register by a first come first served policy. We got 3 of the courses we wanted. For the
remaining courses you need, the school has a bidding system called BOSS. Every student gets
100 credits to bid on courses and BOSS is open the 2 first weeks of the term (7 - 20 January).
Try to get as many courses as you can in the first round.
Academic calendar
We arrived 29th of December. The first day of school was 6th of January and we had our last
exam 21nd April. We had four exams in one week, the last one being 21st April. During the
semester you have recess week, ours was in week 8. Most of the exchange students used this
week to travel.
Arrival
The school offers different activities such as sightseeing and dinner at school. Some of the
activities you have to sign up to before leaving Norway, because they only have limited
places. The school begins 6th of January. The school will provide you with all the information
you need
The International Office
The school will provide you with all the information you need.
Social activities
There´s always something happening, both at school and outside of school. SMU has a wide
range of student organisations for all interests. There is several facebook pages for the
exchange students which announces events, mostly club events. This way the exchange
students goes to the same clubs.
3 ACADEMICS
3.1 In the classroom
The classes usually consist of 30-40 students, so you get a more personal relationship with the
professors. In most courses the class participation counts for 10-20 % of the final grade.
Therefore you have to be well prepared for every class, and participate as much as possible.
Still, the degree of participation varies between the courses. Some professors expect you to be
able to answers a question at any second, while others has a more relaxed approach to it. Still,
the classroom atmosphere is very relaxed and filled with a lot of laughter. Although the
professors are strict and demand a lot from their students, they are very open-minded and
appreciate any opinion from the students. Each class lasts for 3 hours and 15 minutes; with a
15-minute break in the middle of the class.
One thing they are very strict on is all the hand-ins, mid-terms and group projects. You should
always submit the paper before the deadline, and participate as much as you can on the group
projects. Because of all the different evaluations, the final exam usually only counts for 30-50
% of the final grade. Some professors also have mini-quizzes in the end of each class, which
counts for 10-15 % of the final grade.
Group projects are a big deal at SMU, and mandatory in most of the courses. In some courses
you are able to choose your group members yourself, but normally they put one exchange
student together with four or five local students. Your group is supposed to deliver both a
presentation and a written report.
Although the workload is heavier than at BI, and most of the local students are very hard
working, the difficulty level isn’t that high. Because you always have to be prepared and
know the subject you’re working on, it’s not that hard to do the different assignments. The
skill-level of the students is probably a bit higher than at BI, but you will also experience poor
students that always are too late to class. But, of course, in general the average SMU-student
spends A LOT of time at the library. In the exam-period, there actually was a tent standing
there.
3.2 Course materials
Some of the courses don’t have textbooks, and usually it’s enough to read through the
PowerPoint slides and lecture notes to get a good grade. This means that it is extremely
important to attend every class, or at least copy the notes from the classes you aren’t able to
attend. The professors find a lot of interesting real life-cases, which they discuss in class.
3.3 Exams
As mentioned the exam usually counts for 30-50 % of the final grade. At BI we are use to
have at least a week to prepare for each exam, while at SMU you only get a few days between
each exam. Therefore the whole exam period is only two weeks. In addition to the final exam,
the final grade consists of group participation, attendance, mid-terms, mini-quizzes and group
projects. The majority of the exams are multiple choice exams supplemented by a few essay
questions, but some only give you essay questions. This, of course, depends on the type of
course you are taking.
3.4 Library and technology
The library is located in the middle of the campus and is equipped with printers, computers,
group rooms and quiet areas. You might find it hard to find an available seat or group room,
so you should always be quite early if you want to secure a seat. The library is about the same
size as at BI, but is a lot more frequently used by the students, specially the locals. Also, don’t
be surprised if the printers aren’t working for a day, even the day before an open-book exam.
Therefore you shouldn’t wait to the last second printing out your notes or written report. You
might experience some technology issues in class aswell, and quite often the professors had to
call the IT-helpdesk in order to make the projector and sound system to work.
3.4 Description of courses
Course code & name
OPIM 201
Business Processes
Exam form
3 hour written
exam
Comments
An interesting course dealing with how companies can
minimize different costs, from the materials are ordered to
the product is finished. Relatively low workload with a
few group homeworks, but demanding mid-term and final
TRAD 201
Shipping Business
3 hour written
exam
FNCE 222 Personal
Finance & Advisory
3 hour written
exam
LGST 001
Ethics and Social
Responsibility
3 hour written
exam
exam. Lectures given by a skilled Chinese professor.
A course about the shipping industry. Massive workload
and extremely theory-based. The lecture is in the evening,
and both the students and the professors seem a bit tired in
the end of the lecture. A nice course if you just want to
know more about shipping, but probably not the most
interesting course you can take at SMU. Three different
professors working high up in the shipping industry give
the lectures. They’re most likely better in their normal job,
than in teaching students in an interesting way.
A very interesting course about personal finance and
investing. Through the course you learn a lot about the
financial system in Singapore, for example about the
different rules concerning house- and car buying. Quite
easy and understandable course, and relatively low
workload. But it may take some time understanding the
different components and rules of the financial system in
Singapore. Very different from the Norwegian. Lectures
given by a funny and bit slow American who always tells
the same jokes. Highly recommended course if you don’t
want to spend all your time in Singapore at the library.
Course about the different dilemmas you may face in your
career, and how to deal with them in an ethical way. A
very practical and discussion-based course where the
students contribute a lot in every lecture. Low workload,
and as long as you’re able to the see the different aspects
of a dilemma, you should be fine. Lectures given by a
really funny American who isn’t afraid of putting his
students in the hot seat.
To sum up the exchange experience I think all of us would do it again. Everything from the climate,
the travel opportunities, the social life, nightclubs, and also the University was an amazing experience.
In addition to learning about a whole new culture and way of doing thing, you learn a lot about
Norway, and the way things are working in our own country. If you have the possibility to do
exchange, just do it! You will have the best semester of your life.