Student Report Name of the University: Kedge Business School Exchange semester: Fall / Spring, 2015 Before leaving Norway We received the information from Kedge Business School later than most of the other exchange students who travelled to other schools. We needed to fill in a lot of information on their own website (at.bi.no ish) and didn’t get very much info other than when to be there and info about the first day of school. But at the first day of school we got all the info that we needed. Travel We flew from Oslo, Gardermoen, to Paris. From there we took the TGV train to Marseille, which only took 2-3 hours. We arrived at Marseille a few days before the first day of school so we could settle in. On our way back home we took the train from Marseille to Nice, and then flew back to Oslo. This was probably the best way to travel both regarding price and time. Housing We applied for accommodation through the school. We got linked to a private company and rented the apartment through them. The apartment was located in the city centrum (about 40 minutes away from the school). We all 3 lived there with two others, one American girl and one Swedish boy. Costs Rent Books Food Transport Other 4500 NOK 0 NOK 2000 NOK 300 NOK 1500 NOK Culture and language We had a lot of spare time and therefore had the opportunity to visit all of Marseille and smaller cities nearby. In general the English level was very low, so we mostly was with other exchange people instead of natives. It was rather cheap to travel from Marseille to all over Europe. We had the opportunity to book flights to most big cities in Europe from under 50 euro each way. You could also take the night bus to Barcelona etc for under 20 euros each way. The School The school was located approximately a 30-40 minutes bus ride east of the city center of Marseille. It´s a rather big campus, with different schools and apartments for students. A fifteen minute walk away you can find “The Calanques”, which is known for it`s beautiful coastline and cliffs. The Kedge school itself is much smaller than BI in Nydalen. It may remind you more of a high school, in form of texture and structure. The bus travel back and forth to the city all day, and you can even catch a bus at night Course registration We signed up for courses before we traveled to France, but nothing that couldn`t be changed. When you start your semester at Kedge you can login to their virtual site, Campus Virtuel, and mix up the courses you want. Some courses might crash, but it`s free to change. The sign up period for courses closed after two or three weeks, and you were then stuck with the courses you had chosen. Academic calendar Arrival date: First day of the semester: Last day of classes: Examination period: Any special events/holidays: January 5th January 12th April 10th May 11th – 20th 2 week holidy in end of February 2 week holiday in April Other: Arrival We arrived some days before the program started. The first days at school we went through some introduction days with other exchange students. They handed out information about the school, program, the city and life around campus. The International Office The International Office worked well with the students. We had the same contacts all the way through the semester and could ask them anything. They were not at school at all time, but were available through mail. Question that required quick answer often got replied quickly. Social activities It often ended up that the exchange students grouped up together. Main reason to this was probably the difficulties the French students had with the English language. On the other hand, the French students and their student associations hosted a lot of events and gatherings. In this way we got to know both exchange students and some French students. Mostly exchange students. Once a week, often more in the beginning, activities were arranged to get to know each one another better. In the classroom The teaching style was powerpoint, in some of the courses we had some excersises as well, but it was mostly powerpoints. They were mostly practical. We also had an average of 2 group presentations in each course. The work load level was lower compaired to BI. Course materials The course material was powerpoints and PDF´s which the teachers posted online making it available for all students. Exams The exam was mostly based on the course material, but there was some case studies form the lectures that were useful on the exam. The overall course was evaluated by the final exam (60 %) and group presentations and quizzes which was a part of the continuous evaluation (40%). Library and technology They had something called “The Hub”, which was a new and modern library, it was nice, but quite small. Computers were available in the Hub. Description of courses Course code & name Master/ Bachelor Bachelor Exam form Prerequisites 3 hours written exam None Approved as Elective B-CES1-06-99-03-E Operations management Bachelor 3 hours written exam None Elective B-CES-3-01-99-07-E European logistics Bachelor 3 hours written exam None Elective B-CES-3-06-99-02-E Entrepreneurship Bachelor 3 hours written exam None Elective B-CES-1-01-99-05-E Management information system Comments Good teacher, easy and interesting course French teacher, difficult course and teacher Good teacher, interesting subject, easy subject French teacher, not so good, easy subject B-CES-3-06-99-07-E Sustainable development Bachelor 3 hours written exam None Elective M-COM-3-08-92-02F French as foreign language: Beginner Bachelor 1,5 hours written exam None Elective Good teacher, interesting subject, medium difficulty Good teacher, interesting subject, easy subject The exchange experience was very good overall. Marseille was a huge and beautiful city. In some of the courses we got a very good view on how Frech business works, learning about the positive sides and beauracratic flaws. We learnt a lot about the French culture from living in the center of town and from travelling around. The French are very proud and it was frustrating for a non French speaker to communicate in the beginning, but you learn to cope. We also got to know a lot of new people, both French students and other international exchange students from all over the world. Learning about the language and business culture of one of the biggest economies in Europe is a good thing to have on your CV in future job seeking. We spoke English 90 % of the time, som we can definetly say that our English skills have improved greatly.