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.