Student Report
Name of the University: Frankfurt School of Management and Finance
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
I was in contact with the incoming exchange coordinator of the international office of
Frankfurt School. She was very helpful and started informing us about the application
procedure in early May; by mid-May I received my official letter of acceptance. I also
requested more detailed information regarding the courses offered in the fall semester and she
provided me with all relevant information. I did not encounter any difficulties with obtaining
information prior to departure.
Applying for a visa
Being an Ukrainian, I had to apply for visa, because my stay in Germany was longer
than 3 months (a formal rule). The host university sent me a letter for the embassy far in
advance. However, the German embassy is considered to be one of the most strict. Erasmus
students are free of payment the fee for issuing a visa (keep in mind that sometimes the
embassy doesn’t take the confirmation from MSC, then the cost is approx. EUR 60), but I had
to cancel my Norwegian residence permit in order to get it. Luckily, only the card was holed,
but UDI approved my residence permit as not been cancelled and promised to issue a new
card.
Travel
Frankfurt School of Management and Finance is, obviously, located in Frankfurt. The
city has a huge and very busy airport. From Oslo Gardermoen there are several main travel
options almost at the same price – with either SAS or Lufthansa carriers. There, also, used to
be a low cost Ryanair flight from Oslo Rygge to Frankfurt Hahn, but it was not operated
during my stay. However, the name of Frankfurt Hahn is a bit misleading, because in reality
this airport is located far away (approx. 2 hours from city of Frankfurt by train).
Housing
The university provides housing in several different places. There are 3 student
boarding houses in Offenbach and some new dormitories in Frankfurt itself. The ones in
Frankfurt are the newest, built only in simmer 2014. Each room has a private bathroom, but
there is only one kitchen for each floor that contains 7 or 8 rooms (approx. EUR 480).
Personally I lived in Offenbach in the boarding house number 3. It was a shared flat for 5
people with 2 bathrooms and one kitchen. The wasching maschines and a dryer were available
in the basement for free. All the rooms were furnished and the kitchen was equipped with a
dishwasher and tablewear, Wi-fi was available in the whole flat, but the connection failed
frequently. The price of the rooms was differentiated by size – from EUR 350 to 410. The
deposit was EUR 500, but only 420 out of them could be returned, the other 80 were spent on
the bedding (a pillow, a blanket and a bed set) and cleaning, provided by the school. It was
only possible to sign a contract for 6 months (15 of August – 15 of February) with no right to
terminate it earlier. Subletting is possible in theory, but seldom in practice: finding a
replacement person is on your own (can only be done by giving the room at a big discount,
because almost nobody is interested in such a short period). You don’t need to pay any
additional bills, e.g. for electricity or Internet, everything is included.
The boarding house number 2 is in worse condition and is considered to be a party
place. Although the dorms are easily reachable by direct lines of S-bahn (Offenbach –
Markplatz station) and are not far away from the school (approx. 15-20 minutes), city center
(20 minutes), main train station (25 minutes) and Frankfurt airport (35 minutes), Offenbach is
perceived as not a very safe city, full of emigrants. There are, also, a supermarket and a
shopping area nearby.
For the students who prefer to find a private rental in a shared flat or studio, the
following sites are widely popular:
 http://www.studenten-wg.de
 http://www.wg-gesucht.de
 http://www.zwischenmiete.de
Keep it in mind that almost all advertisements are in German and you will have a greater
chance of reply if you send e-mails in German.
Costs
My approximate monthly expenditure were as follows:
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 3500
NOK 0
NOK 1800
NOK 300
NOK 900
All study materials are provided by the lecturers (detailed lecture slides are sufficient
to prepare for the exams), so students don’t need to buy books. The student semester travel
card is approx. EUR200 and is valid for 6 months. Students are not allowed to buy a ticket on
a month-by-month basis. Food from supermarkets is quite cheap compared to Norway; a meal
in the university canteen is approx. 40 NOK, coffee 8 NOK.
Culture and language
At the university English is widely spoken among faculty and students, so I had no
language constraints. In general, Frankfurt is pretty international city and it is possible to
‘survive’ only with English but knowing a bit of German is very helpful (especially if you live
in Offenbach).
Frankfurt is a big transport node. You can explore Germany with several options:
- By train. Deutsche Bahn offers attractive prices for high-speed trains if you book in
advance, or there are also special promotional tickets for a group of up to 5 people on
regional trains – EUR 44 for one day.
- By bus. The prices are much cheaper than for trains and the service is good, but
sometimes there are significant delays. https://www.busliniensuche.de/ shows all the
travel destinations by different competing companies.
- Sharing a car. http://www.blablacar.de/
Visiting Berlin and Munich is a must. But I would also recommend small old cities in Hessen
– Marburg am Lahn, Limburg am Lahn, Heidelberg (in Baden-Württemberg).
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The school is located in the nice area closely to the river and in walking distance from
the city center. The building is quite small. It has only 2 studying blocks, a small library
located on 2 floors and a block for educational and administrative staff. There is an internal
garden with a fontain surrounded by those mentioned buildings. Student café has a view into
the garden.
The school is building a new campus, but it will be ready only in 2016. In my opinion,
there are not enough studying places in the library, and the number of group rooms is also
limited.
Course registration
The initial course registration took place one week prior the introduction week through
filling a form and sending it back to school. After that it was checked for any mismatches by
academic advisors. The school gives the students a freedom to combine studying with
working. For this purpose the courses are divided into blocks, which are offered either for
Monday-Tuesday-Saturday or Thursday-Friday-Saturday studying days. On Wednesdays the
German courses are running.
Add/drop period normally ends two weeks after the particular course has started. And
not all of the courses start from the beginning of semester. The concentration courses
normally start in September and the examinations are in the beginning of November. After
that electives start with ending in mid-December. Exams normally go in clusters without any
or just one-day break between them.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
25.08.2014
28.08.2014
13.12.2014
03-08.11.2014
15-20.12.2014
Octoberfest
20.09.2014 –
05.10.2014
--------
Arrival
After arrival two orientation days were arranged for exchange students with mandatory
attendance (28-29.08.2014). During these days academic advisors tried to make us familiar
with the school, library and key representatives from administration and student
organizations, checked and sold insurance and discussed any other organizational questions.
Some informal activities were also arranged. Among them: a dinner in the traditional
German restaurant, paid by the school; round trip in the city with different tasks; barbeque
and a hiking trip.
The International Office
The International office was always very helpful and fast in solving any kind of
problems. They know each exchange student by name. Their written guidelines were easy to
follow.
Promoting BI and Norway
We participated in the “Study in Europe” fair, made for the local students seeking for
exchange opportunities. However, most of their students choose Asia, the US or South
America as the destination points.
Social activities
Before the arrival each exchange student was paired with a buddy from Frankfurt
School. They were supposed to pick you up from the airport and show around in the city. But
not of them were actually available.
The exchange students in the majority were from the Bachelor program.
Far in advance we got a schedule of different activites planned for the whole semester:
restaurant dinners, local trips, musical concerts, visiting museums, stock exchange, cider
producer, ice-skating, Christmas market. We had a Facebook group, where an information
was updated continuously. Two international dinners took place, where the students from the
same country should have cooked their national dishes and treat the others. For one of them
EUR 100 was provided to cover expenses on drinks and ingredients. Some big celebrations
were on campus as well – Indian Divali (Festival of light) and Octoberfest.
Different one-day bus trips to other cities and countries were offered at a decent price,
e.g. Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Brussels, Amsterdam, Dresden, etc.
It was also possible to join some student organisation of your choice. They were
introduced in the beginning of semester.
For interested in learning German or other languages the school created a “Tandem
program” – pairing with a student, who was a native speaker of a language of your choice.
The German course was offered for free every week according to each level, giving an
opportunity to get 6 ECTS (however, was approved only as a free elective by BI, meaning no
credits will be recognised). Our German teacher voluntarily invited us to his home city for a
Christmas market, which I find a very nice gesture.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
I found the courses more practical and interactive compared to BI. We often discussed
case studies and had to prepare presentations. The teachers cover the most current topics in
finance, e.g. Basel III regulation, and provide us with up-to-date figures (Q3 2014). All my
lecturers have strong industry experience - from Investment Banking, Private Equity and
alternative asset management, and teach only part-time.
The workload is not higher compared to BI. The problem is that the courses are taught
for a much shorter period (max 8 weeks, for electives – 5 weeks only), and are therefore more
intensive.
Course materials
For all courses students are given detailed lecture slides (also hard copies), which are
sufficient for study material. Normally, teachers recommend other literature as well- books
and articles, but material from textbooks is not covered on the exam.
Exams
Exams are based entirely on the lecture slides and perhaps on some discussion points in
class. For 3 out of the 4 courses I took, presentation was part of the final grade. Group work
of 4-5 students is normal. There are no mid-term exams or small quizzes/ continuing
evaluation during the semester; only final exam and/or presentation or paper. Class attendance
is not mandatory but is strongly recommended since discussion in class may be useful for the
final examination. Once, we also had a guest lecturer from Barclays in the Debt Capital
Markets class.
Towards the end of the semester, students are normally given a mock exam which is
very similar to a real one in terms of structure and level, and is very helpful for preparation.
Exams are shorter compared to BI – 2 hours max. Good presentation skills and group work
are essential in Frankfurt School. For some courses I took (Liquidity Risk, Alternative
Investments), the final grade is based on presentation only (no supplement paper).
Library and technology
The library is extremely small and the number of project rooms is limited. It is better if
students bring their own laptop since there are just a few computers available. There is one
computer room with access to the Bloomberg terminal (6-7 computers) and Thomson Reuters.
During the orientation days we had a short guide in the library; in my opinion the library staff
is friendly and willing to help.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Master
Exam form
Prerequisite
s
None
Approved as Comments
Operational and
Liquidity Risk
Master
1 presentation for
Liquidty Risk (50%)
and 1 paper for Op
Risk (50%)
None
Major
Renewable Energy
Finance
Master
None
Major
Master
1.5h written exam
(70%) and presentation
(30%)
1 presentation for
Alternative
Investments (50%) and
1h exam for PE (50%)
Alternative
Investments & Private
Equity
None
Major
Financial Instruments
Accounting
Master
2-hour written exam
None
Elective
Credit Risk Default
Models & Credit
Derivatives
German
Master
2-hour written exam
None
Major
---
Midterm, Final oral
and written exam
From A1/1
and further
according to
the last level
achieved
Elective
Debt Capital Markets
2-hour written exam
Major
Interesting course,
not too demanding
Focus a lot on
regulation (Basel
III). Liquidity Risk
was a crash course;
the presentation
was in group of 7-8
students!
Not too technical
For Alternative
Investments we had
an oral examination
– presentation +
extra questions
from the lecturers.
Concentration on
IAS 39 and IFRS 9
Demanding, but the
exam was
affordable
Once per week for
3 hours
Overall, the semester in Frankfurt added value to my academic and cultural life. The choice of
courses is wide, the study program is flexible and students have opportunities for part-time
jobs or internships. Up to my belief, my stay in Frankfurt has enhanced my career possibilites
and I strongly recommend it to future students.