Student Report
Name of the University: HSBA – Hamburg School of Business Administration
Exchange semester: Fall, 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
- I received information directly from the school in Hamburg in the beginning of the
process and I had direct contact with the school in Hamburg all the time. They had a
booklet with a lot of helpful information and the contact person from HSBA helped
me with all my questions through the whole process. Even if I felt prepared and
thought I had answers to all my questions, there was a lot that surprised me when I
first got to Hamburg. Not that there were any difficulties, only a bit surprising.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
- Do not need visa to live in Germany.
Travel
- Hamburg is not that far away from Oslo, only one and a half hour by plane.
Housing
- The university did not provide any housing, but they had some very helpful links in
the booklet. But the links I got from them was the only help I received by the school. I
had to do everything else by myself.
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 3350
(390 EUR)
NOK 43
(5 EUR)
NOK 4295
(500 EUR)
NOK 430
(50 EUR)
NOK 3000
Culture and language
- Of course it would have been much easier for me if I could speak German, but it was
not a problem at all to only speak English. Either with the faculty or the other students.
Almost everyone could speak English fluently.
- To experience the culture and the country was not a problem. Since I was the only
exchange student at my school I got a lot of German friends and they were very
excited to show me their culture, Hamburg and Germany in general.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
- The school (location, size, study structure, special academic areas etc.)
- The school is really different from BI. The only thing they have in common is that the
schools are private. HSBA is much smaller and it has two different buildings, but both
of them are easy to find and close to each other. The best thing about this school is the
location. It is in the middle of city center. The structure they have at this school is
totally different from the structure BI has or Norway have in general. They have
something called “dual-system”, where they combine in-house apprenticeship training
with part-time vocational school training. They have 4 semesters instead of 2 and all
the students have to cooperate with a company. So that means that they study 2 out of
4 semesters and work 2 out of 4 semesters. So the school is split in two parts, A-track
and B-track. The working-at-the-company part is also a part of their bachelor grad. So
even if they are working in their company half of the time, they still have their
bachelor in 3 years. They have to work in different departments in the company, so
they get insight in how the whole company works. For me this made my stay here in
Hamburg a bit more difficult. That is because when I first got here in July I started to
study with B-track for two and a half month. Then in the beginning of October, Btrack started to work and I had to start to study with A-track and make new friends.
But because of this I also got to know a lot of nice people.
Course registration
- I register for my courses one week before the semester started. I did it at something
called “campus net”. The school will give you detailed information on how to use
campus net.
- Did not add/drop any courses, so I do not know how it works.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
20 of July
25 of July (B-track)
6 of October (A-track)
19th of September (Btrack)
3rd of December (Atrack)
26 of September till 3rd
of October (B-track)
12 of December till
19th of December (Atrack)
Had one week without
any school between
these two semesters.
Arrival
- I was the only exchange student at the school in the beginning so it was not an official
introduction week for me, but we had one evening where the international committee
and I had some drinks. But I had two buddies, and they took care of me from the
beginning till the end. When the second semester started there where more exchange
students coming. But there where still only one evening where we had a beer and got
to know each other.
The International Office
- The international office where very helpful and I got a lot of information from them.
In the beginning a got a little goodie bag with every kind of information about the
school and the city of Hamburg.
Promoting BI and Norway
- Did not promote exchange to Norway or BI
Social activities
- Since I was the only exchange student, all of the native students at my school were
interested in getting to know me and wanted me to join everything they did. It was
very easy to get to know all the native students.
- There were some activities and gatherings for the exchange students and the summer
school students. In the summer we paddled canoe on the lake in the middle of the city
called Alster and in wintertime there was an ice-skating event. The school also had a
lot of school parties.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
- The teaching style felt like going back to high school. It was never more than 25
students in the class and you will get to know your teacher. In some of the classes it
was very theoretical and in other it was a bit more practical with a lot of case studies.
There were also a lot of presentations in some of the classes.
The workload was the same as at BI, but you only have two and a half month on the
same workload, compared to BI where you have around 4 month.
Course materials
- It depends on every course. Sometimes we used books, other times we got material
from the teacher like power points or online articles. The teacher always prints out the
course material for the students.
Exams
- The exam was based on course material and the lectures.
- The courses were evaluated as final exams, all of them as written exams except of one
where I had a home assignment and a final presentation.
Library and technology
- The school has two libraries in two different buildings. Here you can find all kind of
books you need and they have computer for free use.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
1-hour
written exam
None
B12B-INV&F-CORP12
Corporate Finance
Bachelor
1-hour
written exam
None
B12B-OPMGT BA 13
Operations Management
Bachelor
1-hour
written exam
None
B12A-BUSENGL 14
Business English
Bachelor
Home
assignment
and
presentation
None
B12-SPBA-IBA1
International
Management
Bachelor
1-hour
written exam
None
B12-SPBA-IBA2
Country and culture
studies
B12-SPBA-IBA3
International trade
Bachelor
1-hour
written exam
None
Bachelor
1-hour
written exam
None
B12B-B2bMARK
LMMar12
Business-to-Business
Marketing
Appro
ved as
Comments
Theoretical
course. Did not
differ that much
from a typical
business-tocustomer
course. Not that
relevant for my
studies.
Theoretical
course. Relevant
for my studies.
Had difficulties
understanding
the teacher.
Theoretical/prac
tical course. A
lot of small case
studies and
relevant for my
studies.
Practical course.
Not that
relevant, wish
that we could
have learned
more difficult
words and not
that much basic
English.
Theoretical/prac
tical course.
This course was
a part of a
specialization.
So International
Management,
Country and
culture studies
and
International
trade was three
courses in one.
Very interesting
and relevant for
my studies.
Practical course,
had to do a
presentation.
Theoretical/prac
tical course
On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience?
-
My academic experience in general is that the German students are really hard
workers. They normally have 4-5 exams in one week and the same workload as we
have at BI but as I said only two and a half month to learn everything. You also get
more personal with the teacher and the whole class.
-
My cultural and social experience in general is that Germans are very open-minded
and they love to barbecue and drink beer. They are really proud of their beer.
Hamburg is a beautiful city whit a lot of different things to do and experience.
-
It is perfect to be a Norwegian in Germany, because the Germans think we are exotic
and interesting, but at the same time not that different from them in the way we act, so
I think it is easy for them to get in contact with us.
-
I’m really happy and grateful for my experience here in Hamburg. I have learned so
much about myself and have had to handle different situations. Every experience I
have had here will be useful for me later for my career.