Student Report
Name of the University: Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics
Exchange semester: Fall 2015
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
- The information from Catolica came in the beginning of the summer. It said when we
had to be there, when the buddy program started, and when the course selection would
be. It also said that if you wanted a buddy, you had to apply for it as soon as possible,
because it was not enough buddies for everyone. I applied around 5 days after; when it
was still 2 weeks before the deadline, but that was too late. The school send me an
email saying there where no buddies left. Weird enough, one person send me an email
about the time when the semester was about to start, saying he was my buddy,
although I never met this person through my whole semester. What I'm trying to say is
that you will be fine without a buddy, because the buddyweek is very good at Catolica.
- I tried to prepare for the course registration, but not all the course
descriptions/syllabuses where uploaded/updated for the fall before the actual
registration. This caused a bit of trouble making all the courses add up, and getting
every option axcepted from BI. But like most things in Potugal, things just takes a
little more time, but it it normally works out in the end.
- We had arranged with a company called InLife that helped us with reccomandation the
day when we arrived to Portugal.
Travel
- I travelled with Norwegian from Oslo to Lisbon in August. If you buy the ticket a little
in advanced, you can get them very cheap. Norwegian does not fly this distance in the
autumn/winter, but both SAS and TAP Portugal flies direct, if you need to fly home or
want some visits.
Housing
- The school gave clear messanges about not taking any reponsibilty for the housing.
Although, there are several facebook groups for the exchange students, where housing
alternatives pops up all the time, and you can send in a request there.
We used a company called InLife Portugal. They came and picked us up at the airport,
and then drove us around the city, showing us 5 different apartment in different
locations. We where three Norwegians travelling together from Norway, and asked for
an apartment where we all could live together. We ended up choosing a brand new
apartment shared with 4 other international students, located at Saldanha/Picoas,
which is between the city center and our schools. Because the apartment was all new,
without furnitures or electricity, the time for when we could actully move in, where
always delayed. This was very frustrating because the school had started and we had
to move around 1-2 times a week, but in the end it all worked out for all of us. The
costs we had payed for moving around were consempated by InLife, and I am very
pleased with the apartment, and have loved living there.
Costs
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
(NOK 4 000)
I had the smallest room (which was big enough) and payed 375€ each
month + gas and electricity.
In most of the courses you don't need to buy the whole book, they upload
most of the chapters, or you can most of the times find the book online. In
some courses I had to pay for a lot of articles used in class discussions.
The local food here is very cheap. In the cafeteria at school you get a full
dinner for about 3-4 €, and if you go out for dinner you can find a good
meal for anything from 6 to 20 €.
A single ticket with the public transportation system costs 1,40 €. A
monthly card is about 40 €, and this one you can use for all the metros and
buses within the closest zones. I think you can use it with the train for about
2-3 zones, but not all the way to the Cascais (nice beach and place).
It is also very cheap to take a taxi here, but be careful to ask for a price
before you enter. I have been scammed three times because I haven’t asked
before, and it is not much to do than to pay when you are alone in the taxi.
This happens easily if you are travelling with a suitcase and look like a
tourist, but most times there is no problem. I always took a taxi home if I
was out late, it is cheap and safe.
Cloths has about the same price as in Norway, and there is almost always
something open (The center Colombo is open until 00:00 or 01:00 every
day).
Culture and language
- Almost everyone that works at the school (except for the exchange office) does not
know English! So you just have to get used to learning some words or ask someone to
translate if you want to get help with something at school, or order the right coffee .
If you don’t have to take too many ECTS, I will definitely recommend to take a
language course to learn the basics. Most students knows English pretty well.
The culture difference is very big when it comes to time and habits. The Portuguese
people value their lunch very high, and it always lasts one hour (then they close their
office etc.), and everything takes time here. Don’t expect things to be done right away,
because you will learn the first day that thing here is done by “Portuguese Time”
(which means later than the agreement).
- There are a lot of oppurtunities to travel and experience the country and the culture.
Both the school and student exchange organizations (Erasmus) are arranging trips all
the time, so you just have to choose which arrangments you want to participate in.
Some places worth visiting is Sintra, Porto, Algarve, Azores, and of course the
beaches in Lisbon is amazing, where you have nice ones like Cascais, Caparica (big
one) and Carcavellos. There are also good opportunities to go surfng here; alone or
with others on surf courses/trips.
There are two main student exchange organizations called ELL and ESN. If you pay
for a membership, they will have discounts on almost every trip and parties they
arrange.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
-
-
Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics is well-recognized and the leading
Portuguese business school, holding the Triple Crown status. Católica-Lisbon is also
ranked among Europe’s Top Business Schools in the Financial Times.
50 % of the students in the master classes are international, with over around 40
different nationalities.
The school is located around 30 minutes from the city center. It has 5 buildings, where
the building with the main entrance has opening hours of 24 hours per day, 7 days a
week. It is worth mentioning that there is quite few study places in the school, so
either you have to be early to get a table, or you can find a lot of good places to study
in the city (cafes and public library).
Course registration
- The course registration was only open one day within 6-7 hours. We had already
prepared for this by looking at all the course schedules the school had provided online,
and made a calendar to see that all the courses added up. The problem was that some
of the schedules that was provided online was wrong, making the courses overlap.
This caused a lot of trouble, having to change the whole plan, and having to contact BI
to make sure any new courses will be accepted. There was also misleading
information about the mandatory course (for MRR at BI) called “Business Research
Methods”. This one was separated in two courses, and you had to actually choose to
make them overlap on purpose, giving a warning sign in the system. This resulted in
misunderstanding of which courses that actually could be taken and which was
overlapping. Because the registrartion was a “first come - first served” situation, we
also lost some of the courses we wanted because of all the overlapping and changing.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
24th of August 2015
28th of August 2015
11th of December, and a make-up session 8th of
January.
There was one midterm (Semester course) and several
exams in the end of October, and for the next Trimester
there were exams in both December and January.
Christmas Holiday, although we got homeworks in two
courses over Christmas, and a lot of the exams is after
Christmas.
Arrival
- Católica-Lisbon has a very good buddy-program for the first week of the semester. It
started with a Welcome-session and welcome dinner in the evening of the first day.
After this it was several trips to wine cellars, beaches, a weekend trip to Porto, tour
around campus, tour in Lisbon center, and a trip to Sintra.
- Be sure to participate in the buddy-program because this is a very good way to get to
know other students, which can also turn out to become the friends you will spend a
lot of time with the rest of the semester, independent of master/bachelor and courses
selected. Enjoy this first week and have fun, because the workload is quite heavy as
soon as the classes starts.
The International Office
-
The international office value the bureaucracy high, so there will be no exceptions,
absolutely none. Still, they have been very helpful with information, and they always
respond quickly to both mail and visits.
Promoting BI and Norway
- I participated in the International Fair of Católica-Lisbon, by promoting BI at our
stand for a couple of hours. This gave me the opportunity to help promote our school
to new students, by giving them information not only about the courses, but also about
the way of living as a student in Oslo and Norway.
Social activities
- Most of the courses have a lot of group works, which gives you the opportunity to get
to know students from all over the world.
- Another way of getting to know people I, like written above, through the school
organization and the Erasmus organizations ELL and ESN. Other than self arranged
trips, these organizations have arranged activies to participate in every week (almost
every day, so you have to pick). This is a great way to get to know other exchange
students.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
- The class rooms are at different sizes depending on the class, but the unfortunate thing
is that there is alsmost no power outlets. If you have a laptop with short battery life, be
sure to come early.
- Almost all the courses are mandatory, and the teachers will make you sign a
participation sheet. You will also be graded for participation in class, where one
course actually said you will be degraded with one point (1-20) for each time you do
not show up.
- The classes have a lot of group works and case studies, almost every week, and some
courses also have presentations. The workload can be very heavy, because all the
courses have deadlines every week. Some courses have an extreme amount of
workload, and some others almost none, so be sure to do some research before
selecting the courses.
- Most of the professors speaks English very good, with some exceptions, and because
the classes are build around a lot of class discussions and participation, the
relationship with the professors are mostly informal.
- Even though the workload at BI can also be a lot, the difference lies in all the
mandatory group works and case studies before the exams, which can be very time
consuming.
Course materials
- Most of the professors provides very good Powerpoints for each class, and some also
uploads articles and cases before each class, that you have to prepare for. Books and
studies are normally online if not given by the professor, but in some courses you have
to buy a lot of cases to be able to participate.
Exams
-
-
The exams normally counts for about 45-70 % of the total grade. The grade is given in
a scale from 1-20, where 10 is required to pass the course. The group works is
normally given for each subject tought in class, and the final exam can be anything
from the material tought in class. Normaly nothing is given in the exam from other
course material than what is tought in class.
Be careful to work with the homeworks well and understand it, because you will not
have weeks to study for the exams, but maximum a couple of days after the last
homeworks.
Library and technology
- The library is quite big, but there is not a lot of study places, and the staff can barely
speak English.
- Even though the school has several computer rooms, the memory place to storage your
own things is very small, so it is smart to bring a harddisk if you use school computer
a lot in classes.
- To be able to print, you cannot charge your student card online unless you have a
Portuguese bank account. Then you have to either wait (a long time) to charge it in the
Card-office, or find a machine to charge the card. Then you have to find another
machine to transfer the money from the automatic copy balance over to a balance for
printing.
Description of courses
Course code &
name
351440/351441
Business Reseach
Methods (BRM)
Master/ Exam form
Bachelor
Master
1,5 hours
mimdterm,
1,5 hours
final ecam.
351487 Business
Statistics
Master
1,5 hours
Exam
351215
Consumer
Behaviour
Master
1,5 hour
exam
Prerequisites
Approved as
Comments
Statistics and
econometrics.
Elective
(mandatory
for MRR at
BI)
Required to know
statistics before
taking this course.
Very difficult and
time consuming
with heavy
workload and
homeworks.
Elective
Introduction
course, made to
prepare for BRM.
Tests every week
and one
homework. It was
shorten from 1
semester to one
trimester course
for the first time,
so very time
consuming, but a
good course.
Class discussion,
case studies and
Do not take
this course
unless you
have a proper
background in
at least an
introduction in
statistics or
more.
None
None
Elective
351491 Group
and Team
Processes
Master
1,5 hour
exam
None
Elective
351214 Business
Ethics and Social
Responsibilitiy
Master
1,5 hour
exam
None
Elective
(mandatory
for MRR at
BI)
351488
Management
Accounting
351250 Supply
Chain
Management
Master
1,5 hours
open book
exam
1,5 hours
exam
None (basic
economics)
Elective
Basic simple
statistics and
math
Elective
Managerial
Economics
Master
1,5 hour
exam
None (basic
micro and
macro)
Elective
Master
one big group
work.
Good course.
Class discussion
and one
presentation.
Good course.
Very important
with class
discussion. A lot
of interesting case
studies.
Good course
Group works.
OK Course.
Group works and
one online group
game.
Good Course
Two hand-ins.
Good Course.
Sum up the exchange experience
The way of studying at Católica is very different from what I am used to in Norway, with all
the class participation and group works. Even though I have learned a lot, the workload can
sometimes be too big for one exchange semester. Most of the exchange students only takes 24
ECTS and maybe a language course, where the grades is transferred only as passed or failed.
Coming from a Master in Professional Accountancy, we have to take 30 ECTS, and transfer
the grades to see that we reach the required grades for our studies (C = 13ECTS), which gives
us a heavier workload than most of the students. The Business Reasearch Method course is
normally for fulltime students, and is not recommended unless you have the proper statistics
background to undertand it. I found it very interesting, but the course had homeworks that did
not just reflect what we learned in class, but sometimes went beyond that, taking up all the
time available, not only free time, but time on the expense of all other courses.
With the heavy workload at Católica, it is important to study well in the weekdays and try to
take the weekends off, to get the best experience out of your exchange. Over all, it has been a
greate pleasure to live and study in Lisbon. There is a lot of nice places to explore in Portugal,
and the culture it self is quite interesting to experience. The Portuguese people are very
helpful and friendly, which you can experience everywhere from your classmates to the
stranger in the supermarket. Just remember that things takes time here; you will have to wait
an extra hour or two before arrival, and rules are not to be changed even though it can be done
easier/more efficient. But everything works out in the end 
The options for social axticities is endless, and there is so much fun that awaits for you in
Lisbon, either you like to go to museums, surf or have drinks in Bairro Alto with your friends.
I have had an amazing semester abroad, and I will reccomand to anyone an exchange
semester in Portugal.