Exhcange report from Koc Universitesi, Istanbul, Turkey
I chose Istanbul and Koc University for several reasons. First of all I have to be honest and say that my
GPA was not high enough to choose between the top destinations so I had to find something a little
out of the normal. I am glad I did. The last semester was better than I could have wished for.
First of all I will talk about the subjects I had. The registration for them, the teachers, evaluation etc.
Further I will mention the university’s exchange coordination and then the accommodation
possibilities.
Registration for courses at Koc is done by normal international procedures. It shows how spoiled we
are here at BI where the courses we need for our bachelor is pre-registered for us. Here you need to
follow the “first comes, first served” principle. Be early and quick. Decide which courses you want
and need before the registration starts. If you are late then you might not get the courses you need
because they are full. What is positive with this system though is that you can choose between way
more electives than at BI. You can choose between courses at all the faculties at the university. This
can give you the possibility to a very varied and fun semester course-wise as well.
For most students from BI you need a strategy course the 5th semester. At Koc they only have one
strategy course so far. “Game theory and Strategy”. It was evaluated by midterm, final, attendance
and participation. This course is unfortunately not what I expected. The course was 99% game
theory and 1% strategy. You learned how to calculate, but you did not learn about any strategy in the
same way as you would at BI. This course is a course all students that have had it will warn you about
taking. The teacher was not good at passing on his knowledge, even though he for sure was a very
smart and good man. His English was fine, but he did not figure out how to teach us what he knew.
The class was very hard. Once a week we had a problem session with a teacher assistant which
probably is the only reason for why I just passed the course. If you don’t need this, do not take the
course.
The other course I needed was a law course. The law faculty was huge and of good standards. I chose
to do “European Union Law”. Be aware of which grade of difficulty the courses are before you
choose. This course was on level 3 and was a little hard for me with only “international commercial
law” in experience. This class consisted of Law students which reflected in the level of knowledge
they had. The teacher was very good, knew a lot and was a good teacher. She demanded a lot of
participation and preparation for class, but that gives you a lot back in the end. It was evaluated by a
midterm, two moot courts, attendance, participation and a final.
My first elective was “innovation management”. This is an easy course to pass. A good teacher, good
discussions and not too much preparations or readings to do. If you attend classes, participate a
little, have decent midterm and final you will do good. We had group work with an assignment and a
presentation. The group works were interesting and it was easy to impress the teacher. In addition
you have two more individual assignments which are quite easy too. If you have any interest in
innovation you should choose this course.
“International trade” was my second elective. This elective had a very interesting syllabus, but an
inexperienced teacher with bad English. She gave mixed and wrong messages; she never got to the
point and was rough on grades. We had problem sessions once a week in this class too which made
the course better and easier. Unfortunately the communication between the assistant and the
teacher was not good which left you back on scratch. I do not unfortunately recommend you to take
this course, just because of the level of the classes. The final grade was evaluated on your
participation, but not on attendance, a midterm and a final.
My third elective was the most interesting one. It was “political theory and law”. Again the law
faculty was of high standards, and so was the teacher. The teacher demanded much preparation for
the classes in order to get good discussions in class. This gave a lot of interesting discussions and
inputs. Having an international class discussing politics really gives you a lot. Turkey also have a
different background than many countries, which reflects in the students. If you are a little interested
in politics and law you should choose this class. This is probably the best class I have ever had. Be
ready to prepare for classes, but it is worth it. A midterm, participation, attendance and a final is
what makes your final grade.
Most courses has an hour and fifteen minutes long classes twice a week. This makes it a little
different than what we are used to here at BI. The courses demand more continuous working from
the students because of assignments, coursework requirements and midterms, but that also makes it
easier to get a good grade in the end.
The exchange support at the university were quite good. The exchange coordinator knew most of the
exchange students by first name and he did not hesitate in helping you. What should be mentioned is
that Turkey has a very different culture than what we are used to here. Things take longer time to be
fixed and sometimes you have to remind them a couple of times before they get it done. You can
though feel safe there and they will do everything to make you happy.
When it comes to accommodation as undergraduate, the dorms at the university are very nice. You
should although be aware that they have restrictions on alcohol. Two or three years ago the
government enforced new regulations for the university. No alcohol is allowed on campus. As the
campus is guarded by a 24 hour security service you can experience that they actually check your
bags for alcohol at the same time as they check your student ID. No Koc students are allowed on
campus unless they leave their passport at the security.
This is reflected in how safe you feel on campus, and the facilities are free to use. The gym is huge
and free, and open the majority of a day’s hour. They have a pool in the summer months, an ice
skating ramp in the winter months. A huge football field in addition to hundreds of other facilities.
They have about 10 food possibilities on campus which have everything from hamburgers, wraps,
Turkish food, pasta and a bit more expensive food.
Living on campus you have a short way to classes, the gym, library and the facilities and you will get
used to the metro for Taksim. It should be mentioned that if I had stayed there for another semester
I would have wanted to move to an apartment outside campus. Just to get some more freedom and
since you already have a network there. Graduate students get fantastic apartments right outside
campus. This comes in handy regarding the “not so silent” parties and pre-parties we had. The first
semester was although quite nice to spend on a dorm. I do really recommend that as you get to
know a lot of people, and you are at the place which most exchange students live during exchange. I
had a dorm with two roommates and a bunk bed. You have to be a little open minded, but it is
cheap, you easily get to know people and it is a good experience for us spoiled Norwegians.
Istanbul is the coolest city I have ever been to. The culture is different which demands a lot of
understanding, respect, open minds and learning skills, but with that comes new experiences, culture
understanding and abilities to see a different site of the world. The party life is insanely great, culture
is interesting and travel possibilities are many.
There are many international student organizations which will help you find the best parties, travel
tips and tourist destinations. You will not be bored in this city. The best part of it all is that it is quite
nice and warm and the winter is way shorter than in Norway.
I advice you to choose this destination and wish you all the best.