Student Report
Name of the University: Hanken School of Economics / Svenska Handelshögskolan
Exchange semester: Fall, 2012
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
- When and how did you receive information from the exchange university?
We got all the information by email.
- Any difficulties in preparing (application, housing, contact, courses, etc)?
No, but the application process takes some time (Online application). Remember to
apply for your courses 01.08. You get feedback whether you get a student apartment
or not during the summer (July)
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
- No need for Visa or anything similar
Travel
- How did you travel to your destination? Any problems?
You can travel by car (if you want to have your car here) and then take boat from
Stockholm, or you can go by plane. If you get apartment from HOAS, you can ask for
“pick up” service. Then they will pick you up wherever you want, and give you the
key. (For me they had a sign in the harbour with my name and everything went
perfectly)
Housing
- Was housing provided by the university, or did you have to find your own housing?
One of us got housing through HOAS which is student accommodation and two had to
find an apartment on their own. Recommend to apply to HOAS as soon as possible
because it is a lot cheaper and a lot of students live at the same area. It is not easy to
find an apartment to rent for 4 months, so that is why the price is a bit expensive to
rent privately compared to HOAS. In both the HOAS and private apartment through
Comodo it is "all inclusive” – furniture, electricity, washing machine, internet etc.
- What support did you receive from the school in locating housing?
They told us to apply to HOAS, and they did set up a meeting for students who didn’t
have any accommodation the first week.
- Any special issues or good ideas for prospective students?
Apply as soon as possible through HOAS webpage even though you should wait until
you get the acceptance letter.
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
2900 / 5700
NOK*
0 NOK
2000 NOK
150 NOK
1000 NOK
Travelling
6000 NOK**
* Rent at HOAS (Student apartment) is 391 € and for private apartment we paid 1500
€ for two persons in a small 1 room apartment in the city of Helsinki.
** Travelling expenses is dependent on how many trips you want to go to.
Culture and language
- Did you have any language problems with the faculty or other students?
Not at all. At Hanken you have the option as a Scandinavian student to take courses in
Swedish. All exchange students speak fluently English, and all other students + staff
speak both Swedish and English.
- How were the possibilities to experience the country and the culture?
There is about 20 tutors which you will be having a lot of contact with during your
stay. They arrange a lot of trips for exchange students so they can visit other countries
and the northern part of Finland. This year you had the option to go to Tallinn, St.
Petersburg, Stockholm and Lapland. They also arranged a Finnish cottage weekend
outside Helsinki with sauna etc.
Cultural and social effects from the exchange experience
- How do you think the exchange experience will affect you from a cultural and social
point of view?
We all learned to study a different way than we are used to. There are not a lot of
cultural differences, but you get to meet people from all over the world.
- How do you think the exchange experience influences your future career possibilities?
Finland is not the most common place to go for an exchange semester which hopefully
will open some new doors for us because the experience is quite unique. The level of
education in Finland is perceived as really high, so a good grade here means a lot of
work.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
General facts:
- The school are very well known for their marketing divisions, but they also have
finance, business law, organizational behaviour and most of the others basic business
divisions.
- We were about 120 exchange students and the total number of students was about 700.
- The structure of semester is divided in two. You can choose to take 2 courses in each
period, or whatever you want.
- The school seems very small and kind of old fashioned. There is a small library in the
basement, and 6 floors with small classes. There are only two big (according to rest of
the school) teaching rooms.
- The university cafeteria offers cheap lunch for only 2.60€, this includes a main dish,
salad, bread and something to drink.
Course registration
- Course registration is done through internet and you must register your own courses.
The registration opens about two weeks before school starts, and there are limited
seats, so do the registration early. The registration is done online, so no problems
doing it before your arrive in Helsinki.
- You can sign as many courses you want to. The teachers will accept you (or not) at the
first lesson. In addition you need to sign up for exams separately with the course. Be
sure that you fill in your learning agreement with several courses, since it is no
guarantee that you will get your first choice.
Academic calendar
Arrival date: 28.aug
First day of the semester: 3.sept
Last day of classes: 10.dec
Examination period: 20-30 October and 10-20 December
Arrival
- The exchange committee have "pick-up" days were they help you to your houses and
other needs.
- The introduction week consisted of three days with information and a final welcome
"sitz"(party/dinner). On most of the days, we arranged our own parties with other
exchange students.
The International Office
- There is an excellent international office which you can speak with almost every day.
Most of the staff in the office understands Norwegian, so no problem.
- Since we understood Finnish-Swedish, we were able to get information in both
English and Swedish
Promoting BI and Norway
- We did no promotion because they have a day where all the schools are represented,
which is during the spring semester.
Social activities
- The exchange committee arranges parties and dinners throughout the semester,
otherwise there are a lot of parties which is arranged privately. The native Finnish
students are super cool when you get to know them.
- The tutors arrange trips in Finland and neighbouring countries.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
- Language: The courses are taught in English and Swedish. There were no problems
with the English, but some might have difficulties with the Finnish-Swedish accent.
- Level of study: The level of study is pretty much the same.
- Teaching: The courses consist of both lectures and discussions/seminars where you
work with different types of cases. Normally the seminars are divided into small
groups where you discuss the case. In some of the courses you will have lectures,
seminars, group work and a final exam.
- Workload: Because of all the assignments the workload is much more than at BI.
- Relationship between professors and students: The relationship is very good and
you can always ask for help if you have any struggles with the courses. Because of the
small number of students in the classes you get a closer relationship with the professor
and they might also remember your name. They have “office-hour” every week, so
you can go and visit them to ask for feedback on your assignments etc.
- Relationship between students: The students at Hanken are very open-minded and
you will get to know them during the seminars and discussions in class. In some
courses you will get extra points if you have different nationalities in the group work,
so the Finns want to work with you.
Course materials
- Course materials: the course material consists of articles, power-points, cases and
books. The material is used to get a broad overview of the course.
- Language: the language of the material is in English or Swedish.
- Level of course materials: same as BI.
Exams
- What was the exam based on? The exam is based on both lectures and literature
(cases, articles, books).
- How was the course evaluated? Hanken uses a system where you can get a total of
100 points, to pass a course you need at least 50 points. 100points is an A and 50
points is an E. During the courses you can get points for attending lectures/seminars,
handing in essays/reports, doing group assignments, final exam and so on. Each course
might have a different system of giving points, so be sure to know how you get these
points (normally introduced during the first lecture).
Library and technology
- Library and resources: They have a small library in the cellar of the university. You
can rent course materials for one week and renew it 10 times if no one else reserves it.
There is possible to study in different quiet-zones. You can buy an access-card to the
study areas, so you can use it when it’s closed.
- Computers: There is a lack of computers, so it might be difficult to find a computer in
the Learning-Lab if you aren’t an early bird. So it’s recommended to bring your own
computer (There is of course WIFI all over the school..)
- Distribution of information: Each course has its own course-page on Hankens
webpage. There you will have access to a schedule and course materials the professor
is using. Some professors also use your student mail to hand out information.
Description of courses
Course code & name
3859 Corporate
Sustainability
(8ECTS)
Master/
Bachelor
Basic /
intermedi
ate
3739 European and
International Trade
Law (8ECTS)
Advanced
2253 International
Business (8ECTS)
Intermedi
ate
Exam form
Prerequisites
5 x individual
assignments,
and 1 role play.
No final exam
4-hour written
exam
None
4 x case reports,
5 x seminars,
1 x group
assignment and
presentation, 4hour written
exam
Introductory
course in
Commercial
Contract law
or Market law,
or similar
course
None
Approved
as
Elective
Comments
Elective
1 and 1/2
week with
4 hours
lecture
every day.
Rather
heavy
workload
Strategy
Learn a lot
and elective during
seminars
and case
reports
1792 Company
Valuation (6ETCS)
Intermedi
ate
2 x assignments,
no final exam
Introduction in
course 1792 or
similar
prerequisites
Elective
and
economic
course
2216 Corporate
Management and
Organization (8ECTS)
Basic
None
Strategy
and elective
1740 Pricing of
financial securities
and derivatives
(8ECTS)
Basic/Inte
rmediate
4 x case reports,
5 x seminars, 4hour written
exam
1 x midterm, 1 x
final exam
Basic
knowledge of
the
foundations
of financial
theory, e.g
"Finansiering
och
investering"
One
“small”
case – 15
pages and
one big
case 30
pages
(Basically
the same as
a bachelor
thesis).
Start
working
from day 1.
A lot of
new words
&
expressions
because it’s
in English.
Any other experiences/comments about your exchange experience?:
Finland is known for their high quality in their education. The way of studying is a bit
different than what we were used to, so it takes some time to adjust to this rather heavy
workload. If you want a semester where you learn a lot, we would really recommend Finland.