STUDENT REPORT CARLSON
Student Report
Name of the University: Carlson School of Management (University of Minnesota)
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
When and how did you receive information from the exchange university, and did you encounter any difficulties?
I received information from the exhchange university at March 26 th , telling me that the application deadline was already at April 1 st
. As I received the information so late from the university, I managed to figure this out earlier by myself and thus had no problem meeting the deadline. The application itself was not hard to fill out, but if I hadn’t done it before I received the email from the exchange university, this would probably be more stressful.
In general the information from the university was good once I received it, the problem was rather that I received it so late. This encountered difficulties related to both the visaapplication and the housing application, as they both was put on hold due to lack of information needed to get the applications started.
I tried to call, email etc. to many different contact persons at the exchange university to speed up the process, and even though they all tried to be helpful, it had little effect. I got the information needed first at May 22 nd
(whereas the intitial deadline for housing application was
May 1 st ).
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
How did you apply for your visa, what did it cost and did you have difficulties?
As an exchange student in U.S you need to apply for a J-1 visa. The visa application is quite time-consuming and inflexible. However, if you bring all the right documents to the embassy once you got an appointment, the process should go quite smoothly. The cost of the visa is about 2000 NOK.
Previous students who have travelled on exchange to the U.S. have stressed the importance of booking an appointment with the U.S Embassy in Oslo early, as it tend to be high demand during the summer. I therefore wanted to start this process as early as possible, but as I received the necessary documents needed to book an appointment so late, this became a rather stressful experience. The documents arrived first at June 13 th
, and at this time the first available appointment was as late as 8 days before my departure (the embassy says you should expect the process to take up to 10 days). Luckily for me there were cancellations, so I was able to change my appointment to 14 days before departure.
Travel
How did you travel to your destination?
I travelled to Minnesota with Icelandair. My flight departured from Oslo Airport Gardermoen and had one stop at Keflavik Reykjavik before I arrived at Minneapolis – St. Paul Airport. I bought the ticket quite early and paid around 3500 kr (one way). Icelandair offers you the opportunity to bring two bags of 23 kilos, which other airlines typically require extra payment for.

STUDENT REPORT CARLSON
When I arrived at the airport I took a taxi to my apartment. As I soon learned, there is a light rail going directly from the airport to the campus area, which of course is a much cheaper alternative. Even so, it was nice to jump into a cab after a long trip.
Housing
Was housing provided by the university? If not, did you receive support from the school?
I decided to stay on campus at “University Village”, which is located on East bank in the
Twin Cities. This is the only on-campus opportunity were you can choose to not pay for a meal-plan (which is quite expensive). I would definitely recommend University Village. Here you share an apartment with three other persons (typically only girls or boys), you have your own bedroom and you share bathroom with one of your flatmates, whereas the kitchen and common room with all your three flatmates. There is a four minutes walk to the light rail which is only two stops (10 min) away from Carlson School of Management. University
Village also have a “reception” which is open 24/7. This doesn’t only make you feel safe, but also as I especially valued – signs and storages packages you order online.
In each room there is a bed, “walk in closet”, desk, chair and dresser. What I found extremely weird was the fact that there is no pillow nor comforter when you arrive, so the first night was quite uncomfortable. I think University Village is quite overpriced, requiring approximately
$1000/month. However, everything such as internat nad power is included in your housing fee and you don’t have to pay any deposits up front. Also, the fact that you are only staying for 4 months, makes living on-campus less of a hustle.
If you would rather live off campus, I would strongly recommend “Metro Park East”, which offers brand new and fancy apartments for less money. You can check them out at: http://www.metroparkeast.com
.
Costs
Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food, transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
NOK 26,500
NOK 660
NOK -
Transport NOK 700 + cabs
Other NOK -
The costs of books for me was very cheap, as most of my classes offered articles online which we bought in groups and printed out for class.
Food was more expensive than I expected it to be. Eating and drinking out is quite cheap compared to Norway, and alcohol is very cheap. Buying food at the grocery store however, would not necessarily be cheaper, but it really depends on what you buy.
Transportation is really cheap here. As a student, you can buy a “U-pass” for only $100, which last for the whole (!) semester. With the U-pass you can travel across the whole city, regardless using busses, light rail/metro etc. If you choose to not buy a U-pass, you are still

STUDENT REPORT CARLSON able to travel for free in the campus area (e.g. from UV to Carlson School of Management).
We also took a lot of taxi when we were going out, which was quite cheap as well.
Culture and language
Did you have any language problems with the faculty or other students?
How were the possibilities to experience the country and the culture?
I didn’t have any language problems with either factulty or other students.
When it comes to the culture experience, people are known for being what is called
“Minnesota-nice”. During the introduction week we learned that Minnesotans are very welcoming and interested to talk to you, but that they in reality do not care. I cannot count all the times I’ve been sitting on the bus or the light rail and people sitting next to me either start a conversation or interrupt a conversation I’m having with someone else. This is quite different from what I am used to back home. It is also very common that people excuse themselves every time you walk by (even though they are no way near you at all) and whenever you enter a store/café etc. people will ask you “How are you today?”. I like that people are more open and easier to talk with in Minneapolis compared to Norway, but at times it can also be quite annoying. All in all it is a nice experience. Even though many
Minnesotans doesn’t mean it when they are being nice to you, there are of course
Minnesotans who do. One great example was my professor in the marketing course who invited all of the international students in his class home to him and his wife, to take part in their American Thanksgiving Dinner. This was a really cool experience, which I believe would never happen back home in Norway.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
The school (location, size, study structure, special academic areas etc.)
Carlson School of Management is located at West Bank, which is the other side of the
Missippi river than University Village. The building is on four flours, with 42 small classrooms and also two larger lecture halls /auditoriums. The school also offers two computer labs, where you get access to Mac’s, computers and free-printing. There is a food court in the ground floor, and there is also a in-house Starbucks.
Course registration
When and how did you register for courses?
When did the add/drop period end?
Before I travelled to Minnesota, I had to fill out a preliminary course list for my semester.
This list was not binding, but was only meant as an indication on which courses I would like to choose. We were not able to register for courses before the second day of the introduction week. The registration was done online in the classroom, where we had a couple of people from the university who could help us if we had any problems. I thought the registering was quite inefficient and stressful. We were almost never able to register for a course by ourselves, and had to wait in line for the staff to help. I also thought it was unfair that we were not able to register for courses in advance, as all other full-time students at the University was able to do. Even so, my friends and myself ended up with courses we wanted and were satifisfied with. The staff was really friendly and tried to help in the best way they could.

STUDENT REPORT CARLSON
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Other:
August 21nd
August 25 th
Desember 10 th
Examination period: Last exam December
13 th
Any special events/holidays: Thanksgiving Nov 27 th
Professors tend to give you free the whole week of Thanksgiving
Arrival
Describe the introduction week
The first day of the introduction week started with a welcome-meeting at Carlson School of
Management, where we were given a lot of practical information. We were splitted up in smaller groups to “check in” and to learn about the facilities at the school. The second day we signed up for courses. The third day we had a guided bus tour around Minneapolis and St.
Paul, which ended up with a site visit to Mall of America – the largest mall in the U.S.
The fourth day of the introduction week, we had a “How to behave as an American Student” course, which turned out to actually be quite valuable, as you interact with your professor in a different way than you do in Norway. During the introduction week we also got information about the process for paying your housing and health insureance fees.
In addition to this, there were a lot of other courses available, like “How to dress for winter” and “how to work in groups” etc., which I chose to not attend.
GLOBE, the Carlson student group that pairs exchange students with Carlson buddies, organized some social and cultural events for us in the evenings of the first week. Among other things we went to a pub close by the first night and watched the university soccer team
“Gopher” play the second night. We also went to the yearly event “State Fair”, which is a combination of a Tivoli and a food festival. There are tons of different food vendors, all offering only food that is fried and on a stick. They would for example offer fried chocolate and fried icecream.
The GLOBE also assigned me with a “Buddy” before I arrived Minneapolis, which was valuable to have both before and after I arrived.
The International Office
As an exchange student, did you receive sufficient and relevant information?
The international office provided me with sufficient and relevant information both before and after arrivement. However, as previously mentioned, the information was provided too late.
Promoting BI and Norway
What kind of activities were you involved in to promote exchange to Norway at your exchange university?
In the end of September there was a “Business Abroad Expo” event whose aim was to promote Carlson exchange programs. All of the international students had their own stand where they represented their home universities. I was however unable to participate, as I had my family over for visit from Norway that week.

STUDENT REPORT CARLSON
Social activities
How was the relationship with native students and that among exchange students?
Are there any special activities, student organisations, and gatherings for exchange students?
As a master student I had only the opportunity to take MBA courses, which all were in the evening. In all my courses there was thus mainly native americans who worked full-time beside studying. It was a nice experience as they shared examples from their work experience, which made the topics covered in class easier to interpret. However, as they worked full-time and also had their families, you didn’t really get to know them outside class. There were a couple of international students in all of my courses, so I mainly enjoyed my time with them.
We of course got to know other americans outside school and two of the girls I lived with was americans.
We were a big group of exchange students living at University Village. We met the first day in the introduction week and staid togehter throughout the semester. I was really satisfied with having the opportunity to get to know people from so many different nationalities; Germany,
Austria, Australia, England, Italy, Spain, France, Denmark, Japan, Singapore and Ecuador.
There were a GLOBE-group on Facebook who occationally posted events, but nothing in particular – we arranged most of the gatherings ourselves. Every weekends we went to a bar/pub in “Dinkytown”. Dinkytown is a small place on campus that offers restaurants, bars and pubs. We also held “International Dinner” every Friday, where a new nationality prepared their national dish every time. Clubbing in Minneapolis was a bit disappointing, but we would just throw a party ourselves or join an American one.
“The Twin Cities” are the common word for “Minneapolis and St. Paul”, which are two different downtowns. Carlson School of Management lies closest to downtown Minneapolis, which is more modern and busy than St Paul. However, I was expecting it to be bigger and busier. It offers many nice restaurants and some shopping opportunities, but we didn’t spend much time there. For dinner, we rather traveled to “Dinkytown” or “Uptown”. Uptown is further away than downtown, and lies very close to the three biggest lakes in Minneapolis;
Lake Calhoun, Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles. Minneapolis have a lot of nature to offer, so
I would recommend taking a trip to one of the lakes on a sunny day.
When it comes to shopping, you have two great and easy accessible options: Mall of America, which is the largest mall in the U.S, and Twin Cities Premium Outlet. You can get to both by taking the light rail and/or bus. The mall and the outlet lies pretty close to eachother. There is also a second outlet, but you would need to rent a car to get there.
What is great about Minneapolis-St. Paul is its airport, which gives you plenty opportunities to travel to different states during your stay. I travelled a lot during my semester, as I really wanted to experience other parts of America as well. One of the first weekends after we arrived, we traveled a big group together to Chicago. Later in the semester I had my family over for visit, and after showing them Minneapolis we traveled to New York. I also travelled to San Francisco to visit a friend from Norway who was studying there, and finally to Florida when the weather in Minneapolis became too cold to bear. I would really recommend you to travel a lot while you’re here!
The climate in Minneapolis is quite similar to the climate in Norway, but with a warmer summer and a colder winter. When I arrived in late August, I was positively surprised by how

STUDENT REPORT CARLSON warm it was. The summer lasted to the end of September, which was really nice. During the next weeks the temperature changed very dramatically. I was glad that I only stayed until mid-December, as I had heard that they experienced up to -30 degrees in January to March the previous year.
We also spent some time watching sport during the semester. There are several opportunities, such as american football, soccer, baseball, basketball and ice hockey. I went to see everything except ice hockey. I was warned in advance that Baseball was a very boring event.
I agree with them, but even so it’s a nice experience.
Studing in Minneapolis gives you the opportunity to live at campus and still be close to the city. But if you are after a busy city, this is maybe not the right place.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
Describe the teaching style (practical, theoretical, cases/lectures, formal/informal etc.)
How is the level and workload compared to that at BI?
The teaching style was quite similar to the teaching style used in previous master courses at
BI. The professors used power points for their lecture notes, and mixed the lectures with inclass assignments, group works, guest lectures and discussions. The lecturers are more informal than the lecturers I had at BI, motivating high degree of class-discussion. In all my courses the grade was based upon participation, hand-ins such as projects, cases or homework, midterm and finals. Exams was held in class room, and were less formal than BI.
The workload was quite similar compared to the workload at BI. The first year of my master at BI was very heavy, so the semester abroad fealt somewhat less time consuming. Also, I was able to only take 3 courses abroad due to different credit systems. My choice of going abroad was to be able to experience the country and to travel around, so the less workload was also a result of putting less pressure on myself. Some of my fellow students thought of the semester as more demanding, so it will depend on what courses you take.
Course materials
Describe the course materials used (books/literature, online articles, Powerpoint, level of course material etc).
In two of my courses there was no book, but only power points and course material such as articles and cases which was bought online. In my third and last course there was a book, but this could also be bought as pdf online.
Exams
Was the exam based on the course materials or on the lectures?
The exams was based on both the course materials and the lectures. Typically there was more weight on the lecture notes from the professors and class-discussions in the lectures.
How was the course evaluated (include all that apply)? o Final exam (include form: written, oral, home assignment, presentation, etc.) o Mid-term exam

STUDENT REPORT CARLSON o Small assignments and/or papers o Presentations o Group work o Class attendance o Class participation/debates o Activities outside of the classroom
Library and technology
Describe the facilities
University of Minnesota offers several libraries, which are placed on different locations around the campus area. The librariers offers printing opportunities and you can choose between quiet and non-quiet areas. There are also several study opportunities at Carlson
School of Management, ranging from group rooms, open areas and quiet areas. On Carlson
School of Management you were able to print for free. I usually studied in my apartment.
Being a student at University of Minnesota, you have access to a gym / recreation and wellness center for free. The center is huge, offering a Indoor Track for running, a climbing wall, a swimming pool and many flors with all kinds of training equipment. You can also choose to pay a small semester amount to be able to take advantage of their group fitness classes.
Description of courses
Please list below all the courses you took while on exchange. Your comments are useful for BI and for future exchange students, include information on the qacadmic level, challenges, relevance to your studies, if the course was practical/theoretical, any enrolment issues, etc.
Course code & name Master/
Bachelo
Exam form r
Master Homework 10%, 6 FINA 6241
Corporate Finance
Analysis and
Decisions cases 40%, 2-hour
Midterm 25%, 2-hour
Final 25%
Prerequ isites
None
Approv ed as
Comments
Elective In this course, we examine financial decisions that managers face, with an emphasis on how decisions on the financing side of a firm can create or destroy shareholder value. Some of the topics that the course covers are: valuation of businesses, effects of issuing securities,

MKTG 6078
Integrated
Marketing
Communications
STUDENT REPORT CARLSON
MGMT 6085
Corporate Strategy
Master Participation 25%, 1hour midterm 25%,
Group Project 30%,
Presentation 20%
None
Master Participation 10%,
Discussion forums
20%
In-class assignments
20%, 3 group projects
50%
None effects of financing decisions on managerial incentives and actions, share repurchases and options. Dick, the professor, was super nice, and a good lecturer!
Elective This course is mainly about
M&As, including vertical and horizontal diversification and postintegration. My experience with this course is mixed. I find the topics and articles really interesting, but I was a bit disappointed with my professor,
Aseem. It was sometimes very hard to communicate with him, and even though he was wellprepared, he wasn’t able to pass on the topics in a structured way.
Elective John was truly my favourite professor this semester. This course is organized around the seven primary concepts in developing a strategic communications

STUDENT REPORT CARLSON campaign and you will among other things develop IMC strategies and evaluate integrated campaigns. The professor offered time at the end of each class for us to work on our assignments, and the classes was propped with funny commercials.
-
I am very pleased with my semester abroad in the U.S. During my stay I have got to improve my English and experienced being an American university student. From an academic point of view a practical approach has given me a greater learning dividend. I have got to know people from all over the world, which has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about other cultures and values. I love to travel, and the semester abroad has given me both the time and chance to travel a lot and experience other parts of the U.S.
An exchange semester is a great opportunity to broaden your view and to get a change in your everyday studentlife. I would highly recommend it!