Student Report
Name of the University: University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management
Exchange semester: Spring 2013
I spent my exchange semester, spring 2013, at Carlson School of Management, which is a part
of University of Minnesota and located in the Twin Cities-area in Minnesota, USA, close to
the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
I went on exchange to the USA mainly because I wanted to improve my English, and I chose
Minnesota specifically because I have some relatives living there which I had met just one
time before in Norway.
Minnesota is a nice state, known as the land of ten thousand lakes, situated in the northern
mid-west of the USA, and bordering Canada. The climate is similar to that in Norway. In the
winter it might even be colder there since it is so far from oceans. The air is very dry.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
The application process to the school itself was not that hard. I submitted the application in
early August 2012 and received the contract and relevant information from Carlson in the end
of October, about two months and a half before my exchange semester was supposed to start.
I e-mailed my contact person from the university several times for more information on
specific topics during the weeks before I went there, and she always gave me quick and
informative response.
Applying for a visa
I applied for a so-called J-1 visa to the USA, which is the standard for student exchanges. The
visa application process was very comprehensive, formal, inflexible and time-consuming,
especially dealing with the US embassy in Oslo, which has a lot of rigid requirements.
In total I think I paid around 2000 NOK on fees related to the visa application.
Travel
I travelled to the destination using the airlines KLM/Delta from Oslo, through Amsterdam, to
New York, and US Airways further to Minneapolis, through Philadelphia, after staying three
days in New York. My ticket to Minneapolis was on Sunday, January 13´th, just one day
before the start of the mandatory welcome week program. Because of bad weather in New
York that day, the plane to my intermediate destination, Philadelphia, was delayed by so
much that I lost my next plane from there to Minneapolis. Fortunately, the airline was able to
put me on another flight later that day so that I arrived in Minneapolis in the late evening.
Otherwise I would have had to wait until the next day, meaning I would miss the first day of
the welcome week program. The morale is: Secure that you have a “buffer” between your
arrival date and the semester start.
Housing
During my stay I lived in a dormitory on campus run by the university. When applying for
housing I was asked to rank my preferred dorms from a list and also to give my preferences
when it came to conditions such as tolerance for noise, tidiness and smoking. I googlesearched the distances between the different dorms and Carlson and found that Middlebrook
Hall was the closest alternative. Since distance was my main criteria, I ranked it as my first
choice, but ended up being put in another hall.
The first week I lived in the other hall, about 25 minutes (and the same number of negative
Celsius degrees) walk from Carlson where I had all my classes. All the other students in the
exchange group (except one) had got a room in Middlebrook, nicely situated next to Carlson.
To save time and pain in the mornings, and to be able to be more social with the other
exchange students, I sent an e-mail to a housing coordinator asking to switch hall, and
fortunately they had a bed to offer me in a double room in Middlebrook and I could move the
upcoming weekend. The moral is: Do not be afraid to ask. Things are often more flexible than
you think they are.
Costs (for the whole period)
Rent
Books
Food
15 600 NOK
1000 NOK
10 000 NOK
Transport
Other
- NOK
- NOK
Most books can be rented from the book store
Only including the meal plan in the dorm (which also
gives you $100 to spend in stores and shops on campus)
On campus you can use the Campus Connector for free
Depends strongly on what you do
The campus area is large and has its own city centre, called “Dinkeytown”, containing
amenities as cinema (free by the way), restaurants and clubs. The “Campus Connector” is a
bus system which is free for students and takes you all around the campus area. It is therefore
no need to go to downtown Minneapolis or Saint Paul, 15 and 30 minutes away from Carlson
respectively, that often.
Culture and language
Most of the trouble I encountered regarding the language came in non-academic situations.
Since English is the international business-language anyway, and we use a lot of English
literature also at BI, taking courses in English for the most part was fine. On the other hand,
with the informal language often spoken among the young American students in the dorm, I
sometimes had a hard time keeping up.
When it came to cultural experiences, I was surprised how easy Americans are to freak out.
In my group´s final presentation in my Buyer Behaviour class, I was supposed to talk about
different customer segments for a hair salon chain. I found pictures representing different
people on the internet to use as illustrations in the Power Point presentation, including a
picture of a young punker flipping of the camera (showing the long finger). My group
members were upset by this picture and argued that it was so inappropriate that we could not
use it in the presentation. I found it weird. I knew it would never have been an issue back in
Norway, but in the end I had to step back and find another picture since the others threatened
to boycott the presentation if not.
Cultural and social effects from the exchange experience
I do not think I have changed that much because of cultural exposure. I am to a certain extent
the same regardless of where I am. The main purpose for why I went on exchange was to
improve my English, and even if I still do not feel fluid I have inevitably become better. In a
global business world this will undoubtedly enhance my career possibilities.
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Carlson School of Management is a highly reputable institution in the Mid-West, graduating
around 600 undergraduates and 700 graduates each year. It is situated on the west bank of the
Mississippi river between the university´s main campus and downtown Minneapolis.
Course registration
I was given the possibility to register for courses before arrival, but I did not take it because I
did not want to spend a lot of time on that while finishing my fall semester at BI. Also, I knew
from experience that such things are much easier when you are there and have people around
you to assist (which courses can I take? which ones can I not take?) as opposed to struggling
with it alone.
Even if the exchange coordinators at BI say “It´s so easy, just read the guidelines”, it is
always easier when you are there. For example when trying to register on the website, a
message tell you “this course is full” or “you do not have the prerequisites to take this
course”. When you are there, you just go to the professor and give him your student ID, and
he might be able to use a “magic code” on his computer and suddenly you are able to register.
The drawback of this strategy is that you might miss the most popular courses since students
apply for them early, but for me that was not an issue. I got all the courses I wanted even if I
did not register until I came there. And since four of the courses I took there were electives, I
would not care that much if I had lost them anyway. If there is a course you are required to
take by BI, you might want to choose another approach, though.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
January 13´th 2013
January 14´th 2013
May 6´th 2013
May 6´th – May 18´th
Spring break: March
(18´th-24´th)
Arrival
The administration was well prepared for my arrival. I got a lot of information ahead of my
arrival, even offering me being picked up on the airport.
The only bad thing was that the university housing did not open until the academic semester
started. Since I had relatives to stay at I was fine, but other exchange students had to stay in
hotels during the welcome week.
International Office and healthcare
The school has an international office dealing with everything that has to do with their
incoming exchange students.
The university has also a health center on campus where you can go if you need medical aid.
Promoting BI and Norway
I did not participate in any formal promotions for BI during my stay. I was supposed to
participate in an exchange event held in Carlson while I was there, but it collided with a class.
An American guy, who had been on exchange to BI, stood at the BI stand instead of me.
Social activities
During the stay I met and became friends with students from all over the world, including
Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Poland and Austria. Sadly, I did not learn to know that
many native students closely. Those living in the dorm were mostly freshmen coming directly
from high school, and thus very young - my roommate was eight years younger than me – and
those I took courses with most often had their own lives outside campus. The student
organization, Globe, was active throughout the semester, initiating and organizing all kinds of
activities for us exchange students, such as ice skating, parties and barbequing.
ACADEMICS
The study structure in a US university/college is very different from what is normal in
Norway. In many ways the experience can be compared to attending upper secondary school
in Norway.
First of all, the learning environment is much smaller. Classes consist of 20-50, maximum
100, students, and the contact with the professors is much closer and more frequent. Also, the
constitution of the grades is different. The final exam usually counts 25-50 % of the total
grade, and during the semester you are given homework, quizzes, cases, presentations,
participation points and midterms that make up the rest of the grade. In addition, the
professors do often take attendance in class. This structure allows no last-week-strategy.
An advantage with this structure is that you are forced to even your workload and have a more
active approach to the learning process. The drawback is that it takes more effort and time,
and gives less flexibility in that you are not able to structure your semester yourself. You
might for example have four homeworks due the same day. The structure is also more
practically oriented than in Norway, and is more based on lectures than books. In some
courses we did not even use the assigned textbook.
The university has very good resources available for their students: E.g. breakout-rooms,
libraries and computer systems. The U-card is your key to everything on campus. The dorms
and dining halls, book stores, breakout rooms, printers, and the Campus Connector bus
system. It even works as a payment system in the cafés and convenience stores on campus.
Description of courses
Course code
& name
Master/
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
Approved as
Comments
FINA 4122
Banking
Institutions
Bachelor
FINA 4621
The Global
Economy (Macro)
Bachelor
MGMT 3010
Intro to
Entrepreneurship
Bachelor
SCO 3001
Intro to
Operations
Bachelor
MKTG 3040
Buyer
Behaviour
Bachelor
Multiple
written
exams
Finance
(intro)
Elective
Multiple written
exams
Group case
Multiple
written exams
Finance (intro)
None
Elective
Elective
Multiple
written
exams
Statistics
(intro)
Logistics
(by BI)
Interesting
course if
you are
thinking
about a
career
within
finance or
banking.
NB: This
course is a
B-term
course,
meaning
its duration
is from
spring
break to
semester
end.
Interesting
course which is
a good
supplement to
the macro
courses
provided by BI.
It really focuses
on the big
picture of the
economy.
NB: This course
is an A-term
course, meaning
its duration is
from semester
start to spring
break.
Thought it would
be an interesting
course since I like
entrepreneurship.
Each student has
to come up with a
business idea and
present it to the
class. The best
ideas are chosen
by the class and
worked on in
groups throughout
the semester. The
course requires a
lot of work, and is
not fun if you lose
passion for the
idea you are
working on.
This
course is
approved
as a
Logistics
course by
BI.
Therefore
I had to
take it. It
is very
theoretical
and
sometimes
boring, but
luckily it
is not that
hard.
This course is
concerned
about
consumer
theory i.e.
how people
buy? The
course
requires you
to be an
active student
and is very
based upon
discussion
and class
participation.
The course
also contains
a lot of group
work.
Marketing
(intro)
Elective