Student report from Amsterdam
Name of the university: Universiteit van Amsterdam
Name of student: Julie-Helene D. Sørensen
Exchange semester: 5
Fall 2008
1. ACADEMIC INFORMATION
General Information about the school
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The faculty of Business and Economics is located at Roeterstraat 11-15 near Plantage
Kerklaan in the eastern part of the city of Amsterdam. From the city centre it takes about a 7
minute bike ride to get to the faculty.
The university has many different faculties spread around in various buildings around the
city, and therefore each faculty is not too big. The main field of study at the faculty of
Economics is business and finance studies, but also chemistry students have their classes
there.
There are somewhere between 4000-5000 students studying at UvA faculty of Economics
and Business, while 300 of them are exchange students from all over the world.
At the faculty, there are both undergraduate (bachelor students) and graduate students
(master students) studying there.
The study structure is quite different from BI, because you divide your semester into two
blocks. Each block consists of 7 weeks of lectures, and ends with a short exam period in end
of October. After the exam period, the new courses starts again in the second block, ending
with exams usually in January. (For the fall semester) It takes a while to get used to the fact
that your exams are only a couple of weeks away, but motivates you to start the work and
reading right away. Since you need 30 ECTS (or “studiepoeng”) and each course either
consists of 5 or 10 ECTS, you will have maximum three courses each block.
The teaching situation
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At the home page of the faculty, there is specified which courses are taught in English and
which courses are taught in Dutch. There are many courses taught in English, so there is
usually no problem in finding the courses needed. The level of English is high in Amsterdam,
and therefore the professors and the dutch students speaks very good English. The only
problem arised when one of the English speaking courses; Cases in Entrepreneurship was in
the last minute decided by the professor to be taught in Dutch, even though all the
literature, the cases and exams were in English. But this is not common, and all I needed to
do was change courses.
The level of study, comparing to BI is much higher. Not only because of the short time your
lectures is being taught (7 weeks) but also the higher expectations of participation in class
and group discussions. It is very important to meet up prepared to lectures, and being able to
do small presentations or group discussions regularly.
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The teaching is different from each course. Mainly the lectures are divided into a normal
lecture given by the professor on power point and etc, and then there are questions to the
subject, cases and then group discussions. In addition there are often assignments, essays or
papers to hand in during the study block, and this is almost always done in groups you either
are assigned to or make yourself.
The workload is pretty much equal to the workload in each course done at BI, but beware of
that the work is done in much shorter time. Having a course, doing the assignments and
preparing for the exams in 7 weeks is a short time, and really demands a lot of discipline in
order to get a good grade.
The faculty keeps a good contact with students through e-mail and phone. If there is
anything you need to know or need help with you can always contact the professor or the
coordinator at the faculty.
In the classroom, since there are always some form of cases, discussions or group work, you
will have to end up communicating with the other students. Which is a good excuse to get to
know other exchange students or dutch students.
Required literature
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All the literature is in English, also all the readings and syllabuses.
The literature I used for my courses were good, these can be compared to eg. Kotler &
Keller’s “Marketing Management”. In one course there were no literature to make use of,
therefore the whole curriculum was based on 25 articles, which all were between 13 to 45
pages each. The positive side was that I didn’t have to buy any books in that course.
All the literature is used for detailed knowledge, but additional articles is made available to
students via Blackboard or handed out in class for subjects that are not covered by the
required literature. But it is expected that you use additional literature extensively when
writing essays and handing in assignments and papers.
The exam is based on both literature and work done in the classroom, like hand outs,
lectures and power points.
Exams
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I had five exams, the first one was a written exam with 15 short-answer questions. The
second were a 40 question multiple choice, the third was also a written exam with essay
questions. My fourth exam was an oral exam of an half an hour, and my last was a written
exam.
To pass the exam a point system from 1-10 is given, where 5.5 (or in some courses 6.0) is a
passing grade. This means you need to answer 55% of the exam correctly. Which is quite
much, and therefore I felt it was a lot of work to be done in order to achieve a good grade.
Other
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The library at the faculty is good, but would recommend the public library next to the Central
Station, which is an experience in itself.
The library is easy accessible, and registration for borrowing books and get internet access is
fast and easy.
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UvA uses Blackboard like the one we are familiar with at BI. But not only for distributing
information and papers, but also for reviewing your grades, group discussions and contacting
your professor. Also the university’s own intrapages gives you easy access to your
studentmail and studentweb (similar to Banner).
Description of courses
Course name:
Prereq.
Human Resource Management
Strategic Management
Cultural Industries
Sustainable Management
Knowledge Management
Exam
Major at BI
Approved as
(Common/elective/extra)
Multiple Choice Personalledels
Written
Strategi
Written
Written
Oral
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Common
Common
Elective
Elective
Elective
Human Resource Management:
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Relevance: Very good course, recommend it.
Difficult/easy: It wasn’t very difficult, but require some reading and studying.
Practical/theoretical: Very theoretical as most of the courses are.
Enrolment problems: No.
Strategic Management:
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The course was time consuming and required a lot of reading and preparation for the work
groups, but it pays off.
Medium level, the work groups were easy, but the exam was much more difficult than
expected.
Theoretical, but in the workgroups we worked on many interesting live cases, and this made
the course easier to understand.
No enrolment problems.
Cultural Industries and Economies:
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The course required me to write weekly essays of around 2 pages, and these were at the end
of the course a part of my grade. Also I felt it was very relevant to my degree.
Medium level, the exam was not easy, but if you read a lot, you would get a good grade.
Very practical, since it was about the cultural industries we watched movies, and listened to
music, but the required us to write essays about it and hold discussions.
No enrolment problems.
Sustainable Management:
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I found this course extremely relevant, and enjoyed working with it.
Requires some work, but if you had study a lot and worked well on the paper you would get a
good grade.
Some theory bit a lot of practical issues discussed. Watched movies and had a couple of
guest lecturers from local businesses.
No enrolment problems.
Knowledge Management:
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Did not find it as relevant for me as the other courses.
This was a very hard course, the professor expected more than what I am used to. And since
it was an oral exam, it was even more difficult than a written one.
Very theoretical, perhaps too much.
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No enrolment problems.
2. PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON THE SCHOOL AND THE EXCHANGE EXPERIENCE
Information before you left
I received my information package from the university in end of July. And at the same time I
received a call and e-mails from my coordinator at the university concerning on housing and
enrollment.
I had no difficulties with enrolling and registrations at the university.
Visa procedure and travel experiences
Didn’t encounter any problems, since The Netherlands is a part of the European Union you
don’t need a visa.
I ordered my ticket in good time to get them as cheap as possible, and by travelling on a
Tuesday I got a cheaper ticket through SAS for around 1300 kr from Trondheim to
Amsterdam.
Academic calendar
I arrived the 26th of August, the day I received my key to my apartment, and the next day the
introductory week began.
My first day of lectures was week 36, the 1st of September. At the same day was the
orientation meeting arranged by the faculty, where you received additional information about
lectures, courses and etc.
My last day of classes was the 19th of December.
There are two examination periods since there are two study blocks, and the first week of
exams was week 43-44, the 20th to the 31st of October. The second examination period was in
January from the 5th to 23th of January, week 1-4.
Special events which are of great importance to the Dutch in the fall is the day of Sinterklaas
the 5-6th of December. Other special events like Halloween, Thanksgiving and other countries
national holidays are sure to be celebrated as well.
Reception
The school and the faculty has a good overview of their incoming students, and the first
orientation meeting you will get all you need of information of studying in Amsterdam.
The ISN (International Student Network of Amsterdam) arranges the Introduction week and
consists of both dutch and international students as coaches.
Housing
The faculty has contact with DeKey Housing Corporation which rent out cheap student
accommodations to all the international students. Almost everyone I got to know lived in
DeKey Housings. The only thing you have to do yourself is apply in good time, and then you
will get an answer about a month before where you are going to live.
A good idea (at least for me) was to apply for a shared apartment, this enriched my
experience in Amsterdam even more, and especially if you are not used to be a lot for
yourself, it might get lonely.
Costs
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Most important costs are housing, which was for me 330 euro, in a shared apartment in
Prinsengracht (the best location in Amsterdam!).
Books were around 40-50 euro each.
Food is very cheap in Amsterdam, I ate well and spent about a total of 40 euro a week.
Dinners and so on I usually made with my roommate and with other students, which is a fun,
social and cheaper way of preparing dinner.
I ate a lot out in cafes and restaurants since it is so cheap and accessible, and spent about 40
euro a week eating out, and this was also sometimes cheaper than making the food yourself.
For one cheaper restaurant I can get a two course meal for 9 euros.
I did a lot of travelling since Amsterdam is in the heart of Europe, and went to Berlin, Paris and
Brussels with train or bus. And f.ex a bus ticket (t/r) to Paris costs only 27 euro. But come
prepared with a travelling budget like I did.
The International Office
There is an international office located at the faculty, the main coordinator which I kept in
touch with during my stay was Ineke Van Koningsveld, which could answer pretty much any
questions.
At the orientation meeting you will get all your information you will need.
Social Activities
During the ISN introduction week, you are bound to get to know other international students,
and they are easy to get to know since they are in the same situation as you. I made friends
for life here, and when times got hard- they were lifesavers. Having someone to support you,
when you are far from home is very important.
Student organizations like the ISN and Sefa (connected to our faculty) is the main ones. They
both arrange activities and social gatherings for students.
ISN arranges every week a borrel (a drink) at the Café Heffer, and here you meet all the
international students. Also the ISN arranges a lot of activities, gatherings and outings for a
cheaper price than if you would have to do it on your own. For example a full day, with
transportation to the themepark of Efteling was 15 euro, but if I had went by myself I would
have paid 20 euros for train ticket, and 27 euros for the entrance ticket!
The school is nice, and most classrooms I had was nice. I really enjoyed my time there, and
would not have any problem coming back to study there.
Culture and the language
The English is very good in general in The Netherlands, and had no problem with
understanding the professors, fellow students and in the shops, cafees and etc. I voluntarily
took a dutch course to learn some basic dutch, and would recommend it to everyone who is
going abroad. Nice way of getting to know the culture and meet new people.
To experience the local culture is easy, by either travelling around the country or just go out to
the local bar or café where there is always easy to get to meet new people.
Cultural and social effects from the Exchange Experience
I know the exchange to Amsterdam has teached me a lot, not only regarding my studies, but
personally regarding what I want to do with my life. In addition what I have learned from my
fellow students and other international students is invaluable. The best way to learn about
other cultures and get a broader view of the world is interacting with the students coming from
those countries.
I hope and believe that my experiences abroad would be valued by my future employer,
especially since I am studying Tourism Management, and that my experience with other
cultures (not only dutch culture), and improving my English (and other languages) would be of
great value.
Any other experiences
Go abroad! Amsterdam is a great place to go if you are not fluent in other languages than
English, but still want to meet people from around the world. Amsterdam has its reputation, but
I fell in love with the heart, soul and people of the city rather than what most tourist brochures
offer. I recommend experiencing the true Amsterdam!
If you have any questions or need some advice about Amsterdam and studying there, you can contact
me by e-mail:
Julie.helene.ds@gmail.com