Student Report
Name of the university: Corvinus University of Budapest
Exchange semester: Spring 2014
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
- I started receiving e-mails from the school about 1 month before the first day of the
semester. They sent me practical information about the school, and guidelines to how I
should apply for a visa. I received information e-mails throughout the whole semester, and
there was never any difficulties, to be honest.
Applying for a visa
- As I mentioned earlier, Corvinus staff are very helpful when it comes to the applying for a
visa. They sent me a complete guide to how I should proceed, and it was very easy. I just
went down to the immigration office and filled out a paper consisting of passport number,
housing address and so on.
Travel
- I took the plane from Oslo Gardermoen to Budapest Airport. Before leaving, I asked a friend
of mine who already had been there for a semester, how I should maneuver myself from the
airport to my flat, and he told me that I should just take a taxi because the public transport
would be too hard to understand. Also, I was told to take a taxi from a taxi booth that was
located just outside the airport.
Housing
- I was lucky because a friend of mine had been living and studying in Budapest for about 5
years, and he was going to study abroad in Switzerland the exact semester as I was coming
to Budapest, so I managed to rent his flat. But even if I hadn’t been able to rent his flat, it is
really easy to find accommodation in Budapest. Easiest way to do it, I would say, is through
the Facebook groups.
Costs
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
4000 NOK
30 NOK
2000 NOK
120 NOK
2000 NOK
Costs are more individual preferences. If you’re looking to make your own dinner, the food
there is really cheap. If you’re more of a restaurant type of person, it will of course be more
expensive than making your own food, but it still will be really cheap compared to
Norwegian prices.
Culture and language
- Most of the administration speaks good enough English. The teachers, however, speak very
good English. There were several trips arranged by the school to cities outside Budapest.
Also, the administration arranged trips to other countries, such as Prague, Croatia, Romania
etc.
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
The school consists of two large buildings, one of them is called “The old building” while the
other one is called “The new building”. There are libraries in both buildings, but the one in
the new building is better, because it is more modern and bigger. The desks in the classroom
are formed in a horseshoe, this is because the students have to participate in classroom
discussions, as this counts for 10-20% of your final grade(depending on the chosen course).
We used to have presentations, general homework, discussions in classroom, mid-term
exam in the middle of the semester and one final exam in the end of the semester. There is
also possibility to take-up an exam if you are not satisfied with your final grade.
Course registration:
I did the course registration on Neptun, which is an online site. It is essential to get to know
all of the courses you are interested in, and read the course description thoroughly, because
the classes gets filled up very easily. The courses are mostly 6 ECTS, so I had to choose 5
subjects so I had a total of 30 ECTS. There is also a add/drop period in the beginning of the
semester, where you can drop the courses you don’t like, and choose some other if there
still is any available slots.
Academic calendar:
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
January 26
February 10
May 8
May 11 – June 12
Arrival:
The school arranges several get-together’s for the exchange students, so they could get to
know each other. There is absolutely no doubt that you should participate in all the
arrangements made in the beginning by the ERASMUS student organization. This is a perfect
way to get to know people, and also you might get lucky and find flat-mates. You should
definitely arrive in Budapest at least 1 week before the school starts, so you have the chance
to get to know the city, and also other students there.
The international office:
The international office was very helpful, and they sent a lot of e-mails every week.
Social activities:
All exchange students get a tandem partner if they wish to have one. The tandem partner
will help you with all kinds of stuff, for example housing, general information about the city
etc. The school arranges many activities. They arrange night club tours about once a week,
and also they arrange proms, trips to other countries, cultural dinners, festivals, concerts,
trip to the baths, carnival, and the list goes on and on.
ACADEMICS
In the classroom:
As I mentioned before, the desks in the classroom are formed like a horseshoe, so the
classrooms aren’t that big. The biggest classroom I had could fit about 40 students. How you
get your grade, depends on what course you have. In my courses, presentations and
participation in the classroom were the biggest part of my grade.
Course materials:
The coursed I had, we hardly used any books. We got materials like powerpoint and PDF-files
from our teacher online, and just read on them. If you wish to buy books however, I would
recommend just loaning them from the library. They have all the books needed.
Exams:
Exams are divided in two – one mid-term exam and one final exam. Usually the mid-term
exam counts for 25% of your final grade and the final exam also counts for another 25% of
your final grade. The remaining 50% are divided into presentations, homework,
participation. The final grade looks something like this:
Participation and attendance in class: 10%
Presentations: 20%
Homework assignments: 20%
Mid-term exam: 25%
Final exam: 25%
This is just a general outline, it depends on what kind of course you choose.
Library and technology:
The best library is the one in the new building. It is really modern and has computers which
you can use. They also have all the books needed for the courses.
Description of courses:
Course code &
name
Master/Bachel Exam form
or
Prerequisi
tes
Approved as
Comments
Project
Management
Bachelor
2h Written
exam
-
Mandatory as
strategy
Bachelor
2h written
exam
-
Elective
Bachelor
2h written
exam
-
Elective
Bachelor
Participation
counts as final
grade
-
Elective
Bachelor
Final grade is
determined by
presentation,
participation
and
homework
essay
assignment.
2h written test
-
Elective
-
Elective
Course with a
huge amount
of workload,
but
interesting.
The teachers
however, are
not good at all
in this course.
Very
interesting
course, with a
good teacher.
Interesting
and fun
classes, with a
really good
teacher.
This course is
only ONE day,
and it lasts 9
hours. You get
the final grade
by a
combination
of how you
participate in
the different
activities.
The best
course I had.
Very
interesting
and also a lot
of fun. The
teacher was
fantastic!
Fun and
interesting
course, with a
good teacher.
293NOPRV518B
Economics and the
European union
293NECOV395B
Business Ethics
293NBUSV498B
Communication
workshop
7PE20NAK45B
The art of
persuasion
7IL50NDVC6B
English
pronunciation skills
7PE20NIV47B
Bachelor
My exchange semester in Budapest is probably the best decision I have ever
made in my entire life. It is truly an experience you cannot miss out on. I got
to know so many people from all over the world, and expanded my social
network drastically. Going to study in a new country all alone, felt scary in the
beginning, but it really was not. Every day was an adventure, and the 5
months I spent there are 5 months I’ll never forget.