Exchange at McMaster in Hamilton, Ontario Canada Fall 2011.
McMaster University is located in Hamilton, Ontario which is the 9th largest cities in
Canada (pop: about 700000). The city is about an hour away by bus/train from
Toronto. McMaster has a long standing reputation as one of Canada’s most innovative
universities. The university consists of six academic faculties, comprising
Engineering, Health Science, Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and the DeGroote
School of Business. As a business/commerce student you will belong to the DeGroote
School of Business. McMaster University has over 25000 students and about 1300
students at DeGroote School of Business. For more information please visit the
schools own home page at http://mcmaster.ca/
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left:
McMaster University sent the information package with our acceptance letter to the
international office, as well as a confirmation to your registered email. The package
includes the letter that you have to show to the immigration officers at the Canadian
border proving that you are an exchange student and some general information about
the school etc. Most of the interaction with the coordinator and applying for courses
happens online. If you are a Norwegian citizen you do not need to buy the UHIP
insurance. Just remember the confirmation letter from the Norwegian Government
and show it to them once you have arrived.
You do not receive a lot of information about the school and offered courses, so you
have to research on your own through their web site. The International office as well
as the international committee in Canada will send out emails about important
deadlines and information. Don’t be afraid to ask, as both parties are very helpful and
would like to insure that your stay goes as pleasant as possible.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences:
When ordering your ticket you should have in mind that the latest possible exam is
the 20th of December, you will get your exact exam dates in the end of October or
start of November. The final exam date is not set so it might change from year to year,
but you will receive information about this from the school.
You have to arrive in Toronto, from here you can either take a bus (approximately
CAD: $10) or a Taxi (Flat rate of CAD: $100). The bus leaves from Union Station
downtown, so to get there you need to either take a cab or the subway.
Students staying for less than 6 months don’t need a visa, just remember to bring the
confirmation letter from the school. If you have gotten a place to stay before you
arrive you should have the lease agreement ready as well. It help speed up the
process, as the customs might ask you a lot of questions about where you will be
staying, going to school etc. Normally the Norwegian passports will let you through
in no time!
Academic Calendar
The school starts the 6th of September and the last date for an exam is the 20th of
December. The exchange welcome week started the 4th of September this year, while
the general welcome week starting on the Monday before classes starts. The first
week the exchange student club has different events and gatherings planned to let you
meet other exchange students. The whole campus is in a party mood, similar to
Fadderrullan in Norway, just not so extreme. The exchange student group also invites
you to different event thorough the semester.
The exam period last from end November to 20th of December, you will also have a
lot of smaller tests called Midterms thorough the year. Most of the exams and tests are
multiple-choice, and most of the courses also have group reports and/ or presentations
included in the workload.
Reception
When you first arrive in Hamilton you should visit the international office. Here you
will receive your student card and other papers. The staff is also very friendly and will
gladly tell you about their experiences. This can be a smart thing to do, since most of
the staff is students who already have been on exchange to other countries. The
student card is your key to the school. Whatever whenever you are going to use
something at school, you need your student card. Also for Undergrads (Bachelor) it
works as your bus card. Remember that not questions are too dumb, so load you guns
and fire whenever you have the opportunity.
Housing
The school will tell you that as an Bachelor student you can apply for on campus
housing, and that they have guaranteed rooms for exchange students. In our case this
did not happened, all of the on campus housing options were full. But no worries,
there are a lot of houses in the area where you can rent a room. In fact 99% of all the
houses close to campus are student houses. Two of us had already gotten rooms
before we arrived, but the third person did not have any problems finding a room. The
standard of the houses/ rooms are a lot lower than in Norway, so don’t expect finding
a penthouse apartment for a cheap buck. Most of the rents varies from $350- 450 with
the more expensive ones being a better standard with AC and usually bigger rooms.
Still we recommend finding housing prior to your arrival due to the time constraint.
There are a lot of happenings in the beginning of the exchange, and you don’t want to
miss out of that because of housing. In addition to that there are large distances
between places so finding a place to stay is time consuming.
The school have an off campus office in the basement of the Student Centre where
they will help you look for available rooms. As most tenants don’t offer 4 months
lease at the start of summer, closer to when school starts most of these do after all.
They also have a webpage where you can search for different location prior to
arriving in Canada. http://macoffcampus.mcmaster.ca/index.php
Costs
Canada is definitely not the cheapest country in the world, luckily for us we are used
to living in one of the most expensive countries in the world. Food is cheaper, but
even the products similar to the “clean” quality offered in Norway tends to be priced
around the same price as at home. You need to buy all the books for school, most of
these were priced over $100 apiece.
A ticket to Toronto (either by bus or train) was about $ 20 for a two-way ticket. It is
cheaper to buy these tickets at school (Compass), but you can also buy it on the bus. If
you are a master student, you will not get the local bus (HSR) for free, and you have
to pay. You can buy a 10 ride ticket for about $ 20 at Compass (you can also buy it on
the bus, but then it cost $ 2, 65 per ride). If you are a bachelor student you will get the
bus for free.
Traveling around Canada as well as the US is not very expensive. We took the bus
(Megabus and Grey Hound) to both Ottawa and New York City and did not pay that
much ($ 80) and you can also get it for a lot cheaper depending on the day you travel.
Sometimes you may find it cheaper to rent a car with four-five persons instead of
taking the bus, this is something which is highly recommended.
The International Office
The international office is located in Gilmour Hall. This is where you register when
you arrive and get your student card. If you have any further questions of courses
contact the Administrative office located in the DeGroote Business building.
Exchange promotion
As an exchange student it is required that you represent your home university, both
through events and through your daily activities. You are representing Norway and
BI, and should be proud of that.
During our stay, we had presentations as well as a Norwegian food day on behalf of
the international office.
Social Activities
There is a student organization called the outdoor club that arranges a wide variety of
events and social gatherings. Here you have the opportunity to meet other exchange
students as well as Canadian students. This is a member based club, so if you want to
join you will have to sign up and pay about $10. They arrange trips to go to for
instance Niagara Falls, Montreal, different sporting events etc. They also have a social
meeting in a student bar called Phoenix, where you can meet other members, once a
month.
http://macoutdoorclub.ca
There is also a club for international students (MIX – McMaster International
Exchange). They arrange different events so that you can meet other international
students. They have a Facebook group you can join, and it’s usually here they post the
different events.
The social possibilities are many, as the Canadians are very eager to learn about your
country, and your experience. At the start of the semester the school usually has a
club day where all the different social clubs have their own booths. Here you can sign
up for whatever club you would like.
Every Thursday there is a school “club” that is open for all Mac students called 1280,
and is a good place to meet other students. There is also a school pub called Phoenix,
where you can go and eat, play pool, meet other students and so on
Culture and Language
Canada is a very multicultural country, and most are very friendly. So don’t be scared
if people just come over and talks to you for no reason. They might just tell you that
your jacket is very nice, or ask why you look so lost.
The main spoken language is English, something we Norwegians are very good at
even if we don’t think it ourselves. No offense to other countries, but hey! We
Norwegians are lucky to learn so much English in school.
Our thoughts on our Exchange:
One thing that we all agree on is that this semester has consisted of much food for
thought and has ben a lot of fun. We have meet people from different places around
the world, and have made friends for life. Even if we have been spending long days in
the library hating school and what not we have had an experience for life. We would
definitely recommend this to everyone, not only will it help you get a different
perspective on the way things are done in Norway but it will also leave you with a
greater network and an experience for life.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The Teaching situation
All of the courses are taught in English and they are pretty easy to follow. In most
classes the instructor expects everyone to participate in discussions as it has a greater
learning outcome as well as it will affect your total grade. There is usually a TA
(Teacher’s Assistant) in each class where you can ask for help, in some courses they
are in the class marking the students on their participation.
The amount of work really depends on the courses you take. Most of the classes had
assignments, group work, mid-terms, group presentations, discussions and final exam.
In addition to normal lectures, case discussions are frequently used in class to enhance
the learning outcome.
The professors as well as the Canadian students are very approachable and friendly.
They are eager to talk and get to know you and your culture so it is easy to get in
contact with fellow classmates. You will probably find most of the Canadian very
effective when working together with group projects.
In most courses “Avenue to Learn” is used which is equivalent to “It’s Learning” at
BI. On Avenue professors will post all the lecture notes, important news, course
outline etc. It is wise to frequently check Avenue and your student mail.
Required Literature
All books and literature used at DeGroote are in English and are fairly easy to read. In
some courses there is both mandatory and recommended literature and in some
courses you have to download certain articles or read web pages for the lectures.
The PP-slides, lecture notes as well as the textbook are very helpful when studying for
the midterms and final exams.
Text books can be purchased at Titles Book Store for undergraduates and at the Ron
Joyce Centre for graduates. After your exams it is possible to sell your books at “the
hole in the wall” next to Titles Book Store at the main campus.
Exams
Exams are usually for undergrads (Bachelors) multiple choice, while for MBA
(Master) essays or short answer questions. Most of the marketing courses have no
final exams, but final papers that need to be delivered. To pass you need more than
50%, and most of the courses are built up around different test, presentations, papers
etc. Together these make up you final grade, usually the final exams count for 2530%.
The MBA courses consist of multiple components. For example p720 strategic
management course requires 20% participation, two 5% individual hands in, 25% take
home exam, two 7.5% group presentation and 35% group term paper.
Other
Graduate students that attend DeGroote School of Business have to go to the Ron
Joyce Centre in Burlington for their lectures. It is a 20-25 minute bus ride with a free
shuttle service provided by McMaster.
There are 4 libraries at McMaster University’s main campus; Mills Memorial Library
(Humanities and Social Sciences), Innis Library (Business/Commerce) in the
DeGroote building, the H.G. Thode Library of Science and Engineering, and the
Health Sciences Library in the Health Sciences Centre. There is no library at the Ron
Joyce Centre but there are study rooms.
All students have easy access to all the libraries, however, most business/commerce
students are to be found in Innis as it has all the business books, and there are even
textbooks you can borrow for few hours.
Innis has one quiet study area and 8-10 group rooms, which can be booked for max 2
hours. Compulsory course literature and computer accessories (mouse, headphones
etc) can be borrowed for max 4 hours using your student card. There are 15-20
stationary computers, which can be used for as long as you like. However, most
people have their own lap-top, which can easily be connected to the wireless internet
at the school.
The McMaster Student card can be used to rent books, at the gym, functions as a buspass (only for undergrads), and remember to bring it with you to midterms and final
exams. If you lose the student card, you have to pay $30 CAD to get a new one.
REMEMBER, before leaving back home; check at the Student Accounts and Cashiers
that you pay your payments for the money you owe. If you still have money in
balance, you won’t get your transcript.
To use the copy machine you have to fill up your student account on machines that
are placed around the libraries. Then you log on to the computers at the library and
press print before you go to the printers to log on and get your copies.
Since the student card does not function as a bus pass for graduate student you would
have to buy tickets.
All distribution of information (schedules, grades, cancellations) is made online.
Description of Courses
Since we were two Bachelors (one in Retail and one in Finance) and one Master
student we had a lot of different courses. For the Bachelors we had a strategy course
mandatory.
3MC3 Applied Marketing Management:
It relies on practical, real world case studies to develop your marketing decisionmaking skills, and your ability to analyse the business environment in which
organizations operate.
This course did not have any final exam, but had presentations, reports and a major
field project where we had to work close with a company to develop a marketing plan
which they could put in effect.
This course was a really practical course where every class consisted of real case
discussions about different companies and their actions across Canada.
4ME3 Sales Management:
This course focuses on examining the essential functions of a Sales Professional in
today’s business environment. With the emerging nature of global and fiercely
competitive markets, the focus is on the sales team within most business organizations
to provide that vital edge.
This course did not have any final exams, but a final sales role-play. Thorough the
year we also had a lot of role- plays as well as job shadowing where we followed real
sales people for a day.
This course was definitely my (Rasmus) best course this semester. Never have I had a
better professor, and this gave me an experience I never would have missed.
4MF3 Retail Management:
The objective of the course is to familiarize the students with key managerial and
policy issues involved in the design, implementation and assessment of the retail mix.
This course did not have any final exams, but had 5 presentations and 5 small tests.
Honestly the most disappointing course this semester. The teacher didn’t even try to
make the content interesting. Anyways good to know how the Canadian Retail
business works.
4PA3 Business Policy:
The purpose of this course is to enhance your capacity to do the job of a general
manager responsible for strategic performance.
This was the mandatory strategy course for the Bachelor students. The course had a
final home exam, and different tests and case discussions thorough the year.
A good strategy course which pinpointed a lot of good questions a manager has to
take in the working life.
MBA courses:
B716 Strategic Organizational Change
This course deals with planned organizational change, defined as a set of activities
and processes designed to change individuals, groups and organizational processes,
systems and structures. The focus of the course is in HOW to change (not WHAT) to
change. Managers are in deal positions to anticipate, influence, and generate change,
making this course highly applicable to MBA students.
Participants in this course will refine skills in recognizing change opportunities in
organizations as well as develop an understanding of the processes through which
planned change may be accomplished. Students will develop change agent
competencies by requiring that they establish and execute plans to achieve
meaningful, useful organizational change.
M724 Innovation and New Product
This course will help you understand how innovation and new product development
add value to the firm and its stakeholders. The course will discuss in depth the
intricacies of innovation and new product development, and the problems faced by
managers in this area. This course will equip you with the concepts, tools, methods
and approaches relating to management of innovation and new product development.
Active participation in this course will provide you with the opportunity to gain
practical, real world experience in the application of these tools and approaches.
Further, this course will help your ability to communicate your recommendation,
ideas or solutions (oral and written).
M758 Business and Sustainability – Markets, Strategies and Tools
This course offers students sustainability awareness, literacy, theoretical frameworks,
current evidence from research and management tools that are needed by students and
managers to respond to growing stakeholder demands for financial, environmental
and social performance. The course will equip students with knowledge and skills to
enhance sustainable business value based on ‘triple bottom line’.
P720 Strategic Management
The purpose of this course is to enhance your ability to integrate the different
functional areas of business (e.g. accounting, finance, human resources, information
systems, marketing, operations management, etc.) into a cohesive whole. The
challenge is not only in identifying weaknesses and threats facing firms we will study,
but to appreciate the strengths of the firm and anticipate opportunities in the external
environment. Your role in this course is to correct organizational failures and expand
upon organizational successes, however failure and success may be defined.
If you have any, and I mean any questions don’t be afraid to contact either of us.
Remember there are no dumb questions only stupid answers.
rasmusrodby@gmail.com
anaschair88@gmail.com