Where: McMaster University
When: Fall 2011
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
McMaster University is located in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton is the forth-largest city in
Ontario and the ninth in Canada. The main campus is located on 121 hectares (300 acres) of
land in the residential neighborhood of Westdale. The university operates six academic
faculties: Engineering, Health Science, Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, and the
DeGroote School of Business.1
As a Business/Commerce student you belong to the faculty of DeGroote School of Business.
McMaster is located 68 km from Toronto (around one hour with bus/train), and 71 km from
the U.S border. As of 2009/2010 there was 21173 full-time undergraduate students and 3025
full-time graduate students – with an average entering grade of 84,3 percent.2
It is also worth mentioning that McMaster is ranked one of the Top 100 universities in the
world. (Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking of world Universities)
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
The University sent the information package with my acceptance letter to the international
office in mid May. In this package you will receive a confirmation letter to bring with you
and show to the immigration officers at the Canadian border. Note: As a Norwegian citizen
you do not need to buy the mandatory UHIP insurance.
I did not receive a lot of information about the school, so you might want to check out their
web site for additional information. The International office will send you emails about
important deadlines.
You should also keep in mind that that you will need a North American/ adapter for your
phone/computer etc.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences
I bought my plain ticket through Restplass.no for around $1150, both ways. The final exam
period runs until the 20th of December for the fall semester, and you will not know your final
exam dates until late October/early November. If you decide to book your return ticket before
you have the dates figured out, you should choose the 20th, at the earliest, in order to not find
yourself in a sticky situation. There is usually a lot cheaper to buy the return ticket at the same
time.
Students staying for less than 6 months do not need visa. Remember to bring the confirmation
letter given to you by the University, as you need this to get through the Canadian
immigration Officers. It is essential that you keep this in your hand luggage, as you will pass
1
2
mcmaster.ca
mcmaster.ca
through immigrations before you pick up your luggage. If you already have arranged with
housing before you leave, there will be wise to bring a copy of the lease agreement with you.
They will be interested in knowing where you are going to stay during your visit, and a copy
of you lease agreement will speed up this process.
Personally I had not arranged with permanent housing before leaving. I did however bring a
copy of my Hotel reservation, explaining that is was a temporarily solution until I could find
something else.
Academic Calendar
The school started up on the 7th of September, and the welcome week on the 4th of September.
This is a week where you have the opportunity to meet some of the other exchange students.
Different events are planned both during the day and the night. The final exam period runs
from end November to the 20th of December. The last day of classes are in late November
early December. Most courses will have some of the following components as well as the
final exam: midterm(s), assignments/and or presentation(s) and participation.
Reception
When I got to Hamilton I went to the international office to get some information about the
different courses etc. It can be difficult to find useful information on your own at times, so if
you have any questions the exchange coordinator will be more than happy to assist you.
The University got a Mentor program that you will have the opportunity to sign up for. You
will receive information about this via e-mail. If you chose to sign up for this program you
will be assigned a person as your ´´mentor´´. This program is designed for you to have
someone to turn to if you have any concerns regarding whatever.
Housing
As the summer progressed and the time for departure closed inn I got an e-mail from the
University stating that they did not offer any on-campus housing options for exchange
students. You will have to find a place on you own, and the best place to start looking is on
their own website: http://macoffcampus.mcmaster.ca/index.php.
I experienced some difficulties finding a good option before I left, and therefor ended up
booking a few nights at a nearby Hotel. I had no problems finding a place once I was first
there, as the area surrounding the University is packed with student houses with rooms for
rent.
The rent varies quite a bit, but they mostly range from $350 to $450.
Costs
With the stiff prices we are used to in Norway, you will think most things to be less
expensive. If you have to buy new books they are priced close to what you would expect to
pay in Norway. Depending on which course you are taking the books would range from
around $50 to $150. If you do not need the newest addition you can buy used books at a lower
price.
Traveling to Toronto, either by bus or train, will be around $20 for a two-way ticket. If you
are an undergrad student you will get the local busses (HSR) free of charge. I traveled to
NYC with the Megabus and the ticket was around $100 both ways.
The International Office
The international office is located in Gilmour Hall. This is where you register when you
arrive and where you pick up your student card. If you have any questions you can contact the
Administrative office located in the DeGroote School of Business building.
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.
There also is 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 is usually here they post the different events.
There are a lot of opportunities and different events that you can take part in, which will
easily lead you to meet a lot of people. We had our own exchange-based Facebook group that
allowed us to communicate with each other. Here we discussed where we could meet to hang
out etc. If anyone planed to travel somewhere, they would usually leave a comment to see if
anyone would be interested in accompanying them.
Every Thursday the school´s restaurant (1280) turns into a club, open for all Mac students.
There is also a pub called Phoenix located on campus that is a good place to mingle.
Culture and Language
I did not face any mayor language problems or cultural shocks. I found most Canadians to be
very friendly and eager to talk to strangers. They do not come across Norwegians very often,
and seemed to be very interested in figuring out what Norway is all about.
Cultural and Social Effects from the Exchange Experience
The exchange experience has been nothing but great. I have met people from across the world
and made close friends. I would strongly recommend you to take this opportunity to take off
and see what is out there. No doubt you will have a great time.
ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The Teaching situation
All of the courses are taught in English. In most classes the instructor expects everyone to
participate in discussions as it has a greater learning outcome. It will also affect your total
grade.
The amount of work really depends on the courses you take. Most of my classes had
assignments, group work, midterms, group presentations, discussions and final exam. In
addition to normal lectures, case discussions are frequently used in class to enhance the
learning outcome. Despite the workload, there will always be time for fun and travel as well.
There are periods when there is more or less to do.
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.
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
before
the
lecture.
The PP-slides, lecture notes as well as the textbook are very helpful when studying for the
midterms and final exams. Textbooks 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.
Other
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.
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 a few hours.
The McMaster Student card can be used to rent books, at the gym, functions as a bus-pass
(only for undergrads), and remember to bring it with you to midterms and final exams.
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 (Same process that are used at BI).
All distribution of information (schedules, grades, cancellations) is made online.
Description of Courses
Commerce 3MB3, Consumer Behavior
This course is designed to introduce you to key theoretical concepts in consumer behavior and
build your ability to apply these concepts to real-world marketing problems.
Components:
Individual Case Assignments x2 (30%)
Group Exercise (15%)
Participation (10%)
Midterm Exam (20%)
Final Exam (25%)
Both the midterm and final exam is short-answer questions. This is by far the easiest course I
took, and the workload is not bad at all. No textbook was needed as all questions were from
the PP-notes. The midterm and exam is ´open book´´ and non-cumulative. This means that
what is covered in the midterm will not be tested again at the final exam (less studying
required before the final).
Commerce 4PA3, Business Policy & Strategic Management
As the capstone to McMaster’s Commerce program, this course is designed to unify your
learning experience at the School of Business. It is considered one of the most important
courses that you will take during your undergraduate degree as it integrates other courses,
builds on them, and acts as a stepping-stone to the real world of business. The purpose of this
course is to enhance your capacity to do the job of a general manager responsible for strategic
performance
Components:
Participation 30%
Mini test 5%
Assignment 5%
Midterm 20%
Home exam 30%
Group presentation 10%
This is the course I had to take to fulfill the strategic ´´component´´ at BI. You have to read
up on, and analyze, one case before every class. It is important to take part in the discussions
that goes down in every lecture as the participation marks stands for 30% of your final grade.
The discussions will in general revolve around the cases to be read before the lecture.
Commerce 3FA3 Managerial Finance
This course continues the introduction to modern business finance begun in Commerce 2FA3.
The course balances theory, evidence and applications in an effort to prepare students for
elective courses in finance and taxation and to provide some of the knowledge required to
work effectively in the contemporary business environment.
Components:
Midterm I 22,5%
Midterm II 22,5%
Participation 45%
Final Exam 10%
This course involves a serious workload. This is by no doubt the heaviest course I took this
semester. This is the one, big finance course all business students at Mac will have to take at
some point during their bachelor degree. If you are looking for courses that are easy to follow
and do not require a lot of previous finance/math skills you probably want to stay clear of this
one. However, the course is a good one. Midterms and the final exam: multiple choice.
4FP3 Personal Finance
A major objective of the course is to provide students with the tools and skills needed to make
sound financial decisions throughout their lives. Personal financial planning is the process of
managing one’s money to achieve personal economic satisfaction. This process involves
setting realistic goals and organizing financial activities toward the achievement of the goals.
It also depends on the increased control of financial affairs by avoiding excessive debt,
building up wealth, and managing financial risk
Components:
Midterm I: 30%
Midterm II: 30%
Final Exam: 40%
If you find personal finance interesting, this is a good course. The course is relatively easy to
follow, but you should have some previous basic knowledge of financial theory. Midterms
and final exam: multiple choice.
3KA3 System Analysis & Design
This course introduces the process and methodology for system analysis and design. Students
will be able to learn the process of system development, the traditional structural approach
and modern object-oriented approach for system analysis and design, system development
strategy and new trends of system development. Through class discussion, hands-on
assignments and team project, students will learn how to translate business requirement into
information systems that support a company’s short- and long-term objectives.
Components:
Assignments Individual 20%
Project, Teamwork 30%
- Proposal
5%
- Presentation 10%
- Report
15%
Midterm 20%
Final Exam 30%
Midterm and final exam is multiple choice and short answer questions. Substantially
workload.