Exchange rapport from Concordia University
University: Concordia University, John Molson School of Business
Students: Martin Traaseth, Anders Egeberg
Exchange semester: Spring 2010
Description of University:
John Molson School of Business (JMSB) is truly a state-of-the-art business school when it
comes to facilities and learning conditions.
This faculty recently got a new building in downtown Montreal, which looks very
modern in style. The school has got terrific classrooms that enable discussion in class,
and an own Bloomberg lab, where all information about the financial markets is
available.
The university has about 40 000 students, and faculties include engineering, nursing,
business and law.
Practical information
I received my information package form Concordia months ahead of my departure, and
had no major difficulties with my adaption to the school system in Montreal
For entrance to Canada you need to show your letter of admission from Concordia,
except for this there is no Visa required.
I ordered my flight tickets two months ahead of my travel, and even with a flight
scheduled back from San Diego the whole round trip cost 5400 kr.
I arrived in Montreal the 2. January and school started the fourth.
There was no official introduction week, but the exchange administration took good care
of us, and arranged some parties.
As in Norway the classes start with the syllabus, and since the semester is very short,
you should pay attention from the first lecture.
One mid-term was in the second week of February, and because there may be a lot of
terminology, this can be quite a challenge.
Last days of classes were in the beginning of April, with finals the following weeks.
Still I liked the rapid pace, much due to the fact that I had my last final 28th of April.
When it comes to housing we lived at something like a private campus, 515 rue st.
Catherine, and I found this very satisfying. There we lived in apartments with 4 other
students, and had gym facilities, cinema, pool tables and study rooms available. What
more can you ask for? Well, it wasn’t cheap, 999 Canadian Dollars a month, but well
worth the money.
This is also a prime location, in the heart of downtown Montreal, 15 minute walk to
JMSB, 10 min to the party street Rue st. Lauren, and nearby the magnificent park which
is the centre of the city.
Costs
I spent something like 400 Dollars on books, yet one can buy a lot of used books in the
book store, if you are there early in the semester.
A good thing as that one can sell some books back to the book store at the end of the
semester. I got 50%, or $ 115 for one book I purchased earlier in the semester, great
deal!
Exempt for housing and books prices, Montreal is fairly cheap.
Beer is something like 25 dollars for a case of Budweiser, 30 dollars for a case of Corona
and beer in the bar varies from 2 – 6 dollars.
You can get a meal and a soft drink at one of the food court in the underground shopping
centre for 7 dollars, and grocery store prices are maybe 75% of Norwegian prices.
Trough to be told; you feel rich when you are a Norwegian in Montreal.
The International Office of JMSB is kind and usually not rigid rule-wise and tends to
bend the rules for you benefit if you have trouble.
Yet, there may be a great line in the office at the beginning of the semester as many
students encounter problems with courses and have to change them.
There were no social activates facilitated only for exchange students, but this was never
an issue either.
We came good along with the Canadian students and participated in a trip to Quebec
City and a lot of parties this semester. There were also options to go to New York City for
a weekend or Cuba for spring break with other students from the university.
I was very satisfied with the social program at JMSB.
The Canadians are in most cases a friendly people, yet a lot of the Montrealers do not
speak English, only French. Still this was never really a problem, because in downtown
Montreal most of the menus were in English and people knew the language quite well.
In the university the entire program was English-based.
Personally I benefited a lot form this exchange semester, culturally.
I enhanced my English skills a lot, and became more aware of the cultural differences in
North America, compared to Scandinavia. For working opportunities in the future I
know my exchange semester has made me more confident in English and able to view
issues from a non-Scandinavian perspective.
Career possibilities have excelled as one get to network and create new connection
world-wide.
Academic Information:
All courses are thought in English.
In some courses, such as Accounting, all the new terms may represent and additional
challenge, but after a wile you will learn them.
Group work and assignments are commonly used, and often make out 50% of you grade
in a course.
It’s difficult to compare the workload to BI, since we didn’t work as much in Canada as in
BI. But if you ought to get the same grades at JMSB as in BI, I assume the workload is
similar.
Exams are primarily based on the required reading, and the literature is easy read, and
does not contain to many pages per course.
To pass a course, not a lot of knowledge was required, yet one had to do some work to
get better than a C.
The exams we were given were quite similar to those we get at BI.
All students have access to the library and most of the course material, such as slides
and notes are available on the web.
Description of Courses:
Course
ACCO
330
COMM
308
Field
Accounting
Assignments Exam
Group work Written
Finance
MANA
362
MARK
454
Management
Internet
based
multiple
choice
Group work
Written
Multiple
Choice
Sales/marketing Presentation Written
Major
Equivalent at BI
Accounting Operativ
økonomistyring
Finance
Finans 1
HRM
Organisasjonsledelse
Marketing
none
ACCO 330: Cost and managerial Accounting took us through different accounting
methods for manufacturing departments, and also took a strategic perspective on
accounting.
COMM 308: Introduction to finance took us through interests’ calculation, capital
budgeting, different financial terms, equity options and NPV/IRR analysis.
MANA 362: Human resource managements taught us how to motivate and manage
human resources within an organisation. Also took a legal perspective on firing-andhiring, sexual harassment etc.
MARK 454: Professional selling taught us the whole sales process and crucial points to
bear in mind when dealing with clients. A course that is not tough at BI, but truly useful
in the business environment.
Other experiences:
Spring comes early in Montreal, in the beginning of March one could experience 15
degrees and more for consecutive days and share a pitcher of beer on the way home
from school. That was a great experience.
People are more outgoing than in Norway and easier to get in touch with.
It should also be mentioned that Montreal students have a great party culture, and
Tuesday is maybe the best way to go out as a student; Café Campus!
In terms of going out it is not unusual to average 3 days a week through a whole
semester.
Email:
Martin Traaseth; martin_traaseth@hotmail.com