Student Report
Name of the University: Bond University
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
I received my first inquiry 18th of February with an Offer for Exchange. After being
nominated from BI, I submitted my application through Bond’s online registration system in
April. I then received my Letter of Offer 18th of May and my Confirmation of Enrolment June
19th.
Already when you apply you have to write which subjects you want to take and also have
some subjects as a back up. The enrolment of the subjects opened July 14th. I found the whole
process with signing up for subjects quite difficult. They cancelled the strategy course I
wanted to take, so I had to find a new course and get this approved by BI. Further, I faced
several errors using the online enrolment system and it took two weeks before I finally could
enrol successfully.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
I applied for my visa after receiving my Confirmation of Enrolment, through the Australian
Government’s webpage: http://www.immi.gov.au/Services/Pages/student-visa-onlineapplications.aspx
I got an immediate response (within an hour later) with a confirmation of my visa. I printed
out and brought these documents to the airport, but they actually didn’t need it as they have
everything in their data system. The cost of the visa was around NOK 3,200.
Travel
I travelled to Australia through Bangkok, and Bali, where I stayed for 10 days. Then I
travelled from Bali to Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast. I didn’t book my return ticket till mid of
November because I weren’t sure when and how I wanted to go back to Norway. I end up
spending around 16.000 NOK on flight tickets, which is more expensive compared to if you
book a round-trip ticket earlier. I think this will approximately cost around 12.000 NOK.
Housing
It is possible to live on campus. However, I recommend living off-campus as it is neither
particularly cheap nor nice looking, and you would have to use their meal-plan by always
eating on the school’s brassieres and cafes which can get really expensive. Further, I will
recommend living close to Bond of practical reasons and for the social life. You can get really
nice-looking apartments close to Bond for almost the same price. I lived right next to Bond in
a place called The Reserve, which I will absolutely recommend. This apartment had great
facilities like swimming pool, gym, barbeque-area, etc. The apartments on The Reserve are
also close to Market Square where they have several shops and cafes and are located next to a
lake which surrounds the area.
Costs
The Australian price level is almost the same as the Norwegian. However, some things are
less expensive, like for example rent, while other things are more expensive, like electricity. It
also depends on the currency rate, which went up in November and December.
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
6000 NOK
2000 NOK (total)
3000 NOK
200 NOK
5000-6000 NOK
Culture and language
The culture in Australia is not quite different from the Norwegian culture, so I didn’t find it
difficult to adjust to the culture. As an English speaking country, I did not face difficulties
with the communication either as everyone you meet speak English. Bond University is a very
international school with students from all over the world. This opens up opportunities to
experience new cultures and make friends all over the world. These cultural differences were
interesting to see but I did not view it as a problem but rather as learning.
The weekdays are quite busy due to assessments during the whole semester, so the only time
to travel and see the country is either before or after the semester or in the weekends. If you
choose to travel in the weekends, avoid the middle and end of the semester, as it gets very
hectic due to mid-semester and final exams. Travelling in Australia is also very expensive
with high prices on flight tickets and booked tours.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
Bond University is in Gold Coast in Queensland, an hour away from Brisbane, on the east
coast of Australia. It is located in a small suburb called Varsity Lakes with a couple of
restaurants and shops in the near area and a big shopping centre 10 minutes away. The school
is very small with around 4000 students where x are international students. It has five
faculties; ‘Business’,’ Health Sciences and Medicine’,’ Humanities and Social Sciences’,’
Law’ and ‘Sustainable Development and Architecture’.
The campus at Bond is beautiful and has a lot of facilities, which is included in the student
fee. The sports center itself offers a gym, swimming pool, tennis court, etc. Further, you have
several libraries, a 24/7-study area, cafés and brasseries, school pub and shops.
Course registration
As mentioned earlier, you have to tell which courses you are interested in already when you
apply, but the final enrolment opened 14th of July in their online system. However, there was
room for fixing problems with enrolment in the first week of the semester. But as the courses
have to be approved by BI and Bond, I recommend doing this as early as possible. It also
limited availability in each course, as the classes at Bond are very small.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
August 22nd
September 1st
December 1st
December 8th till 9th
--Mid-terms in week 7 and 8
Arrival
Orientation week (or O-week) is in the first week of the semester (week 0) and is an
introductory week with lots of social events, opportunities to get to know the school and area
and fix outstanding problems if any. Examples of events are barbeque, trip to the shopping
centre, parties, movie nights and guided tours around the school. The lectures started the week
after (week 1).
The International Office
The International Office provided me with any help I needed which I very much appreciated.
I had a lot of questions in the beginning and they gave complementary answers in a short
time. They helped me whenever I had problems and sent me all the information and
documents I needed.
Social activities
Since the school is so international, I got to know more international students compared to
native students. However, the relationship with the native students was very good and they
were interested in getting to know exchange students.
Bond also has a lot of student organisations ranging from business societies to sports clubs to
wine tasting. Not every society can be joined as some of them require a longer stay at Bond. It
is also a lot of activities where you do not have to me a member to join, like for example yoga
and dance classes. These student organisations arrange events the whole semester, so there are
lots of fun things to join all semester.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The study and learning structure is very different from BI with small classes and a lot of
interactive communication with both the class and the teacher. You are free to contact your
teacher or step by his/her office if you have any problems. It is expected that you participate
in class, where some courses even have participation as a part of the final grade. Therefore, it
is important to show up prepared to class.
Assessments take place throughout the whole semester so it is important to follow the pace
and work with every subject every week. I found the workload and expectations higher than
BI with a tougher grading system and assessments every week. One thing I specifically found
harder was the time pressure of the evaluations; it usually requires lots of work done in short
time. The type of assessments varies from course to course, but common forms are
presentations, weekly tests, hand-ins, group projects, mid-semester exams and discussions in
class. Most courses also have a final exam, which usually counts for 30-50% of your grade.
Usually the students have two hours with lecture and two hours with a more practical class
every week. The lecture is more theoretical but participation is required. In the more
interactive class you usually get exercises or cases to work with. Most of the courses were
case-based where you work with real life cases, which gives you a clear idea of how it is done
in a real business situation.
Course materials
Most of the courses have a book to follow, others use articles or materials made by the
lecturer/professor. The PowerPoints were also very helpful, with notes that helped me later
before an evaluation.
Exams
The exams were based on both the lecturers and tutorials and course materials. Typically a
course was evaluated with one mid-semester exam and one final exam in the end and other
evaluations such as presentation, group work during the semester. The final exam were done
in a sports hall at school and are usually written form on paper and lasted for two hours. One
of my courses required preparations of a case received in advance to the exam. All my midsemester exams were also in a written form.
Library and technology
Bond has two libraries, one main library and one for the Law Faculty (which other students
also can use). Both of the libraries have group rooms that can be booked in advance. The main
library was equipped with a lot of computers and printers. The school also had other computer
labs and study areas other places at school.
Description of courses
Please list below all the courses you took while on exchange. Your comments are useful for
BI and for future exchange students, include information on the qacadmic level, challenges,
relevance to your studies, if the course was practical/theoretical, any enrolment issues, etc.
Course code & name
MGMT13-307
Concepts of Strategy
FINC13-307
International Finance
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
2-hour written
exam, group
project,
presentation
None
Approved
as
Mandatory
Bachelor
Two tests, one
group project
with
presentation,
one individual
assignment, one
partner
assignment
Yes
Elective
Comments
Case based
approach with
important and
useful theory
and
frameworks.
No book, so
requires that
you pay close
attention in
class and make
a lot of
research. A lot
more difficult
than the
finance
courses at BI,
but very
interesting
with useful
theory and
ECON12-201 Markets
and Corporate
Behaviour
Bachelor
2-hour written
exam, 2-hour
mid-semester
exam,
assignments
Yes
Mandatory
ENFB13-305 Venture
Capital and Private
Equity
Bachelor
2-hour written
exam, group
project with
presentation,
individual
assigments
None
Elective
frameworks
for the future.
Some
repetition from
microeconomi
cs in the
beginning, but
move quickly
over to more
difficult
theory.
Important to
keep up to
date.
An interesting
course about
investment. A
case based
approach on
theory. Highly
recommended!
Summary of exchange experience
Exchanging to Bond University is definitely something I recommend. Bond is a very good
school with a high academic level, a rich social life and located in beautiful surroundings.
From an academic point of view I learned so much studying at Bond. It was very challenging
but also resulted in gained knowledge and the ability to be more analytical and problem
solving. It also improved my communication and presentation skills, as I had to be more
interactive in class and had to hold business presentations. Most of my courses also had a case
based approach like it would have been in real life. These experiences have prepared me for
work related situations.
Studying abroad has also improved my English significantly, both oral and written. This was
one of the reasons why I chose to exchange to an English speaking country. I feel much more
comfortable speaking and writing English, which will definitely benefit me in the future.
This semester abroad has also developed me as a person. It has made me more independent as
I travelled all by myself and had to create a new life for myself in unknown surroundings.
This forced me to step more out of my comfort zone and be better to take advantage of every
opportunity I faced. I have also learned so much about other cultures and how to behave in
relation to that by meeting and getting to know so many different people from different
countries. This makes you more open-minded as a person.
Exchanging to Australia is also an opportunity to travel and see more of the world. Australia
is a beautiful and diversified country, which is definitely worth to see. Living in a new
country makes you experience how it is to live another lifestyle. I really enjoyed my stay in
Australia and would definitely recommend going here.