Student Report
Name of the University: National University of Singapore (NUS)
Exchange semester: Fall, 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
After we had been nominated we received an email around the start of march with a link to
the online application for the exchange program and guidelines to what documents we had to
upload and information that we needed to submit.
You have to apply online as well as sending a hardcopy of grades, application etc. to the
school. BI will take care of this. During the summer you have to apply for studentpass online.
Stay updated on your mail!
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
You apply for visa online. When you come to Singapore you get a tourist visa, and you will
get your student visa through the school.
Travel
Select the cheapest and shortest flight from Gardermoen to Singapore (Changi). Traveltime
should be between 14 and 18 hours. There are flights from most of the biggest airports in
Europe going directly to Singapore daily.
Housing
Housing is provided by the school, and normally all exchange students get housing. We chose
to live outside campus in a condo. A condo is bigger and with pool etc., but it takes longer
time to get to school and is a lot more expensive.
If you decide to rent a condo its important to note that you in most cases have to use an agent
and they charge half a months rent for the work. We got contact information to our agent
through norwegians who have been on exchange to Singapore before.
Costs
Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food, transportation, and
other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
6000 NOK
600 NOK
3000 NOK
1000 NOK
5000 NOK
Culture and language
Singapore is a multicultural country and it doesn’t matter where you are from. Everybode is
welcomed and they want to hear about our differencies.
Singapore is an English speaking country and the local students and staff master English well.
However, there is a special dialect popularly known as singlish where they mix English with
some of the native languages. You’ll get used to it quickly, but it might set you off a little in
the beginning.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
- About 30 minutes with train from the city.
- Large school with a lot of different faculties
- A lot more tests and homework during the semester. Class participation was a big part
of the grade (20-40%)
- Group projects where you need to go to meetings and that requires a lot of research
Course registration
During the introduction week we used an online platform to add and drop modules. After that
week you can still drop modules, but if you want to new ones you need to submit an appeal to
the academic center at NUS
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
28.08.14
06.06.14
15.11.14
22.nov – 5. des
Singapores national
day, 09.08
Some religious
holidays
Other:
Arrival
Orientation week was about getting to know the city and how things worked. You get to know
their ways pretty fast, and you can make a lot friendships during the first week.
The International Office
The office at school had great staff and helped with everything you need. They reply emails in
no-time.
Promoting BI and Norway
We were sent on a couple of excursions with a maritime class from NTU to represent BI
Social activities
After the first week there is nothing arranged by the school, but you keep in touch with the
people you met during introductions throughout the whole semester. There are gatherings for
exchange students in the beginning and the end of the semester
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
At NUS the lectures take place in small classrooms with only small groups of students in each
class. You are required to participate and most of the lecturers want everyone to speak up at
least once or twice during each lecture because class participation is a part of the final grade.
Therefore, the lectures are much more intimate and you feel like you get a better connection
to the lecturer compared to BI.
The lectuers usually teach from their own lecture notes, but many also like to use cases in the
classrooms.
When it comes to workload it feels like its more because there is a continous evaluation
through the whole semester and not one final exam like at BI. Group projects is usally what
takes up most of your time because you need to go to meetings and do research. Also, you
need to have five modules at NUS compared to five at BI. They evaluate you based on class
participation, midterms, group projects and final tests.
Course materials
We found that the lecture notes (powerpoint presentations) were the most useful, so we only
bought a couple of books if we felt that we needed more or if the lecturer specifically told us
to.
Exams
- The course was evaluated by
o Written final exam (only in some courses)
o Mid-term exam
o Small assignments and/or papers
o Presentations
o Group work
o Class attendance
o Class participation/debates
Library and technology
The business library has three floors with comfortable and quiet study spaces so studying at
school was very pleasant. They also have a printer room but you have to physically go there
and print out from the library’s own computers
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
FIN3102 Investment
analysis and portfolio
management
FIN3101A Corporate
finance
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
Two 2 hour
written tests in
mid and end of
semester
BØK
Bachelor
2 hour written
BØK-fag
Approved
as
Finansiell
styring
Finansiell
styring
Comments
A fun
course for
those
interested
in stocks
etc.
Instructive
and useful
BSP3001A Strategic
management
Bachelor
2 hour written
None
Strategi
FIN3119 Risk and
insurance
Bachelor
2 hour written
None
Elective
TR3002 New Venture
creation
Bachelor
Business plan
and presentation
None
Elective
DSC2006 operations
management
Bachelor
2 hour written
None
Elective
MKT2401 Asian
Markets And
Marketing
Management
Bachelor
2 hour written
Basic
marketing
Elective
My exchange experience was
- Exciting
- Challenging
course.
Highly
theorethical
but highly
relevant
Engaging
lecturer and
interesting
course.
Centered
around
case-work
Great and
engaging
lecturer .
deep
insight into
insurance
industry
Very good
lecturer.
Made
business
plan and
learned
financial
modelling
Learning
about
operational
layouts and
processes.
Interesting
course
Learning
about how
western
businesses
go in to
Asia.