Student Report
Name of the University: University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management
Exchange semester: Fall 2013
We spent our semester in the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management. The
school lies in Minneapolis – St. Paul area, also known as the Twin Cities.
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
The process of applying for the school was fairly simple, with an application form and letter
of motivation to be submitted before 01.04.12. The final acceptance letter came in the end of
May. Before leaving Norway, we had to fill out a learning agreement with BI stating the
courses we intended to take. We also needed to fill out a course preference list and send to the
UofM before 15th of July.
Applying for a visa
Before you can enter the States, you need to apply for a J-1 visa at the USA embassy in Oslo.
The process was fairly simple, but make the reservation in good time before you are planning
to leave for USA. People had different opinions about the process, and some thought it was a
complicated and difficult. I ended up paying around 2000 kroner to the American embassy.
Travel:
Iceland air has a route from Gardermoen to St. Paul International (closest airport to the
UofM). Tickets are relatively cheap, but it is smart to book a round trip, as this is even
cheaper. When you arrive at the airport, the University provides transport (The Gopher
chauffeur) from the airport to the different housing facilities. The Gopher chauffeur picked us
up on Lindale terminal 1, which is in a different area than the international arrival area. Taxi
from the airport to campus is about $50.
Housing
We lived in a dormitory on campus during our exchange. The university gave us four choices
too choose from; University Village, Middlebrook Hall, Yodulf Hall and Centennial Hall.
Middlebrook is the closest one to Carlson School of Management, and is located in the West
Bank on Campus. All the other dormitories are located on the East Bank.
Both of us decided to live in UV (University Village). It is an apartment dormitory where you
live with three other roommates. You have four bedrooms with a shared kitchen and
bathroom. I will recommend living in UV because this is the closest thing you come to living
in an apartment. It is possible to rent privately, but I would not recommend it for just 4
months.
Costs:
Housing in Minneapolis is relatively expensive, student housing ranges from $600-$1000 a
month. The price depends on size and whether it is an apartment or dorm. Food, drinks,
transport and general living costs are cheaper than in Norway. We do recommend everyone to
buy a u-pass in the beginning of the semester. The u-pass costs $100, and works all semester
on both the buses and the light rail. If you do not have a u-pass, tickets the bus and light rail
ticket are normally $1.75 and $2.25 during rush hour.
When it comes to books, you can either buy or rent them at the bookstore. Renting books is
about $10 cheaper then buying, but if you buy the books, you can sell them back at the end of
the semester. The books are expensive, but a one time expense. We recommend opening an
American bank account, as you can only pay the housing with an e-check or a credit card. The
problem with paying with a credit card is an extra charge of 10%. Banks that are ok are US
bank, TCF and Wells Fargo.
Culture and language
I did not have a lot of trouble with the language. Compared to the other nations on the
exchange, the Norwegians had good English. In BI we already have a lot of English literature
and courses.
The American culture is open and friendly. Everyone wants to talk to you, and is not shy too
speak there mind. This especially goes for the Minnesota subculture, known as “Minnesota
nice”. You can sometimes notice that the friendliness is superficial, and when you turn your
back they don’t really care about you anymore. They also have a more commercialized
culture, which you can see really well in Minnesota. In Minnesota they have the largest mall
in America; “Mall of America”.
The sports culture is really big in Minnesota. University of Minnesota have sports team called
Golden Gophers. You can watch American football games at TCF Bank Stadium, icehockey
at Marriuci Arena and basketball in Williams arena etc. Also you can watch NFL, NHL and
NBA in Minneapolis and St Paul.
Cultural and social effects from the exchange experience
In regard to the culture I haven’t change a lot, but my English has improved. I have become
more open to other people, and created a network across the world.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The Campus:
The school is located on the West bank on campus, which is about 15 min away from the
downtown area, and the east bank campus. The downtown area is a business and shopping
area that is very modern and busy. The campus area is huge and includes everything from
stores, several restaurants, café’s, bars, theatre, concert hall, free gym, etc. Carlson School of
Management is a part of University of Minnesota that has more than 50.000 students in total,
and the school consists of numerous buildings and there are bike paths, campus shuttles and
car routs all over campus to help people get between their classes. The school offer different
credit level courses (1,2,3,4, etc.) depending on the amount of weeks the courses last.
Course registration
As mentioned, we filled out a course preference list before arriving, but we could not register
for courses before we came here. Registration for courses was done during the introduction
week for the international students, and we had to choose among the courses and make our
own schedule, register the courses online, as the faculty was there to help us. Graduate
students had to have a member from the faculty had to help us register. They had scheduled
time to do this during the introduction week. This way, you are able to make up your own
schedule and plan accordingly. Additionally, we had approximately 2 weeks to add/withdraw
from classes.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
August 21 2013
August 26 2013
December 12 2013
December 12 to 19
Thanksgiving,
November 28 (differs
from year to year)
Arrival
When we arrived both Globe and Carlson was prepared for our arrival. The first week of
school we had a welcome week, where we got to meet all of our exchange buddies and saw
Minneapolis – St Paul area.
International Office and healthcare
Carlson School of Management has there own international office called Globe, and they can
help you at any time. I needed some help from them to change courses, and they where really
helpful and fast. University of Minnesota also has an international office called ISSS. They
are the ones who make sure your visa status and everything legal is up to date.
Every incoming exchange student except for Norwegians has to sign up for Boynton Health
Service. Norwegians can choose not to sign up, and rather keep your health insurance from
Norway. Boynton is the university health clinic where you can go at any time.
Promoting BI and Norway
None of us participated in any fairs to promote BI. The event in Carlson collided with the
academic schedule for both of us. Even though we did not participate in a fair, we promoted
BI in other social events where we talked about BI.
Social activities
There was a really good social environment among the exchange students. In the beginning
this was mostly due to Globe, who arranged parties and happenings throughout the semester.
In our opinion, most of the students were outgoing and nice, making it easy to make friends
and to feel belonging to the group. As there were no fixed classes throughout the semester,
one had classes with different students, making it even easier to connect with different people.
As a grad student, it is more difficult to meet Americans, as we were enrolled in the part time
MBA program. Part time MBA students work during the day, usually have families, and have
very little time to meet new people.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The classrooms are different from back home with small classrooms with 20 to 70 people.
The professors are really good, and most of them are equivalent to the professors at BI. If you
have supply chain courses, the professors are some of the best in the world in there respective
fields. In the classrooms you have more of conversations with the professors that differs from
bachelor back home, but is similar to master studies at BI.
Most of the time we had exercises or group projects we had to do in the courses. The grade is
not entirely dependent on your exam, but rather what you have done throughout the semester.
Having presentations or quizzes during the semester is really common, and is not only
focused in the midterm and finals week.
Course materials
Most of the course material was cases and articles that we either purchased online or in the
bookstore. Books are expensive, but these can be ordered online or rented at the bookstore.
Exams
As previously mentioned, the course load is spread evenly throughout the semester, and as a
result of that, there might not even be any exams. Work we were evaluated in at Carlson were
short case write-ups, presentations, class participation, mid-terms and exams. The exams were
based on the course material and on the lectures, and were quite informal, with the students
sitting next to each other in classrooms. Normally the exam were no more than 30%-50% of
the grade, and the professors focused more on attendance, participation, and group
presentations. However, it all differed from course to course.
Library and technology
University of Minnesota has several libraries throughout campus. The one closest to Carlson
is the Wilson Library. There you can find any books or articles you might need for the
Carlson courses.
University of Minnesota has a policy that you have to pay to print, but Carlson is the only one
that has free printers for all Carlson students. In Coffman, you can access a Mac room if you
should need to use a Mac for a presentation. Otherwise you can find computers to use
throughout campus.
Courses
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
Comments
Negotiation Strategy
MGMT 4040
Undergraduate
5 papers and 8
quizzes
None
A very fun course,
where we had several
different negotiations
during the semester.
You have one on one
negotiation, multiparty
and team negotiations.
Quizzes 20 %
Group paper 20%
Final Exam 40%
Financial Markets and
Interest rates
FINA 4121
Undergraduate
Introduction to
Operations
Management
SCO 3001
Undergraduate
Two midterms
20 % each
Final exam 50 %
Group project
10 %
History of Capitalism;
Uneven development
since the 1500
HIST 3419
Undergraduate
Three take-home
exams and two
papers
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Graduate
Exam form
International Strategy
and Organization
MGMT 6040
2 credits
Marketing
Management
MBA 6210
3 credits
Individual Homework
10%
Graduate
Not a lot to do, and the
paper are easy to write.
Finance
An interesting, but
Fundamentals
sometimes boring
(Finans 1 & 2 på course. The professor
BI)
goes really fast, so you
have to do a lot of
homework to keep up
with the course. If you
can keep up, it is
interesting.
None
The professor is really
good, and can make
boring subject fun.
This was approved as
Strategi from BI, and
therefor I had to take it
None
The course was OK,
and I learned a lot
about something that I
have not had before. It
is much theory that
can be boring
sometimes.
Prerequisite
s
None
2X3 page writeups (50%)
group presentation
(5%)
final paper (25%)
final presentation
(10%)
class participation
(10%)
3 individual write- None
ups
3 group write-ups
class participation
Online marketing
simulation, groups
(pharmaSim)
Presentation
Marketing puzzle
report
Comments
A-term course, finished
21.10. One of the best
courses I had at Carlson.
The professor was
interesting, nice and well
prepared. The course itself
was interesting, enjoyable
and had an international
focus.
Full semester course.
Quite boring course, it
involved numerous case
analyses, but when the
teacher went through them
it mainly felt like he was
repeating the fact from the
case. The professor
touched lightly upon each
subject of my entire
degree without any indepth knowledge. He also
allocated time badly, so he
changed the syllabus 3
times.
Strategic Alliances
MGMT 6032
2 credits
Graduate
2x3 page writeNone
ups (50%)
final team paper
and presentation
(35%)
Presentation
(10%)
Class participation
(5%)
A-term course. Interesting
course, learned more
about partnerships,
domestic and
international. The
professor is one of the best
professors I have had
during my years of
education.
Management of
Innovation and change
MGMT 6050
2 credits
Graduate
3x2 page writeNone
ups (60%)
group presentation
(25%)
online class
participation
(15%)
B-term course. The course
was built up on the writeups about an innovation.
The problem was that this
was a clear advantage for
the working MBA
students, as they already
had all the information
needed to write their
papers. Interesting course,
but one should have first
hand experience working
with an innovation
project.
Industry analysis and
competitive strategy
MGMT 6031
4 credits
Graduate
Mid-term (25%)
None
Final (35%)
Class participation
and in-class writeups (20%)
Competitive
Strategy Game
(20%)
Full semester course.
Using Porter´s 5 forces to
analyze different
industries in-depth.
Interesting course, should
have some experience
with excel and economics.