STUDENT REPORT
Student Report
Name of the University: University College Dublin – Quinn School of Business
Exchange semester: Fall, 2013
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
We received e-mails from the Exchange Officer at UCD in February. She was very helpful
and provided us with all the information we needed about housing, module selection etc.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
No need to apply for a visa.
Travel
Ryanair, Norwegian and SAS are all flying to Dublin.
Housing
We applied early for an on-campus accommodation but we still did not manage to get
accommodated on campus. We did not get any warning that there was a housing shortage in
Dublin, so we had to stay three and a half weeks in different hostels before we got a place to
live. At the same time, the landlords does not happily rent out to students, especially students
who only are staying for four months. We offered many landlords up to 50 percent more per
month, but that did not help.
We ended up staying in a housing facility for Irish people that was priced out of the housing
market. We lived together in a 15 square-meter room for 5000 NOK per person, per month.
There was also two Norwegian students and one German student who stayed at the same
place, and which also attended UCD. We all agree that we did not get any help at all from
UCD.
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK
5000/month
NOK 3000
NOK 2500
NOK 1000
NOK 2000
STUDENT REPORT
Culture and language
The Irish accent is nothing to worry about because the most of the people in Dublin are
talking straight forward English. Ireland is a small country and therefore you can experience
the whole country by train. The Erasmus Society also arranges weekend trips by bus to all of
the places worth seeing for a small amount of money. The price usually lies around 100 Euro
for bus and two days at a hostel.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The campus is located around three kilometres from the city center, and is almost like a small
city. Every academic area has its own building so you will have the most of your classes in
Quinn School of Business which was built a couple of years ago.
Course registration
You will apply for courses in August and you can change courses until the 20. of September.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
27.08.13
07.09.13
27.11.13
01.12.13-20.12.13
Bank Holidays
Arrival
Not like the introduction week at BI, but a lot of gatherings for food, cinema and partying.
You can also choose to have a buddy-group if you want to. But this was badly organized.
The International Office
We would have liked to get information about how difficult it would be to get
accommodation.
Promoting BI and Norway
We talked a lot about BI, Oslo and Norway with all of the students we got to know.
Social activities
All of the students were really easy-going, both the native and international students.
The Erasmus Society arranged one party every week in addition to a lot of other gatherings
and activities. You can also join one of the many student-groups. Everything from football,
drama, traditional music and kiting.
STUDENT REPORT
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The teaching style was a mix of practical and theoretical learning. We worked with cases,
financial reports on real firms like BMW and also more theoretical stuff. In lectures there was
an informal environment.
We had to choose six modules so we had to learn a lot, but it was quite easy to get a good
grade.
Course materials
Books and articles.
Exams
We had several different assessments, including mid-terms, final exams, blog, presentations
and reports.
Library and technology
Did not visit the library, but the IT-system was well functioning.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisites
15% MC, 15%
Case and 70 %
final exam
None
Approved
as
Elective
Bmgt30130 – Global
Industry Analysis
Bachelor
30% report and
70 % final exam
None
Elective
Bmgt30220 – Supply
Chain Management
Bachelor
None
Elective
Fin20010 – Principles
of Finance
Bachelor
15%
presentation,
25% group
work, 40% indepth report and
20 % blog
100% final
exam
None
Elective
Fin30170 - Advanced
Bachelor
30% Fincanial
Introductionar
Elective
Acc30030 – Cost
Management
Comments
A lot of cost
systems
which you
never will
use in your
life.
Not so
interesting
and a lot of
reading
Interesting,
but a lot of
work
Quite basic,
but
increases
your
knowledge
about
finance.
A lot of
STUDENT REPORT
Corporate Finance
Fin30030 International Financial
Management
Bachelor
report and 70 %
final exam.
y finance
course.
100 % final
exam
None
Elective
reading for
final exam,
but you
will learn a
lot! Great
course. The
report helps
you to do
finance like
in real life.
Derivatives
and FX.
Quite hard
to learn, but
easy exam.
On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience?
- E.g. the experience from an academic, cultural and social point of
view, influences to your future career possibilities etc.
We have had an amazing exchange period, even though we had big problems concerning our
housing situation. We have learned a lot, not only academically but also about other cultures.
At UCD, 1 out of 5 students are international students, so we have experienced cultures from
all over the world. This will help us if we in the future will get a job in a global company.
Do not hesitate to contact us throught the International Office at BI if you want some
more information about Dublin or your exchange in general.