General and specific report; Corvinus University of Budapest fall 2015

Transcription

1 General and specific report; Corvinus University of Budapest fall 2015 A. General report 1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad I flew to Budapest on the 15 th of August already, and stayed in the city after a week of vacation with friends. The official opening of the semester was the first week of September. The actual courses started on the 15 th of September and the official end of the semester is at the end of January. However, the finals of the courses that are available for international students take mostly place before Christmas. In case of having a resit, it is possible to redo an exam in January. I left Budapest in the beginning of January 2016 to explore some other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. 2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey The contact with the RUG went well. A lot of things need to be arranged before going on the exchange. In case of having a question, the contact persons from the home faculty respond relatively quickly. The most important thing is that you make sure you take care of the deadlines, some are earlier than you would think. By the end of May, it is good to know which courses you want to take as the registration at Corvinus opens in the beginning of June. This works out the best when you sign up as early as possible. When the course you want is full, it might be possible to switch later on. Make sure there is no overlap in your schedule. I travelled with Wizzair from Eindhoven to Budapest. The flight is very cheap, about 70 euros one way including luggage. 3. Residence abroad - Arrangements visa/residence permit As I am an EU citizen, I did not need a residence permit. Especially because I went on some trips to other countries during my stay in Hungary. If you are a non-eu citizen you will need a residence permit. When going to the Immigration Office, you should take into account that the Hungarian way of arranging things is a lot slower than the Dutch way. - Accommodation In August, I stayed in a hostel from where I arranged an accommodation to live in. I noticed that a lot of people did the same and it was doable to find a room at that moment. Organizations through which you can find a room are SRS Budapest or Frabnet. Through the last one, I found a room myself.. - Reception and introduction In Budapest, there is an ESN for every university. ESN Corvinus also organizes a lot of activities, especially around the start of the semester. There is a welcoming reception and ceremony at the university that you can attend if you want.

2 - Student life, culture and leisure Student life in Budapest is great! Life in general is cheaper compared to the Netherlands, which makes it possible to do a lot of things. There are very good restaurants and nice pubs and bars to which you can go each and every night of the week if you want. A lot of buildings and spots in Budapest are very interesting to visit, it is possible to join ESN trips to these places. I really enjoyed going on trips to different places with friends. For instance, I have been to Serbia, Slovenia, Poland, Vienna, Bratislava and several other places in Hungary. - Language The Hungarian language is very complicated to learn and a language course is offered at the university if you want. Without doing this course, I only learned some very basic words. 4. Grant - Amount You get 150,- a month as an Erasmus Grant. Besides that, as a Dutch student, you get compensated for the public transport card you own in the Netherlands and you still get the monthly compensation from the government (stufi). 5. Study (general) At Corvinus University, almost all courses are worth 3 or 6 ECTS and take the whole semester. The university is open during the week between 8am and 9pm and on Saturday the library is open during the morning. Each week, the courses that are worth 6 ECTS all have both a lecture and a seminar. There are blocks of 1,5 hours with 20-minute breaks in between. There is a rule that you need to be present at least 75% of the classes and an active participation is expected from the students. 6. Other relevant information you want to share with our future exchange students Don t hesitate to go on trips. The level of exams is probably a lot lower than you are used to and it is very easy and nice to go on trips with friends or ESN. ESN also organizes a introduction weekend in which you can very easily get to know a lot of people! Enjoy this time, as you never know if you will get a chance like this again. 7. Summary impression of the study period abroad and any advice/suggestion/tips for students or academic staff who will be involved with the host institution in the future Budapest is great as a destination for your exchange. It is a great city to discover and it has a lot of interesting and beautiful sights. The only thing I did not really like were the locals, as they seemed a little grumpy to me. However, if you take this into account, don t get annoyed by it and take your time for doing things, you will have the best time of your life!

3 B. Specific report Course: Human Resources Management 1,5 hours lecture and 1,5 hours seminar each week. The book for this course is compulsory and used a lot. During the lecture, the teacher did not make use of a lot of slides, but went through the book and the student is expected to take notes in the meanwhile. During the seminar, a student had to review and discuss the lecture of the previous week with the class. These sessions were very interactive and interesting. Sometimes a short assignment is given as homework. The book that is required for the course is the main source for learning. Also the notes that were taken during the lectures and reviews. Each week 1,5 hours of lecture and 1,5 hours of seminar. There was no overlap with courses in Groningen I had over the last years. I found it a very good contribution to my study program, because it is also possible to do a HRM master after the bachelor International Business. Compulsory lectures/seminars, midterm and final exam, leading a review/discussion and some small assignments. Course: Economics of Transnational Corporations 1,5 hours of lecture and 1,5 hours of seminar. There a book in which you can find some background information, this book can be downloaded. During the lectures, the teacher gave a clear explanation of the contents of the course and used slides. During the seminars, either student presentations were

4 given on investments of transnational companies or articles that had to be read and analyzed were discussed. Lecture slides, student presentations, articles, a course-related game. 1,5 hours lecture and 1,5 hours seminar each week. This course has a small overlap with courses I had previously in Groningen. The course Foreign Direct Investments overlaps a little. However, this is a interesting course that learns you a lot about specific investments in different industries. Lectures and seminars are compulsory and very informative. The articles that you had to analyze are being discussed and the content is taught thoroughly. Course: Business Intelligence This course existed out of lectures that lasted 1,5 hours and 1,5 hours seminars. There is a book available in the library that contributes to this course. The terms that are used are clearly explained in this book. During the lecture, the teacher gave a clear introduction and explanation of the different concepts. During the seminar, we had to work on case assignments in which we had to deal with problems concerning business intelligence. Lectures, slides and both individual and group in-class assignments. Lectures and seminars (total of 3 hours a week), also some in-class assignments I think that this course contributes to the study program of International Business in a way that the student gets to know some programs with which he or she is able to solve problems concerning different fields of International Business.

5 There are lectures and seminars, each 1,5 hours a week. In the seminars, you have to work on different assignments. If you are not able to finish these in time, you get the opportunity to finish them at home. Course: Environmental Management Lectures and seminars both lasted 1,5 hours a week. There is no book for this course, only some articles are recommended to the students. The teacher was very clear in what he was telling and interesting to listen to. He used recent scandals and showed us videos in order to keep attention. Also, he let the students participate in group discussions actively. Lectures, seminars with group projects, articles, videos, short-tests, movie nights. Besides lectures and seminars that are given each week, also two or three movie nights are organized by the lecturer. By attending these nights, students can get bonus point on their final grades. Thereby, two short-test on the articles are being given to the students. They last 10 minutes and make it possible to obtain 10 points in total. I think this course truly contributes to the study program I have followed so far in Groningen. Two short-test on the articles, a group presentation and paper on environmental issues within an industry, mid-term and final exam. Course: Social Change in the Era of Globalization

6 In the lectures, several examples of social change are addressed. Students are required to read articles that belong to these forms of change and sociologist that explain their vision. The teacher is very enthusiastic and explains a lot in the lectures. Lectures and seminars in which both the lecturer and students give presentations on articles. A group presentation on an article, mid-term and final essay. Also videos and articles that are strongly related to the course are provided. This course belongs to the Faculty of Social Sciences, and does not specifically contribute a lot to our program in a business sense. However, it provides a different view on society than business courses do and can therefore be interesting. A mid-term, group presentation on an article and an individual essay on social change.