STUDENT REPORT

Student Report
Name of the University: WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management
Exchange semester: Fall 2013
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
All information about the exchange semester with the following online application was sent
by e-mail from WHU IRO within the month after official acceptance by BI. I received
detailed guiding through e-mail, filled in online application including housing application and
application for WHU e-mail and online platform access. Everything went smooth and IRO
was very fast with replaying or helping with any possible problems.
After my application had been approved, I received an official letter of acceptance on the
address I filled in in the online application.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
As a Norwegian citizen or EU citizen you do not need to apply for any visa. You just register
your official stay in Germany with local authorities. This is handled by IRO during your first
day at WHU.
If you are holding other citizenship, here is a list of countries which do/do not require visas to
Germany:
http://www.auswaertigesamt.de/EN/EinreiseUndAufenthalt/StaatenlisteVisumpflicht_node.html
Travel
I travelled with AirBerline from Oslo-Gardermoen till Cologne. Now there is also direct flight
through Norwegian Oslo-Koln/Bonn. I was so lucky that my study buddy picked me up with
car directly at the airport and brought me to Vallendar, where is WHU campus located.
However, there is a direct regional train going from the Koln/Bonn airport to Vallendar and
when you come there, you are basically 5 minutes walk from the campus.
I had a very complicated moving in, since I missed my morning flight and the other available
was at the evening. However, I contacted my study buddy and IRO and they fixed everything
for me (possibility to pick up my apartment keys later in the night, etc).
Housing
Since Vallendar is very small, the whole housing process is handled by the school housing
coordinator who is very helpful. Housing is offered on a first come first serve basis and
application for housing is a part of the general online application. You can choose from
different housing options and put their preferences (3x) and as soon as you submitted the
application you will be contact with housing offer. If you want to have a nice housing, I
advice you to do this as soon as possible because differences between housing standards are
very high. I personally applied very early and got a room in a very new housing complex
where most of the exchange people lived at Hhrer Strae 34 and I highly recommend this
complex. On the other hand, some late applicant got their apartments even outside the
Vallendar which is very complicated and inconvenient if you are not planning to bring a car to
Vallendar.
If you know some students at WHU already, it is also possible to rent private housing, a lot of
students is offering their apartment while they are on exchange themselves. Those once are

STUDENT REPORT
usually very big and nice apartment close to campus, however, in my opinion it is nicer and
more social to live with other exchange students.
Costs
Rent
Copies
Food
Transport
Traveling

350-550eur
10-50eur
100-200eur
10-100eur
0-100eur

Living in Germany is very cheap compared to Norway.

Rent price depend on location and with how many people you share your kitchen/bathroom.
Books are not required to buy at WHU, you just need to print the slides before every lecture.
Food depends on your preferences, but in general it is very cheap. Most of the student are
eating at local Menza where you can choose from 3-4meals every day costing approx. 2,504,00eur.
Culture and language
Everyone at the campus and in Vallendar in general speak English perfectly so there is no
problem with the language. Experiencing proper German culture you can through the trips
organized through IRO or during the travels.
Cultural and social effects from the exchange experience
Exchange semester at WHU is very international with more then 60 nationalities so an
exchange semester enriches you a lot with new perspectives and helps you to understand
different nationalities.
WHU is the best business German school giving a large amount of possibilities for exchange
student. They have company presentations almost every week, career days as well as online
career platform. After completing exchange you can become a member of WHU Alumni to
stay in touch with other graduates and gain valuable contacts.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
Vallendar, where the school is located is very small city so everything is about campus life.
School by itself is very small, all together with approx. 1000 students including bachelor,
master, MBA Phd, and ca 150 exchange students. Thus, everyone knows everyone by name,
so dont be surprised when someone greets you on the street.
Studies are divided into two quarters; therefore you have just 3-4weeks of lectures and then
directly exams. I thought about this system as very practical since you have intensive
workload and can remember lectures much better within such a short time.
Course registration
You are not able to register for the course in forehead, however, you can do it right at the
beginning online through mywhu.edu, to which you get access right after registration first
day. However, some courses are limited and thus registration works on the first come first
serve basis. I was lucky and I got all the courses I wanted. However, I recommend being
online at the time of the registration and having fast internet. You can add and drop your

STUDENT REPORT
courses within the first two weeks without any problems as soon as there is a space in the
other course. But I recommend visiting all the possible classes at the beginning because
already during the first lecture you might have to form study groups and be assigned for the
cases which might be problematic if you decide to join the course later.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:

29.8.
3.9.
4.12.
15.-28.10. & 10.-23.12.
Depends on your courses
Semester divided to quarters

Arrival
The school was very well prepared for the arrival. Everyone got assigned one person among
students and one from the academics who helped you with the orientation etc. Second day
after my arrival we had an introduction welcome ceremony for exchange students with dean,
whole IRO and housing office employees. Afterwards we were divided into the small groups
and were gotten campus tour. Following welcome week was full of teambuilding and tours
around the neighbourhood.
The International Office
IRO is amazing at WHU, they will help you with everything. You will get to know your
respective coordinator pretty well already through e-mails before arrival. At the beginning
they are very helpful and basically organizing everything for you. All the information are of
course in English and every employee at the campus speak perfectly English.
Promoting BI and Norway
We had a promotion of the countries in front of the all exchange and other students and then
organised welfare dinner where everyone cooked or brought their national food. In addition,
every Tuesday is a Tauschie Tuesday in Korova, Tauschie-how they call exchange students
at WHU, Korova-student pub at the campus. Every Tuesday it is a different topic and you
again promote your home country and sell food you prepared to other student for symbolic
price in order to raise money for a final Exchange/Tauschie party organised only by exchange
students.
Social activities
WHU is full of different actives in which exchange students can participate. For exchange
students it is as well created own exchange government, TGV, who organised mentioned
Tauschie Tuesdays at Korova and is in charge of the final Tauschie party. Also
Integration@Vallendar is another activity where you can participate as an organiser, volunteer
or participate in the program or different competitions. One of the biggest sport events in
Europe is also taking place in October in Vallendar, called Euromasters, and is organised by
WHU students. You can participate in organizing or as a player in the teams or just simply
share your floor/apartment with other incoming students from all around the world. I
definitely had a very busy semester with different kind of amazing activities.

III. ACADEMICS

STUDENT REPORT
In the classroom
All the classes at the master level are in English, there are some German classes just on the
bachelor level. Teaching style is very different comparing to BI, much interactive, live, you do
not need to buy any books just print the slides and follow the lectures and prepare for cases.
Practical or theoretical teaching depends on the classes, but comparing to the MSc at BI, MSc
at WHU is much practical and not as academic as at BI. I solved around 30-40 cases within
one semester at WHU and read maximum 10 academic articles while at BI is it vice versa.
Workload is approximately the same as at BI on the master level, however, everything
depends on you, how good grades you want to have. However, since there is a lot of group
works be prepared that you have to participate and spend a lot of your studying time with your
team, even though most of the German students do not expect exchange students to sit
14hours a day on the case as they do. Relationship with professors is more formal than at
BI, however, it is more open for discussions, everyone knows you by name, if you have some
difficulties you can still contact professor or his/her teaching assistant who are always willing
to help you.
Course materials
At WHU you are studying from PowerPoint slides or cases, no books are needed. All
materials are upload in forehead on mywhu (like itslearning) or distributed through e-mail.
Everything is in English.
Exams
Some exams are exactly based on the slides, some are more practical based on the cases and
group works. You can be evaluated on the class participation (which is really very important
since classes are very small compared to BI), group assignments, cases followed by
presentation and final exam. I personally did not have any mid-terms.
Library and technology
All the students have access to the library and study rooms. The study rooms have a very high
standard. However, the library is very small compared to BI. Most of the students are studying
together in the study rooms which are working on the first come first serve basic so you do
not need to book them in advance. Big advantage is that whole campus including library (and
gym as well) is open 24/7, so casing whole night is not a problem. Some computers
are provided in the library as well, but I recommend using your own, since they are a bit old
and slow.

Description of courses

STUDENT REPORT
Course
name

code

B2B
Negotiation
Calculation

&

Price
and

Master/
Bachelo
r
Master

Exam form

Prerequis
ites

Appro
ved as

Comments

No
exam,
evaluation
based on the
cases
100% written
60mins exam.

None

Core

None

Core

Amazing
practical
course, full of interactive
cases, negotiation and
live classes.
A lot of guest lectures,
practical examples of
failures and successes of
family business, live
discussions and analyses.
Very interesting course,
however
a
lot
of
workload, and needed
satisfactory
financial
background since topics
are very advanced.
The best course in my
semester
taught
by
American professor from
the Kellog MBA program
in US. Seats are limited
so you have to register
among the first. The
course is very intensive
within one week, teaching
every day for 4hours,
followed by the afternoon
group case solving and
written exam week after.
The course is very
practical, based on the
individual cases followed
by the group discussions.

Managing
the
Family Business

Master

Exchange Rates and

International
Finance

Master

50%
term
paper
50%
written 60mins
exam

Advanced
Finance

Core

Strategic
Intellectual Capital
Managmeent

Master

25% case and

class
participation,
75% written
90mins open
book exam

None

Core

Leading the Sales

Force

Master

None

Core

New
product
Development

Master

None

Core

Germany in Europe

Master

No
exam,
evaluation
based on the
cases
50% case and
article
presentation,
50% written
60mins exam
100% 60mins
written exam

None

Core

German
IV

Just for
exchang
e
students

German
language
placemen
t test

Electi
ves

Language

The course is open just

for the exchange students,
contains a lot of history
background and position
of Germany in Europe
together with economic
position within EU.
There is a selection
process for different
German level during the
first day.

STUDENT REPORT
Any other experiences/comments about your exchange experience?:
Exchange semester at WHU enriched my life with new inspiring people from all around the
world resulting in a vast number of strong relationships. Exceptional business knowledge
taught from different perspective brought to my future career new international dimension
supported by many unforgettable experiences from travels, teambuildings or just coffee
breaks between lectures! BIG thank you to WHU and BI for an AMAZING time!