University: Brock University

City: St Catherines

Country: Canada

Continent: North America

Field of study: business administration

Study type: semester abroad

For preparation

I started preparing six months before arrival. MicroEdu supported me 100% on this point. Thanks again for that. MicroEdu took care of all the administration. They sent me the documents I was supposed to fill out and took care of communication with the host university. The whole process went smoothly and I am very satisfied. If I plan another semester abroad, I will definitely do it again with MicroEdu. Check act-test-centers.com to see study opportunities in Austria.

To study

The most important thing is that the finances should be settled and you should definitely pay attention to the exchange rate (you can save up to €500 there). Then you have to deal with the choice of course. Depending on your home university and the number of courses, this can be difficult, so you should start choosing courses as soon as the courses offered are online. (Course selection, lecture plans, etc. all take place online). If you have any questions, you can also contact MicroEdu here.

Accommodation should be the least of your problems. You can choose between on-campus and off-campus. If you want to get in touch with many local and international students, I recommend an on-campus student residence. If you’re more of the quiet type and don’t want to party much and concentrate more on the preparation and follow-up of the courses, then you should look for something off-campus.

I myself lived off-campus right on the beach, which is highly recommended, but more on that later. What can be said about on-campus living is:

• The student dormitories are given preferentially to greenhorns and internationals. Greenhorns in Canada are mostly newcomers to Canada and tend to be young (16-18), so partying is the order of the day. The local fire brigade often came to visit (regardless of the time of day…).

The financial

In Canada, you pay per course, which again vary in price. I chose business courses, which are among the most expensive anyway. In total I took four courses and one course cost between 1,700 and 2,400 CAD. In addition, there are still fairly high registration fees, compulsory insurance, the bus ticket and everything that comes with it (accommodation, flight, food, etc.). In the end I ended up with around 14,000 CAD (this can of course vary depending on your lifestyle). My meals have essentially been limited to the simplest and cheapest. Groceries in Canada are incredibly expensive, so if you’re looking for healthy, home-cooked meals…then pack a little more money.

The accommodation

I booked my accommodation via AirBnB. My accommodation was clean and in a great location. It took me 20 seconds to the beach, 20 seconds to an Irish pub, 20 seconds to the bus stop, 20 seconds to a morning coffee, and 20 seconds to Tim Hortons (if you choose the Brock, I’m sure you will at one point or another see a Tim Hortons ). The only downside was the way to the university (about 40 minutes by bus, 15 minutes by car). The nearest supermarket was also only 4 stops away. For more details about the accommodation you can email me.

The courses

As mentioned, I chose four courses: Marketing, Finance, Organizational Behavior, and Operations Research.

I’ll start with marketing. I had a great lecturer, the content was interesting, the corrections were quick and the exams were comparatively fair. You had to write a so-called pretest every week (i.e. a test on the material in the next lecture). This served as preparation and was usually not really difficult. Everything is online again here. Furthermore, you had to prepare a group work every week. At the end of each lecture, a group of 4-5 people got together and the results were compiled. Of course, all of this is evaluated and included in the final grade.

Finance: If I had to give a grade, it would be a straight 6! The content was boring, the lecturer was a disaster and the exams were unfair and an absolute cheek! I can only advise against it! PS I think the lecturer herself had no idea, because NOTHING was explained!

OB: Organizational Behavior was sometimes more, sometimes less interesting. Overall, however, I do not regret having chosen this course. The course was very practical and the lecturer was top notch. Grading was fine. More worthwhile than finance.

Operations Research: Operations Research, like Finance, was a stopgap. It was a constant back and forth with the home school and with Brock to find the necessary number of courses. That’s why I would give it a 4-. For the same reasons as for finance, except that the exams were easy.

(Question 1: What is the name of the course? Question 2: When do the lectures take place?)

The University

Not bad per se. The university has its own supermarket, a large swimming pool, several sports halls, a fitness studio, an indoor running track, football fields, soccer fields and and and… so you can find everything you need there. The sports offers are also the only thing that is free.

In addition, there are always attractions for international students, such as wine tasting at Niagara Falls or badminton tournaments. So you won’t get bored.

I am happy to offer to answer questions from other interested parties. So if anyone has any questions, just send a short email with the contact details. I’ll get in touch with that person as soon as possible.