University: Brock University

City: St Catherines

Country: Canada

Continent: North America

Field of study: Business Administration, Economics

Study type: semester abroad

I spent a semester abroad at Brock University from the end of August 2018 to the end of April 2019, but I did two terms, so to speak. The Fall Term ran from September to December, and the Winter Term followed from January to April. Check ehuacom.com to see scholarships in Germany.

I decided to go abroad as a freemover because my German university didn’t offer Canada, and it was just very suitable because you get great support from MicroEdu. After a short consideration, I decided on the Brock because of its great location: right next to the USA, close to Toronto etc., so it’s an advantage for traveling in between or afterwards.

Preparation and accommodation

The application process was very easy and I was soon accepted. I decided to arrive two weeks early and look for a room locally, which I also highly recommend. I had simply rented an Airbnb in a good location (Glenridge/Glendale) and searched from there. I had found a few rooms (there is a group on Facebook for this or Kijiji), but in the end I decided to stay in my Airbnb, which my landlady offered me at a great price: CAD 450.

I would really recommend everyone to live around the Glenridge/Glendale intersection (you’ll find it quickly on the map) or downtown St. Catharines. Anything further away is just too cumbersome, believe me. Buses stop running after about 11: 30pm, and those who live between Glenridge/Glendale and Downtown simply have the best bus connections, making things much easier.

I would advise against living in a hall of residence at the university, simply because the price-performance ratio is bad. Some didn’t even have a kitchen and paid 100-200 euros more. You’ll find a cozier room down the road on Glenridge, and like I said, a cheaper one. Many students also live in Thorold, the disadvantage is that the bus connections are sometimes not optimal.

Meals

Yes, you may have read from many reports that the groceries are more expensive, I can only partially confirm this. Cold cuts are really expensive, but if you buy cheap, you don’t spend too much and you can still eat healthy. It becomes problematic if you eat at the university during the day, because it is not only overpriced, but unfortunately also unhealthy in many cases. You spend a lot of money there because there is simply a lot on offer. Whether Starbucks, Tim Hortons, sushi or burgers, you will find almost everything at the Brock.

Celebrate

I had a lot of fun partying at St. Catharines. St. Catharines has a small but kinda cool downtown with a few clubs and bars, with the right people you can have really good nights there. The Wednesday evenings at Moose & Goose in Thorold are also very popular and can only be recommended.

Studies

I took three courses per term:

Case term:

• FNCE 3P93 Corporate Finance II
• ECON 3P06 Industrial Organization
• MGMT 3P98 International Business

I think Corporate Finance II is easy to do, not too complicated, just sit down and do the math. There were only two small tests, then a midterm and a final. So not too much effort.

Industrial organization was by far the easiest subject. Very simple tests and exams, no exams, and a very sweet teacher.

International Business was my worst subject. You have a midterm, a final, and a group work. The problem is that the exams consist of difficult multiple choice questions. But the lecturer takes this out: test bench. If you guys have this test bank questions, things are looking good. Otherwise rather not

Winter term:

• FNCE 4P05 International Finance
• FNCE 3P95 Personal Financial Planning
• ECON 4P16 International Money & Finance

In terms of teaching, international finance was a rather sluggish subject. The content was interesting, but unfortunately the lecturer designed the lectures rather poorly. Grading consisted of two midterms, a group work, and a final. So not too much effort.

Personal Financial Planning was a great subject! Great lecturer and very interesting content. To recommend. Consisted of tests, exams (also 70% test bank) and a group project.

ECON 4P16 International Money & Finance was the successor subject to Industrial Orga with the same lecturer and was similarly simple.

Overall I was lucky with my fan. Four subjects per term would also have been feasible, from five it might be a bit too much for you, since you are also there for free time and to do something with friends.

I would also not recommend you to buy all the books for the subjects directly. Sometimes you don’t really need it, or you can get it used (Facebook Group Brock Book Exchange) or cheaper online. The prices for the books are sometimes abnormally expensive. Don’t spend so much. See if you find it needed.

I hope my experience report was helpful and hope that you now have a better idea.