University: Saint Mary’s University

City: Halifax

Country: Canada

Continent: North America

Field of study: business administration

Study type: semester abroad

I can recommend the SMU in Halifax without any hesitation. I don’t know how it is at other universities, but here in Siegen the personal factor is close to zero. There is hardly a professor in the economics department who really cares about the interests of the students. Lectures take place just in the basic course to several hundred students in cpl. overcrowded lecture halls. I have never experienced anything like this at SMU. The lecturers were all very friendly, incredibly hard-working and always approachable. In some cases it even went so far that the phone number of the professor’s wife was given because he was on an excursion for 3 days and was therefore unavailable. Emails were usually answered within 24 hours and always very nice and personal. Check jibin123.com to see 7 best cities to study in Japan.

One week before the start of the university, there was an orientation week especially for foreign students, which was organized and carried out by other foreign students.
Topics: Where does who come from, where is the best place to shop, where is what going on, what is allowed – what is not (recited by a police officer who could easily have become an actor), what is to be observed at the university, which facilities there is (particularly to mention the very well-equipped fitness studio, which can be used free of charge) and and and.
In general, everything is very well maintained and at a level that some German universities might dream of. (PCs new, equipped with TFTs, etc.) When I think about what we have standing around in the library for uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

The lectures themselves are more like our school lessons. Of course you can just get up and leave here if you feel like it, but that happens relatively rarely. On the one hand, this may be due to the tuition fees, which are twice as high for foreign students as for Canadians (foreigners $1,000 per course), but on the other hand, it is also due to the really well designed classes. How often do you sit with us and only hear bla bla bla interest rate swap bla bla bla retrogard to bla bla bla… It’s different here. You don’t try to confuse the students by introducing additional foreign words, complicated clauses and fragments of theory, but explain, give five examples and explain again. Studies that are better at learning from books at home can also do well here. This may also be because there is usually homework. These are handed in and graded. Sounds annoying, but is very helpful. You always stay on the ball and are forced to work through the material again. The overall grade is usually made up of the homework that has been handed in, the intermediate exams and the final exam. But it can also be the case that you do seminar papers, get them graded and don’t have to write a single exam. The professors are completely free.

That’s it. All of this is of course my subjective impression. I attended 3 lectures and I have to say that’s enough. You shouldn’t necessarily expect more in the first semester. All the experiences and numbers relate only to the economics branch. Here the SMU is also what we would like to become an elite university one day. Anyone looking for an English-speaking university abroad and studying business administration should be happy here.