Introduction
Host university: Boston University – Metropolitan College
Home university: European University of Applied Sciences Rhein / Erft
Location: Boston, USA
Period: Spring semester 2010, 08.01. – May 19, 2010
Department: Business / Management
Scholarship type: DAAD semester scholarship
Introduction
I completed a five-month study abroad program in “Business and Management” at the Metropolitan College (MET) of Boston University (BU). As accommodation, I chose the BU’s dormitory. During my study stay in the USA, I was supported by the DAAD in the form of a “Semester stay for students” scholarship. In the following you can read something about the city, my studies and life at the BU. Finally, I will give you some hints and tips. Get more student review on Boston University on jibin123.
Application
The application for the BU was done by “MicroEDU.com”. This support was top notch. Inquiries were answered extremely quickly. The very competent team showed a great interest in making the semester as uncomplicated as possible for your “clients”. The service was completely free. I recommend all interested parties to use this service.
Language test
The necessary TOEFL test was “passable” with appropriate preparation (when I bought a TOEFL practice DVD: https://www.de.etseurope.org/store/material_info.php?products_id=4410). Here I can only recommend finding fellow students who also have to take the test so that you can share the costs. Although I assessed my foreign language proficiency as average in advance, I had to realize that without preparation I probably would not have passed the minimum requirements. The advantage of the CD is that you can carry out a test that is true to the original. The most complicated thing about the real TOEFL was the time pressure and the switch from German to American keyboard in the test center (Frankfurt), since the Internet sheets are loaded from a server in America.
The study location Boston – a city of superlatives…
If you search the official website “searchboston.com”, you will find 54 different educational institutions in Boston and the surrounding area after the search term “Colleges & Universities”. 800,000 students study at New England universities.
With the well-known universities of Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Yale, Brown and Dartmouth, New England is considered the cradle of American innovation, technology and research. 31,500 students study at the BU alone.
Because of the student environment at the BU in the heart of Boston, I felt very comfortable. Numerous cultures, different people and many young students give Boston a special flair that enriched my stay in the USA and expanded my life experience.
The people of Boston pride themselves on their history and culture. The city was founded in 1620 and initiated decisive impulses that decisively shaped American history. During my stay, I traced the wars of freedom for Concord and Lexington, visited museums and learned a great deal about American history. This enabled me to better understand and appreciate the “customs” and attitudes as well as the wisdom of the Americans.
Boston is beautiful and combines different traits. With its Downtown Area, the Italian Quarter in the North End, or China Town to the beautiful area of Boston Common or Beacon Hill with the idyllic brick houses, to name just a few highlights, Boston is a city with indescribable facets and a city in which I could spend another phase of my life. There is so much to discover in Boston that you never got bored during your break from studying.
Boston University – the fourth largest private university in the United States
In the “America’s Best Colleges Guide 2008” of the US News & World Report, Boston University ranks 57th among all universities in the USA offering bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
The MET study program is very extensive, specially designed for working people and includes numerous fields of study, such as management, physics, philosophy or accounting, etc. All courses can be found on the following website: http://www.bu.edu/met/academic_courses /undergraduate_courses/index.html
Since the MET is offered as a part-time course, all courses are held in the afternoon or evening. The professors were always on time. All lessons were carried out as planned.
The organization of the study was first class. The very friendly and service-oriented MET team distributed a starter package with all the necessary information for the orientation week. Inquiries were always answered quickly. Many topics, such as “waiver”, course selection, etc. could also be organized or changed on site. Therefore, there is no strong pressure to act in advance in this regard. Even if you notice in the first two weeks that a professor is not linguistically understandable or you have imagined something else under the course name, you could change very easily and without problems.
However, you also have to know that compared to German study requirements, the demands and requirements of the MET are lower. The MET’s study program is hardly accepted by Americans. That is why the courses consist almost entirely of foreigners. The claim is therefore kept lower. Many fellow students were not that well trained, which led to delays in the course of the class. The English proficiency also varied enormously, so that the professors sometimes had difficulties finding a “happy medium”.
Introduction to American Management (Mr. Berman)
The “Introduction to American Management” course is compulsory for all international students. But you have to know that this course has nothing in common with management or academic studies. Still, the course was interesting because you learned about Boston and got a corresponding overview of American culture, the language and the Boston area. I also found the “field trips” exciting and instructive. Ultimately, in my opinion, this course was unnecessary as a semester course under the aspect of studies. This should be integrated into the orientation week. The professor himself was friendly and tried to empathize with the students. However, he lacked methodological competence and didactic knowledge. This course has no academic claim.
In the following I would like to assess the courses that I could choose myself. Before making your selection, I can only recommend reading some experience reports and reviews on the website “ratemyprofessor.com”. Of course, the assessments are subjective, but in principle all assessments of the professors correspond to my experiences.
Project Management (Prof. Cormier)
This course was fine. I could learn a lot. The professor is on the governing body of the MET. Accordingly, his claim is higher. Nonetheless, my class environment wasn’t very good, so he got distracted and repeated a lot. If you already have previous project management knowledge, you should not choose this course.
Marketing Communication (Prof. Cahaly)
The syllabus was very promising. I was very motivated for this course as I was very interested in American marketing. Unfortunately, it turned out in the course of the class that the professor had no authority and only read the content aloud. Here, too, the level of difficulty was very low for me. I was disappointed and cannot recommend this course. The “field trip” to a marketing agency was first class and very instructive.
Business Strategy (Prof. Silvia)
Business Strategy, taught by Prof. Silvia, was by far the best course in my studies. The professor is extremely competent, motivated, committed and knows how to empathize with his students. I was just amazed. Anyone striving for a management position as their professional goal should not do without this course in their curriculum. The syllabus is very good, the book is academic and prepared with current case studies. Mr. Silvia planned the course in detail from start to finish. His lesson preparations were always seamless. The appearance of the professor, his charisma, his curriculum vitae and his experience make this course an experience that I would not want to miss. I will certainly be able to use the knowledge I have gained in my professional future. The course is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. I had to think strategically and develop new ideas in the context of case studies from everyday life in different companies such as Siemens, Tata Group or Walmart. Mr. Silvia always gave very professional feedback and his grading is transparent. This course contributed significantly to the success of the course. The necessary work intensity covered the deficits of the other courses.
In summary, I can say that the studies at the BU were good. I would return for further studies, provided that I am enrolled in the School of Management. Unfortunately, the BU does not currently offer this option for international semester students.
