#15 Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) (2)

  Rotterdam, The Netherlands

 

CEMS Communications Committee Rotterdam

I believe that RSM is a great University to boost your CV, gaining academic expertise and profiting from great corporate events. I think that RSM is definitely manageable and not as bad and tough as everyone is saying. But I think one has to be aware of the fact that it is hard to get very good grades even though you worked very hard and the average is also always lower than I experienced at other Universities. In general, the education system in the Netherlands is hard and very high grades are almost impossible.

I enjoyed very much the life in Rotterdam, the area I lived in (Kralingen), the amazing sports opportunities (outside and gym), the very nice bars and restaurants at Witte de Withstraat, and the very convenient way to get to the airport and to Amsterdam by train. I also loved the biking culture and there is no way to live in Rotterdam without a bike. Everything is very easy and fast to reach with a bike and public transport is very expensive.

Courses

·        Mandatory Course Global Strategy (7,5 ECTS): You can choose between International Strategy and International Entrepreneurship, both courses are accepted for the mandatory Global Strategy course. I highly recommend International Entrepreneurship, less workload and better grades. Only one big group assignment, which counts 50% of your grade. The task is to work closely with a startup together on a topic concerning growth and international expansion and writing a teaching case and note and preparing a presentation. 10% participation and exam 40%. In the exam you get a case to which you have to apply the theory learned in class.

·        Strategy of Innovation (5 ECTS): A core course of the Innovation Master at RSM, very interesting course but demanding professor. You have several group assignments to do on the basis of cases and articles, which are all relevant for the exam. But, since each case and article is discussed in class extensively and you work on it in the group assignments, there is not much in terms of exam preparation, if you really read all the articles and participated during class. Good grades definitely possible, but requires a good understanding of the theories! But very interesting course.

·        Marketing Strategy Research (4 ECTS): Major of the Marketing Master and requires a very good level of statistics and SPSS. The course consists of 5 individual assignments and an exam both worth 50%. Out of the 5 individual assignments only the best 3 are counted. The professor explains in the 3 hours lecture new concepts in SPSS and in the afternoon in the lab session you get your individual assignment, which you have to fulfil within one week. In the lab session there is always a tutor, who helps you and answers questions regarding the assignment. Exam is based only on SPSS output, which you have to interpret. Would only recommend this course if you have fun and prior experience in working with SPSS.

·        Corporate Development: Strategies for Acquisition and Alliances (5,5 ECTS): A core course of the Strategy Master at RSM. The professor has a great level of expertise in this field, which you definitely get to profit from in class, where he uses a variety of real life cases of M&As and alliances. The course consists of 5 group assignments out of which 2 get randomly selected and thus 40% of your total grade is derived from. We also did not get any feedback on the assignments until the end, since it is a course of over 300 students and 45 groups. Hence, grading took a long time. You also have the potential to write a company assignment on a selected company and a potential alliance or M&A, which allows you to gain 0,25; 0,5; or 1 point higher of your final grade, which is a very nice option for a 5-page assignment to boost your grade. Exam very easy and very close to the group assignment you did during class. I really enjoyed the course and learned a lot, but he is very hard in giving good grades.

·        Building Healthy Organizations for Optimal Human Performance (5 ECTS): A course of the Human Resources Management Master at RSM. Similar to the “Positive Organizations” course at NOVA in terms of topics covered in class. Very nice and interesting professor, who has immense expertise in Psychology including topics, among others, like burn out.  You have one big group assignment (25%), several group assignments on a pass and fail basis (10%) and a so-called “self-reflection” assignment (20%), for which you get each week new work like tests, or exercises to do. In general, there are a variety of assignments to do for the course but very easy. Exam 45% on the basis of multiple-choice question, which are definitely not to underestimate. Good grades definitely possible.

Housing

I lived in Kralingen (close to the Metro station Voorschoterlaan), which is a beautiful area with a lot of families beautiful houses and also the area where most of the students live. It takes you with the bike 3-10 minutes to Uni, depending on where you are living. There is also everything you need in Kralingen many shops, supermarkets cafes and an amazing lake perfect for running.

Also a very cool and “in-place” to live is around Witte de Withstraat, where all the nice bars and restaurant are, basically the place to be when you plan to go out. But you need at least 20 min with the bike to Uni and of course it is a very lively area.

Living on the campus is also an option. The Hatta building is the student-housing place on the campus with very modern facilities. However, I believe it is very expensive and you are able to get way better rooms for a cheaper price outside Uni for example in Kralingen.

Searching for places is almost solely done via Facebook on pages like Commodity Market Rotterdam; Housing Rotterdam; Buying & Sell Rotterdam; Housing Rotterdam RSM. Beginning of each new semester you find an abundance of offers in these groups. But, good areas like Kralingen are very competitive and you really have to try to stand out in the application for a room and why you fit into the apartment.

 University

RSM offers an amazing modern gym with also a lot of courses every day, several squash courts and many more for 65 Euros for 5 months in total. When you get to RSM you should definitely get a gym card, it is the best offer you can get by far in Rotterdam for a gym contract.

There are many study possibilities like in the T building there is a library only for master students or the big library for everyone in the C building. I also liked to study in the Erasmus Paviljoen, since it is a very nice building and a good place to study.

The campus also offers a supermarket, 2 cafeterias with very nice and cheap food, Starbucks, and many more restaurants and snack bars in the so-called “Food Corner”. In the Erasmus Paviljoen is also a very nice restaurant and bar, where it is definitely recommendable to have lunch or dinner as well for fair prices.

Sightseeing

Holland offers a lot of places to see. Especially Amsterdam, The Hague, and Delft should be on the list. Everything is easy accessible by train. Also in Rotterdam there is a lot to see, like the brand new and one of the biggest indoor market halls in Europe.

You should definitely get the “Rotterdam Pass”, which allows you to get great offers in restaurants, several cinema visits for free, discounts on museum entrance or the famous harbor boat trips and many more. Officially you have to be registered for the Rotterdam Pass, which is difficult to realize when you rent a private apartment for only a semester, but usually there is still a way to get it.

Saturday and Tuesday there is the big market at Blaak and I highly recommend getting fruits and vegetables there since it way cheaper than in any supermarket and the quality is especially in the summer even better. Also for getting fresh fish, seafood and good cheese it is very recommendable.

I also recommend “Café Belmondo” between Blaak and Kralingen where usually students go to study offering free Wi-Fi, nice coffee and snacks. The café also offers a silent area or the usual public place for everyone.

 Visa

Since I am a European citizen I did not need a Visa.

Vaccines

Not necessary.

Work Projects

I did not do my work project at RSM. Generally RSM offers a variety of corporate events every week, usually published in the weekly CEMS Newsletter. I highly recommend staying updated regarding these opportunities, since there are really a variety of very good events you can participate in.

Surprises

Positive: Gym facility on the campus.

--

By Roxana Plötz, Class of 2014/2015

Term abroad - Fall 2014

Nationality: German

Country of residence: Germany

Home School: NOVA

Host School: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

# 12 Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM)

      Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Kralingsen Plas

      1. The Netherlands

Small country with a peculiar weather, get use to rain and sun in the same day and it is always windy. Your best friend will be the weather apps. 

The trains work very well therefore you can visit other cities in The Netherlands (Utrecht, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Delft, Den Haag, and others) and also visit Belgium ( Rotterdam – Brussels is around €20). Download the app 9292 or check the website 9292.nl to have access to train and trams time table in the entire country.

      2. Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a very nice city, with modern architecture and wonderful terraces to enjoy the sun. The city center is small, bike is the best transportation

2.1 ‘My’ best places

·         Kraligen Plas – to jogging, to have a drink or do a barbecue

·         Blaak Market – every Tuesday and Saturday

·         Cubic Houses – the icon of Rotterdam

·         Erasmus Bridge

·         Euromast 

Erasmus Bridge

2.2 Transports

Everyone has a bike, however don’t forget to buy a good locker otherwise you will get yours stolen. You can buy one in the fb groups like Rotterdam Commodity Market, by asking for it or replying to one of the innumerous posts. 

To use the tram you can buy in the central station or in other big stations an anonymous Ovi-chipkaard (check the website: https://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/aanvragen/), costs 7.5€ and you can put credit on it. It gives you cheaper travels otherwise you have to buy a single ticket that costs €3 (normally one travel with the ovi-chikaard costs around €1.5). 

2.3 Restaurants

As you may guess, The Netherlands is not the cheapest country, especially when compared to Portugal. Nevertheless the biggest difference is felt in the prices you pay in restaurants or clubs/bars. . 

You can find a huge variety of cuisines, but the classics are the Italian restaurants: VIP (Very Important Pizza), Happy Italy, Vapiano, and others. A cheap alternative is also enjoying the many fast food roulettes in the middle of the street. A especially note for the Rotterdam famous invention named Kapsalon that you can find in Kebab stands. For the ‘desert’, go near Blaak and try the poffertjes (mini pancakes) and also the typical cookie with sweet cream inside. 

2.4 Supermarkets

The biggest chain is Albert Heijn (very similar to the Pingo Doce in Portugal). However if you want cheaper supermarkets you have others like Aldi. But to buy fresh (and cheaper) vegetables and fruit go to the market every Tuesday and Saturday at Blaak, it is the best. 

2.5 Nightlife

Because we know study is not everything, it is crucial to talk a bit about the parties and the nightlife in this review. Despite from what you may think, we believe it is perfectly doable to combine the workload of the university with your mental sanity, meaning parties.

The key for your mental sanity to stay intact is to have a good CEMS Club, which you may be part of, if you want. This body is of outmost importance because they are the only ones to organize the social activities for you.

Concerning clubs/bars, there are a few interesting options in Rotterdam. In the end, you will spend the majority of your Tuesday’s nights in a club called BED, where ESN organized a weekly international party with very cheap beer.

Going in detail, the following activities were the ones we had during the semester:

·         Carnival in Cologne

·         Trip to Ireland (Dublin)

·         Cycling dinner

·         King’s day

·         Pub Crawl

·         Karaoke night

·         Marathon

·         Barbecue

·         Paintball

·         Several dinners and clubbing nights

Along with all this activities, we also had a few sustainable and corporate initiatives such as volunteering days with homeless or mental disable people and company presentations and tours.

A special note for King’s day - a ceremony that marks the birth of the King Willem-Alexander. This event happens every year on April 27th and is one of the most known parties in the Netherlands. It is a daily party, celebrated from morning till the time you can’t walk anymore and the craziest action takes place in Amsterdam. Definitely a most!

    King’s day in Amsterdam

      3. The University

Don’t be confused by the name of the faculty, “RSM”, vs the name of the university, “Erasmus”. Unlike what it may seem, the most famous university in Rotterdam is not named after the many students it receives in the Erasmus exchange program, rather by the Dutch Renaissance theologist Desiderius Erasmus. Within this huge university – with over 20,000 students – stands the business and management faculty, called RSM.

It is often heard by CEMS students throughout the world that NOVA and RSM are similar in that they are two of the most demanding universities of the program. Although I have not studied in all the others, from the 5 universities I attended throughout the past years, I have to admit that RSM is very good academically. 

I attended three courses: “Management Challenges in International Organizations” (the mandatory course), “Corporate Governance and Strategic Leadership” and “Climate Change Strategy Role Play”. They were all quite interesting, challenging and had excellent teachers. However, one of the only problems we faced at the university was the grading systems. Although their scale is from 1-10 (easy to convert into Nova’s scale of 1-20) it is extremely difficult to achieve their “cume laude” grade of 8.5, which is equivalent to Nova’s grade of 17.

3.1  International Business Projects (IBP)

Regarding the International Business Projects (IBP) at RSM there are around 12 different projects, grouped in teams of 4-5 students, typically from very different nationalities. The difference of RSM’s IBP system, to that of other schools, is that you do not get to select your favourite. You receive a survey, some months in advance, asking what subjects and industries you would prefer to work with, but you do not even know the companies/subjects until you get there. 

From the three of us who were in RSM last spring semester, we got IBP’s with Siemens (myself), CARE Nederland (Beatriz) and Berenschot (Miguel). I was extremely lucky because my group got to travel to Spain and the UK as part of the data collection process for our project and I had a great Academic and Company coach. However this is not always the case – feel free to contact us personally for more specific details regarding other projects.

Overall, I really enjoyed the university and I believe I speak for the three of us when I say that Rotterdam is a great choice of CEMS exchange city, particularly if you want a great “academic stamp” on your CV!

3.2 Campus

The University campus is amazing! Since 1 year ago they are improving the facilities and trying to increase the sustainability of the campus. As a result, it is super green, there are lakes everywhere and the atmosphere is cool. Some of the facilities include:

·         Starbucks

·         Sports Center (gym, football and tennis fields, classes…)

·         Several restaurants, including a totally renewed area.

·         Pub

·         Supermarket

In addition, if you are trying to find a place to live, I recommend you the U-building, also known as Hatta Building. This is a 15-floor building inside campus only for international students to live. It is cool because you have everything you need in a 5-minute walking distance from you and the environment is very friendly. Nevertheless I would try to ask in the CEMS Facebook group if someone is thinking about staying there because in my year we were we were 12 CEMS students living there and that obviously made the experience much better.

Erasmus University Campus

----

By Beatriz Gonçalves, Miguel Vale and Patricia Weigert,Class of 2013/2014

Term Abroad - Spring 2014