Commerce | Tourism » USC Travel Report

Source: http://www.doksinet Travel Report: University of Southern California Fall 2016 421414 Source: http://www.doksinet 1. Preparing for the exchange Going to the United States for the exchange studies is a great decision, but it requires quite a lot of preparation. You need to fill out endless forms, apply for visa, visit the embassy and wait patiently for the process to run. Nevertheless, helpful people at the University of Southern California (most likely a Sean O’Connell, USC’s exchange coordinator) will guide you through the process with tons of long, repetitive emails that you should actually read carefully throughout. Although many of my exchange buddies apparently had questions on topics that were not covered in the emails, I managed to find myself in Los Angeles in august without any additional questions. All in all, the information provided by USC is very useful, just remember to do everything in time. If you have heard how Aalto sends tutors to pick exchange

students from Helsinki-Vantaa airport and you are expecting the same in LA, you are mistaken. Sean’s emails will suggest possible options for you to travel from LAX (Los Angeles international airport) to USC campus in South Central LA, but don’t expect to have a welcoming committee taking you to the campus. Also, unfortunately the student housing policies in Los Angeles seem to be rather stiff, so be prepared to spend the first night in LA somewhere else than in your student apartment. I would recommend using Uber from the airport, after all LA is basically the Uber capital of the world (please don’t quote me on this). Additionally, if you prefer privacy on your first night(s) in LA instead of hostel, and don’t want to pay the hotel prices, Airbnb is a decent option. First thing at the university for you will be once again running around the campus filling out different forms. This will be before the actual study period, in your orientation days The orientation also includes a

meeting with Sean and rest of the exchange group. Sean will go through all the basic things you need to know about studying and living in LA. Hollywood sign, Los Angeles Source: http://www.doksinet 2. Exchange studies The fall term starts in middle of august and lasts for 14 weeks, after which there is examination period. The longest holiday period in fall is around the thanksgiving, but it is only around five days including the weekend, so be aware of that if you plan a longer trip and have classes that require attendance. For example I had a presentation in my class around that period, but fortunately I managed to also fill my calendar with a trip to Vancouver and Seattle. Actually, to make most out of your exchange, try to use your calendar wisely. You cannot plan every trip you will make before you are in LA, but I strongly recommend you to plan your studies to be as flexible as possible. Studying on exchange at the USC Marshall School of Business requires you to choose at least

one business class (economics are separately). Otherwise, you can choose any class in the whole university, of course with the restrictions given by Aalto. I choose two finance classes from Marshall to support my major studies, but in addition I took a class from the USC’s widely recognized film school and a journalism class. In addition to the interesting topics covered in classes outside the business school, these classes can make your exchange experience unique and they might be a bit lighter on the workload compared to the business classes. USC Campus, Los Angeles Source: http://www.doksinet JOUR-380: Sports, Business and Media in Todays Society 4 credits (8 ECTS) Lecturer: Jeff Fellenzer Evaluation: Four mini-exams, two midterms This class seems to be the crowd favorite among the Aalto students. Professor Fellenzer’s weekly meetings are fun opportunity to hear what’s going on in sports in the USA. There’s every week a guest speaker with whom prof. Fellenzer discusses

different topics in sports business Although the class is held by the journalism school at the USC, it focuses very much in the business side of sports. You will be amazed to discover how big thing the college football is financially because of all the TV contracts. The lectures of this class last around three hours and are held in the evening, so that will be a evening scheduled out from your week every week of the semester. This can be a turn off if you want to have evening activities every week of the semester. Also, if you have no interest in sports and even if you do but American football, baseball and basketball are not your favorite sports to follow, I would recommend to consider skipping this class. Sure other sports (NHL, UFC etc) are touched in this class, but personally I had a bit too much of college football in this class. On the other hand, if you’re really into any sports and would like to work in that field after graduation, this class is for you. The exams and

mini-exams are short answer questions based on the topics discussed in the class and articles you need to read weekly (10 sports articles per week). Questions are really easy if you pay attention and take some notes in the class and read the articles, though some questions just require you to remember listed items. You can also earn extra credits by attending some small sports events like USC women’s soccer games etc. Don’t expect getting extra credits by going to see a Kings’ or Lakers’ game. All in all, this is a nice and quite easy class, but if you’re not really into American sports the evenings you spend in class room instead of going out with your friends exploring LA can feel a bit frustrating. Although, it’s an easy A, don’t take this class just because you’d like to have an easy class. Nevertheless, the class is very unique so I do recommend it just because of that Source: http://www.doksinet FBE-460: Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring 4 credits (8

ECTS) Lecturer: Lloyd Levitin Evaluation: Three mini-exams, final exam, one presentation This class really divides students. Before I attended this class I was wondering why it’s not full unlike most of the finance classes at USC. The reason apparently was the mixed opinions students had about the professor Levitin. Although he is an elderly person, hence a bit slower in his talking I really liked his style. To get the most out of this class you just need to pay attention to what he says He reads through the slides kind of monotonically, but he likes to add some really interesting points and cases he has faced during his long career. The class contents themselves were just what you would expect from M&A class, minus the quantitative part as it seems to be in almost every business class at the USC. The topics in the class cover process of M&A, valuation approaches, legal aspects and so on. In addition to the normal lectures, there were two guest lectures and a group project

presentations towards the end of semester. The group project was rather easy, just looking into a real M&A deal and analyzing it The grade of the class s based on the group project and multiple-choice exams. The class is not very hard and does not require weekly submissions of homework. Prof Levitin did warn us that he would give us negative marks if we didn’t do the weekly reading and got caught when he coldcalled the text book questions, but no homework was actually returned. For me this class was kind of special, because I got the idea for my bachelor’s thesis from this class. This also the reason why I would recommend you taking a finance class if you’re a finance student or a marketing class if you are a marketing student etc. when studying abroad The classes available on exchange but not in Aalto can really widen your perspectives of your major and help you to discover topics that might be interesting especially for you in the broad range of stuff that your major

covers. I would recommend this class to anyone who is interested in corporate finance and actually the whole corporate environment no matter what’s your major. As basically every professor I’ve met have said, you will very likely face mergers and acquisitions during your career. It’s good to have the basic knowledge of what’s going on behind the scenes. On the other hand, the class might not challenge you enough if that is what you’re looking for. All in all, it is very suitable for an exchange student due to the light workload. Source: http://www.doksinet FBE-459: Financial Derivatives 4 credits (8 ECTS) Lecturer: Mick Swartz Evaluation: Two midterms, one presentation This was the other finance class I took at the USC. Just like with the M&A class, this class had a professor that divided students’ opinions. Again, personally I liked professor Swartz’ style, it was very suitable for an exchange student. The attendance was not recorded in the class and there were no

homework at all. The class did include a group project with a small investment game where we tried out how derivatives work, but to be honest the group project was not well organized and planned through. Although at the end we did have to present our results and explain what had happened and what did we learn, there was no quantitative analysis on the positions we took. For me, the biggest issue with the class was the lack of quantitative approach, after all it is a derivatives class, the name itself suggests it should be numbers-related. But then again, I gained a basic understanding of ideas behind different instruments and strategies implemented with derivatives. Prof Swartz’ teaching style was what one might call not so pedagogical The two hour lectures consisted of one hour of Prof. Swartz seemingly discussing unrelated recent topics in world economics and business and the second hour was often him rushing through the topics in slides and text book. If you will take this class,

I would still recommend you to listen the things Prof Swartz has to say. They seem unrelated but actually they usually had some, yet unclear, relation to the derivatives topic discussed. After all, all the derivatives are driven by market’s movements The workload in the class was very low. In addition to the group project there were two multiplechoice midterms based on which you get your grade If you are looking for a seriously quantitatively oriented derivatives class where you derive Black and Scholes formula look elsewhere. Consider this class more like an introduction class to derivatives that is very suitable for exchange student with little experience with financial derivatives. At least I did, and I was happy with my decision. Source: http://www.doksinet CTCS-466: Theatrical Film Symposium 4 credits (8 ECTS) Lecturer: Leonard Maltin Evaluation: Two midterm exams, one essay Studying abroad in Los Angeles and so close to Hollywood, I felt obliged to take a film class.

Theatrical Film Symposium is the definition of why you should take unique classes when studying abroad. The course consists of weekly nights at the campus’ movie theater, two midterms based on discussions in the lectures and reading, and an essay on an additional film you need to watch. Each session started with Professor Maltin’s monologue on something about movie and the film industry history followed by some epic short film from Prof. Maltin’s personal collection After the short movie we would have a break after which we watched a feature film before its release(!!!) followed by someone from the production discussing the movie and other things with Prof Maltin. The guest speakers in the class were top tier professionals in the movie industry. Producers from major film companies, directors and even some actors came to discuss the new movie we had just watched. With Prof Maltin’s experienced approach in interviewing film makers the discussions got very interesting and they

provided a true insight into the movie industry. Discussed topics were financing a movie, building the set, hiring actors etc. At least for a movie fan like me this class was the most fun class I have taken while studying in university. The rules in the class were very strict, because of the new movies. All the electronic devices were forbidden and sometimes they would even have security guards with night vision goggles making sure during the movie that no one was recording it. Nevertheless, it was possible to ask a permission to bring a friend with you to the class. The rules were of course same for the friend as well, and they would have to be there for the whole duration of the class. To pass the class you should really take good notes from the discussions since Prof. Maltin records every lecture and the questions in the exam are based on the discussions with some details. Also, the class takes place in Thursday night ending at 11 pm (that’s the party night at USC) so if you’d

prefer attending all the parties this class can mess it up for you (though partying is possible even if you arrive late!). I would definitely recommend this class to anyone and everyone There is also a similar class on TV shows that I heard is very good as well. Just don’t miss your opportunity to take most of the USC experience. Source: http://www.doksinet 3. Free time and other information Los Angeles is huge. This results in that there’s endless amount of things you can do and experience in LA. In addition there are many places you can travel for weekend trips around North America Certainly, there is something for everyone in Los Angeles. And especially there’s sun During my stay it rained properly once in LA, and that was the day I left. So if you enjoy sun, LA is the right place to go. LA is not the cheapest exchange destination. Already before you get there, you will have to pay for visa applications and language test. The student housing is easily double the amount you

pay in Finland and that’s for a shared room apartment. You will have to pay for the health insurance and possibly books. There is no Kela supporting your meals so be prepared to pay $5 - $10 for lunch around campus. But then again, LA has so much to offer that it might just be worth it For me, this was invaluable experience and I don’t regret anything. You will meet a lot of new people with a variety of different backgrounds. LA is definitely a place where cultures mix and evolve. Most likely you will primarily make friends with other exchange students, since you’re all in a new situation and environment. Nevertheless, if you’re going on exchange to USC to have the real American college experience it is possible as well. Around 30% of USC students are international, so you will fit in the mix for the exchange semester without problems. 4. Final Comments Going on exchange abroad is the best decision you can make while studying at the university. For me, going to Los Angeles and

to USC felt like the right option and I don’t regret it. My best advice for you is that you concentrate on the freedom and spontaneous opportunities you will have during the exchange. After all this very unique time of your life And by the way, if you really enjoy it in the USA, USC will provide you an extended visa for the next semester if you manage to find an internship there. Cheers and fight on! 421414