Business School Budapest, Hungary

We had barely arrived in Budapest and settled in when classes started. As in most European countries classes start in September instead of in October – as in Germany. That is why we had a very short summer break this year, but for that reason we will have an entire four months off next year!

The Budapest Business School is the second oldest business school in the world. It is divided into the three faculties “Commerce, Catering and Tourism”, “International Management and Business Studies” and “Finance and Accounting”. There are about 17 000 students in total from over 80 countries, there are study programmes in Hungarian, English, German and even French. We study at the faculty “International Management and Business Studies”. The faculty is about 40km outside of Budapest. This might sound a bit discouraging, but getting there is no problem at all thanks to very good public transportation.

Because of Covid (interestingly the University is the only place where you can find Covid-restrictions) this semester is held in a hybrid format. Every lecture is streamed (+recorded) and you can choose whether you want to attend in presence or online. Generally, the University in Hungary is structured very differently than in Germany. I would argue that the system is closer to school than University.

And with that I mean the following: very small classes, sometimes homework, mandatory presence in so called seminars, extra points for active participation, etc. For example, in one class we have an exam every three weeks. A bit crazy, isn’t i