Asia Term core courses
The core courses combine theoretical approaches with practical experiences in the Asian context. Much emphasis is put on practical knowledge and in-depth experiences. Classroom lectures are complemented with company visits and guest lectures by senior managers. HSG professors and lecturers teach the Asia Term core courses and most of them are fully integrated into SMU's curriculum.
Further elective courses
In addition, St.Gallen students can select further elective courses. Beside the Finance course that is comparable to the Finance course in St.Gallen (core studies for Business Administration), the students can attend courses from SMU's curriculum. SMU professors teach these courses and many of them are easily credited in St.Gallen. Each school in SMU offers a variety of courses that Asia Term students can select:
Please note that the courses and its content are subject to change and can only be confirmed nearer to the start of the Asia Term. Further, the courses shown on our website are only a selection of courses and the full range of courses offered by SMU can be found here.
Click here for the course overview.
Rules to choose Asia Term courses
As part of the Asia Term, students have to take a minimum of four courses (21 ECTS). Beside the two mandatory courses - Business Consulting and Business Development in Asia - the students have to choose at least two elective courses. The students can take at most four elective courses.
The first elective per School at SMU can be guaranteed, any additional elective is subject to approval by the respective School at SMU. In general, the number of seats per Elective are limited, and hence there is no guarantee that a specific Elective can be chosen (the only exception to this rule are the course “Finance” and “Business Study Mission”, which are offered independently of any School at SMU, and are guaranteed for all Asia Term Participants). Students can only participate in one Business Study Mission. Preferences can be submitted during the course selection. If the capacity of one Business Study Mission is exceeded, allocation of seats will be random (draw by lot).
With regard to the workload, the Asia Term administration recommends students to take five courses that is the average number of courses former Asia Term students took. Students can expect to have about the same workload for a course as in St.Gallen; however, both universities significantly differ in how the workload is distributed over the semester. Compared to St.Gallen, the workload at SMU is significantly higher during the semester (e.g. weekly assignments, mid-term exams, project works and group presentations) but lower after the semester (final exams are in the last two weeks of the semester).
The rules to choose the courses are summarized in the following table:
Mandatory courses (21 ECTS)
|
Selection of elective courses
|
Business Consulting (6ECTS)
|
At most 4 electives (2 to 3 recommended)
|
Business Development in Asia (3 ECTS)
|
The first elective per School at SMU can be guaranteed, any additional elective is subject to approval by the respective School at SMU.
|
2 Elective Courses
(12 ECTS)
|
|
Course selection for the Asia Term will take place in March of the respective year. Having your course preferences early on helps us to secure your seats in the courses and allows SMU to plan ahead. Smaller changes are still possible until the final course registration end of June.