International Summer School has Record Number of Students in Zagreb

Great summer entrepreneurial and academic story from the Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM). The summer semester at ZSEM attracted over 70 students from around the world, including a student with Croatian roots…

The Zagreb School of Economics and Management has for the eighth consecutive year held the International Summer School program from the 29th of June to the 17th of July 2015, with a record number of international students attending, coming from 14 different countries (USA, Canada, Great Britain, Mexico; Russia, China, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Portugal the Netherlands, France, Serbia and Ukraine).

Over 70 international students came to Zagreb from around the world, many of whom were from ZSEM’s partner universities with which the school cooperates through its international exchange program.

Javier Ornelas, 22, from the Universidad Panamericana (Mexico) commented on ZSEM’s excellence by saying ‘’the academic level in ZSEM its really good and competitive’’.

Speaking on the practical knowledge that can be acquired through this program, Teresa Browning, 21, from the University of Miami (USA) said ‘’At ZSEM I learned a lot of useful and practical information in my marketing class. I can take what I’ve learned and apply it to my life in the future”.

The most popular courses this year were Corporate Finance, International Management, E-marketing and Entrepreneurship. Matea Čubela, a Croat from John Carroll University in the USA, chose to take International Management.

This young woman, 18 years of age, followed in her sibling’s footsteps by deciding to spend part of her summer holidays in Croatia in an equally rewarding academic social environment at ZSEM’s International Summer School. Although she has visited family in Croatia many times, ‘’This experience was different’’, she said. ‘’I had the opportunity to see Croatia from a different perspective”.

Aside from the academic excellence by which ZSEM is recognized, students chose to come to Croatia for another reason as well–tourism. As part of the program, students took a Croatian Studies course which included site visits in Zagreb to the Croatian Parliament, Croatian Chamber of Economy, as well as weekend excursions to Zadar, the Croatian Zagorje, and the Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Sharing her experience on these trips, Mahdia Abidi, 20, from Laurentian University (Canada), said ‘’taking these trips was a nice way to learn more about Croatia’’. The Plitvice Lakes National Park seemed to ‘wow’ students the most.

Sixuan Chen, 20, from ZSEM’s partner Nanyang Technological University in Singapore commented the trip to the Lakes saying: ‘’Plitvice Lakes National Park is the most beautiful lake I have ever visited! Like a fairyland’’.

Management Students certainly wouldn’t have applauded the travel element of the program nearly as much without the personal connections they made during these trips. Caitlin Donald, 20, from Queensland University of Technology (Australia) said ‘’The summer school trips were so much fun and another way to spend more time building friendships while exploring some of what Croatia has to offer’’.

The International Summer School program took root with around 15 students and has grown from year to year, resulting in a huge success this year with over 70 international students.

When asked what has contributed to this success, the program’s coordinator, Ana Kuštrak Korper, noted ZSEM’s constant efforts in cooperating with its partner universities; the school’s high international standard of quality in education confirmed by its AACSB accreditation; its international orientation and its programs in English. ZSEM is in the top 5% of business schools in the world and has become the best international business school in Southeastern Europe.