Management and Finance at SGH: Everything they won’t tell you

How many people drop out before the end of the first year?

It is estimated that, depending on the year, from 15% to even 25% of students do not transfer to the second year of studies in the regular mode. The most common reason is not a lack of knowledge, but the accumulation of a deficit of ECTS credits exceeding the permissible limits. These people are either removed from the list of students or forced to repeat the semester, which is associated with significant financial fees paid to the dean’s office.

The most difficult subjects in Management and Finance

Below we present a list of “subjects-learners” that are the biggest barrier in the course of studies at SGH.

Microeconomics (I and II) – Why does it generate the highest screening?

Microeconomics is the foundation on which both Finance and Management are based. This subject is coordinated by the department, which imposes a uniform, extremely difficult exam format.

• Building: Exams are usually held in the Main Building (162 Niepodległości Avenue), in the Parachute Auditorium or in Building G.
• Exam format: Multiple-choice test with negative points for wrong answers. This requires not only knowledge from the student, but also the ability to calculate risk. Questions include, m.in, consumer theory, production optimization, and market mechanisms under monopoly and oligopoly conditions.
• Bottleneck: Graphical interpretation of economic models and computational tasks using derivatives.
• Amendment rules: A revision session in September (the so-called September campaign) is the only chance to avoid the condition.
• Kindergarten is rare and is only available to people with the highest scores in partial colloquia.

Mathematics – Foundation and Barrier in Building C

Mathematics at SGH is not just a repetition of material from high school. This is an advanced course in mathematical analysis and linear algebra.

• Location: Classes take place mainly in the Building (128 Niepodległości Avenue).
• Exam format: Open tasks requiring a precise record of the course of reasoning. An accounting error at the beginning of a task often results in the loss of all points for a given problem.
• Bottleneck: Matrices, denoted integrals and optimization of functions of many variables (Kuhn-Tucker conditions).
• Amendment rules: The student has two approaches in the session. Failure to pass the second deadline forces an entry in the USOS about the need to repeat the subject.

Descriptive and Mathematical Statistics – Fear in the W Building

A key subject for data analysts and financiers, conducted with great theoretical rigor.

• Building: It is often carried out in Building W (8 Waryńskiego Street).
• Exam format: A combination of a theoretical test and complex computational tasks. Proficiency in the use of statistical tables is required.
• Bottleneck: Verification of statistical hypotheses and correlation analysis. The student must understand the logic of test selection, and not just substitute data for formulas.
• Amendment rules: The very low pass rate on the first term makes the retake session in statistics the busiest event in the academic calendar.

Econometrics – Data analysis in practice

The subject is considered one of the most difficult in the higher semesters of Finance.

• Location: Computer rooms in Building M (6/8 Madalińskiego Street) or in the Main Building.
• Exam format: Defense of an econometric project (creating a model on real data) and a written exam in modeling theory.
• Bottleneck: Interpretation of test results (e.g. Durbin-Watson test) and ability to detect heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation of a random component.
• Amendment rules: Failure to pass the design part makes it impossible to take the final exam, which is tantamount to a condition.

Financial Accounting – Business Language

For students of Management, this subject can be an insurmountable barrier due to the strict rules of accounting records.

• Building: Main Building, auditorium halls (e.g. Auditorium I or Auditorium VII).
• Exam format: Settling the so-called “big task”, i.e. going through the entire accounting cycle from the opening balance sheet, through business operations, to the profit and loss account.
• Bottleneck: Closing accounts and correctly recognizing deferred tax and accruals of expenses.
• Revision Policy: The course coordinator usually offers one retake date. A balance sheet error that causes the asset and liability sides to “mismatch” often disqualifies the entire job.

Macroeconomics (I and II) – Theory of Growth and Money

A subject that requires an understanding of the complex relationships between economic aggregates.

• Location: Building G and the Main Building.
• Exam format: Multiple-choice test combined with model analysis (e.g. IS-LM, AD-AS model).
• Bottleneck: Public debt dynamics and endogenous growth models. The questions are formulated in a tricky way, requiring logical precision.
• Amendment rules: Possible kindergarten for people with very high grades in final exams.

Corporate Finance – Capital Management

A key subject in Finance and Accounting, focusing on the value of money over time.

• Building: Main Building, 162 Niepodległości Avenue.
• Exam format: Computational tasks concerning the valuation of bonds, stocks, NPV (Net Present Value) and IRR.
• Bottleneck: Net working capital management and WACC (weighted average cost of capital) calculation.
• Amendment rules: Written exam in the main and retake session. This subject often determines the possibility of choosing a specialization in the following years.

Economic Law – Memory Barrier

A theoretical subject, but with a huge volume of material, often neglected by students of quantitative faculties.

• Location: Auditorium in the Main Building.
• Exam format: Test with open or closed questions, based on the Commercial Companies Code and the Civil Code.
• Bottleneck: Precise naming of company bodies and deadlines.
• Amendment rules: Failure to pass the first deadline results in the need to master hundreds of pages of legal text for September.

Assessment system and rescue procedures in USOS

Understanding the regulations of studies at SGH is essential to survive in crisis situations, when results in the USOS system do not guarantee a transfer to the next semester.

How does the condition work at SGH? (ECTS limits and costs)

The condition, i.e. conditional enrolment for the next semester, is a procedure triggered when a student fails a course, but his/her total deficit of ECTS credits does not exceed the limit set for a given stage of study (usually it is about 10-12 credits). Each failed subject must be repeated in the next teaching cycle, which is associated with the Rector’s fee. Costs are charged for each ECTS point of the unpassed course, which in the case of “kilers” for 6 ECTS may mean an expense of several hundred zlotys.

Board exam – when is it eligible and what does it look like?

The board exam (commission exam) is the final remedy. It is granted to a student who raises justified objections to the impartiality of the examiner or the form of conducting the exam. The application should be submitted to the Vice-Dean for Education within 7 days of the announcement of the results in USOS. The committee consists of a chairman, an examiner and a second specialist in a given field. It is a highly difficult exam, usually oral, conducted in the Dean’s Office in the Main Building.

Failure to pass exercises and lack of admission to the exam

In most quantitative subjects at SGH (Mathematics, Statistics, Accounting), passing the exercises is a prerequisite for admission to the exam. If a student fails the final colloquium in the exercises, the exam cannot be issued in the USOS system, even if the student came to it and wrote it. This results in an automatic failing assessment and the need to approach a revision from the entire module.

Why do students fail SGH? Main causes

The analysis of didactic processes at SGH allows us to define three main causes of failure of students in the fields of Management and Finance.

Accumulation of material in the winter session

The winter session in the first year is considered the most murderous due to the simultaneous occurrence of Mathematics, Microeconomics and Accounting. Students often underestimate the degree of difficulty of the theory, focusing only on the tasks, which in multiple-choice tests ends up with the lack of the required number of points.

Frequently asked questions about studying at SGH

What is the acceptable deficit of ECTS credits in the first year?

The permissible deficit of ECTS credits in the first year of bachelor’s studies at SGH is usually 12 credits, but these values may change in accordance with the Rector’s orders, so they should be regularly verified in the USOS system. Exceeding this limit results in the inability to register for the next semester and the need to submit an application for repeating a semester or year. It is worth remembering that each deficit point is associated with a financial fee, which must be paid within the deadline indicated by the dean’s office. If a student fails to pay the point debt, the USOS system may block the possibility of enrolling in courses in the next round of registration. Strategic deficit management is crucial to be able to continue your studies in your chosen field, such as Finance. Efforts should be made to minimize the deficit before the end of the academic year by using all deadlines in the retake session.

Is there a chance for the so-called “zero grade” at SGH?

The possibility of taking the exam on the zero date, commonly referred to as the zero date, depends solely on the decision of the course coordinator or the examination team of a given department. Usually, kindergartens are organized for students who have shown high attendance at lectures and obtained very good grades in credit colloquia during the semester. These exams usually take place in the last week of classes before the official start of the exam session, often in the halls of the Main Building. The main advantage of the kindergarten is the fact that if it is not passed, the unsatisfactory grade is often not entered into the USOS as a used sample, which gives the student an additional chance. However, in subjects such as Mathematics or Microeconomics, kindergartens are rare and have a form very similar in difficulty to the first term. The student should follow the announcements in the university’s information system so as not to miss the registration for this date.

Where to look for help in case of problems with USOS during registration?

Any technical problems related to the USOS system, such as lack of registration authorizations, incorrectly calculated deficit of points or lack of grades, should be reported directly to the Dean’s Office of Undergraduate Studies located in the Main Building. It is also worth using the help of the SGH IT Office if the problem concerns logins or security certificates. During periods of increased registration for items (the so-called registration rounds), the system can be overloaded, so it is recommended to make entries in advance. If an error in USOS prevents enrollment in a compulsory course, the student should immediately write an application to the Vice-Dean to avoid problems with settling the semester. Employees of the Dean’s Office have the opportunity to manually edit entries in technically justified situations. Remember to always keep screenshots documenting system errors as evidence in the appeal procedure.

What are the consequences of missing the exam on the first date?

Absence from the exam on the first date, which is not justified by a sick leave delivered to the Dean’s Office within 3 working days, results in the loss of this date. In the USOS system, an annotation about absence appears, which is tantamount to the need to take the exam only in the retake session. In this case, the student loses one of the two chances to pass the course in a given semester. If the absence is correctly excused and accepted by the dean, the student has the right to reinstate the appointment, which means that his first attempt will take place during the retake session, but on the rights of the first date. This procedure is extremely important for people who care about the average of grades and want to avoid conditions. It should be remembered that only sick leaves on official forms are honored by the authorities of the Warsaw School of Economics.

What should I do if I don’t agree with the exam grade?

In the first place, the student has the right to inspect his/her examination work on the date set by the instructor or the examination team. These meetings usually take place in the offices of the cathedrals in Building G or the Main Building. During the inspection, the student can verify the correctness of the score and consult the wrong answers. If, despite the inspection, the student still believes that he or she has been assessed unfairly, he or she may submit an application for the board exam to the appropriate Vice-Dean. The application must contain a detailed substantive justification, and not just a subjective feeling of harm. It should be remembered that the committee may maintain an unsatisfactory grade, which definitively ends the process of passing the course in a given semester. This procedure is formalized and requires compliance with administrative deadlines counted from the date of publication of the results in the USOS.

How much does it cost to repeat a subject (condition) at SGH?

The cost of repeating a course at SGH is calculated as the product of the number of ECTS credits assigned to a given course and the rate for one point set in the table of fees for a given academic year. For example, if the Microeconomics course has a weight of 6 ECTS and the rate is PLN 150 per point, the cost of the condition will be PLN 900. The fee should be paid to the student’s individual sub-account visible in the USOS system. Failure to pay on time may result in interest being charged or not being allowed to register for the items again. This is a significant financial burden, which is why many students try to pass subjects in the September campaign to avoid these costs. In situations of difficult financial situation, the student may apply for the payment in installments after submitting an appropriate application to the Dean’s Office. All rates are public and published in the Rector’s Ordinances available on the university’s website.

Is it possible to change the field of study from Management to Finance during my studies?

It is possible to change the field of study within SGH , but this process depends on the stage of study and the results obtained by the student. Since the first year is common to everyone, the formal choice of the field of study takes place only after it has been passed. If a student wants to change the field of study at a later stage, he must submit an application to the dean’s office and take into account the need to fill in the curriculum differences. These differences can generate additional ECTS credits to be credited, which increases the workload in the semester. The decision to agree to the change is made by the Vice-Dean, taking into account the limit of places in a given field of study and the student’s progress so far visible in USOS. Many of the subjects passed in Management are identical to those in Finance, which makes the process easier, but the specialist subjects require full implementation of the new department’s program.

What is the procedure for removing students from the list for lack of progress?

The procedure of removal from the list of students at SGH is triggered automatically by the USOS system when a student fails to settle the semester within the set deadline or exceeds the permissible deficit of ECTS credits. The first signal is the lack of an entry about registration for the next stage of studies. Subsequently, the student receives a written decision on deletion, from which the student has the right to file an appeal to the Rector within 14 days. The appeal must precisely indicate the causes of academic failure, e.g. a fortuitous situation or illness, and support them with documentation. If the appeal is rejected, the student loses student status and all the privileges that come with it, such as a card or the right to insurance. The possibility of re-enrolment on the list (resumption of studies) usually exists after at least one semester, provided that all financial arrears towards SGH are settled.

Where do the most characteristic exams at SGH take place?

The most characteristic and stressful exam place at SGH is the Parachute Hall located in the Main Building. It is a huge space where several hundred students of various faculties, such as Management or Finance, can write the exam at the same time. There is a strict supervision exercised by a large group of instructors and examiners. Another important place is Auditorium I and Auditorium II, where exams in subjects with a smaller number of participants are held. These rooms are equipped with cameras and jamming systems, which is aimed at ensuring independent work. Computer-based exams, e.g. in Statistics or Computer Science, take place in the laboratories of Building C or Building M. Each student must present a student ID card before entering the room, and the lack of a document is the basis for not being admitted to the exam, which results in entering an unsatisfactory grade in the USOS.