Erasmus is a common way how to discover student life in another country. Everybody who went to study abroad must agree that there was a remarkable difference between the two universities, maybe not just in study contents, but also in the way how young people study and how the university treats them.

Erasmus is not the only way though, nowadays many young people decide to study in another country, whose language they wish to master, or they do their bachelor and master at different universities. German people who don’t get into the university in their country go to Austria and French to Belgium.

In Madrid, Spaniards eat later, go to sleep later and wake up later. Therefore when you manage to get to a morning class, there is a high probability that you will get a free 0,5l drink at your faculty metro exit. I would say it is a pleasant start of the day.
Igor, 23 years old: “In the biochemistry master class, everybody was clearly older than me. At first I thought, too much fiesta = too long to study, but it did not take me long to realize that the students were studying hard and especially much more than we did in Bratislava.” In Madrid, there is just one try to pass an exam every semester, the second try in all cases is in September. In Bratislava we generally had 3 possible entries. Sometimes more.

In Vienna, the chemistry classes are in an impressive historical building. You have a beautiful view on Vienna from the physics library. There are (normal-speed) computers available for the students, printer included, trips and many other advantages covered with just 17 euro/semester admission fee. The professors are mostly very helpful, not only that they answer the emails etc., but sometimes they do even more that they are obliged to do. There is something beautiful in a good Austrian organization.

Musicians are very well treated in the UK, the university supports the student bands by investing lots of money in their practice and instruments. If you are into music, UK is definitely the place. When an English student unsuccessfully tries to take out money from ATM, he has probably already spent his student loan. In my eastern European case it usually only means I am on zero… UK Government’s estimate of average debt for a student is around £15,000 on graduation. Male students pay it in avarage in 11years, whearas female students in 16
(source: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsg-01079.pdf).

Just over the channel, in France, a specific bonus is housing allowance for EU students given by the French government, which covers part of the students’ rental costs. You can also always count on some extra free days due to (e.g. university reform) student strike. Strikes got recently popular in German speaking countries, as shown by the famous Audimax occupation in Munich and Vienna.

Have you discovered any detail at your or your host university, something worth sharing? Or have you solved the question about where is the best place to study?

(Then let me know please)