Mobility specification

Country:Belgium

Institution:University of Antwerp

City:Antwerp

Program:Erasmus+ for study

Activity type:Study

Academic year:2024/2025

MU faculty/department:Faculty of Social Studies / Department of Political Science

Study level abroad:Bachelor

🎓Hit the books! How do you rate the university experience?

Can you enroll in a course where you can learn the local language?no

Does the university offer enough courses in English?it's alright

Are your credits converted?no

Was there anything in the teaching methods that surprised you?Honestly, I was suprised by how similiar it was to teaching at our faculty. That is not a negative a thing in the slightest, but i didn't expect it. There was a little more group assignments than I'm used to, but not a huge amount. Also there was a difference in gaining points thorughout the semester. You had to get 50 % of the points to pass the course. Points from the assignments counted towards that without there being any required point minimum for the final exam. So if you did really good on your assigments, you only needed maybe 40 % at the final exam, as long as you had 50 % of all the points. Here we usually have a 60 % point minimum at the final exam, regardless of how many points you got from your assignments.

Does the university offer international students' programs and activities outside of lectures and seminars to help them integrate more quickly?Yes. Orientation week, one week dutch course before the smester for 80 euros, a lot of students events, workshops...

In which areas does the university offer support for students with special needs and strive to be inclusive?Psychological counseling
Support for LGBTQ+ students (e.g., safe spaces, counseling services)

💸Did you have to rob the bank?

Try to take a guess at what your monthly expenditures were:30000 CZK/month

Did you stay in dorms?no

Do you have any tips on how to find private accommodation?Kotweb works pretty well, but it's not easy to find something reasonable if you start looking late (like me after being informed i won't get a dorm only less than two months before my study). It's better to contact the landlords via phone, as they won't often answer emails.

🗺 Learn the ropes in a new city

How well did you manage to communicate in English?perfectly

How does public transport work in the city?runs like clockwork

And what about transport outside the city?mostly fine

Where to find connections? How to buy a ticket?Antwerp has the De Lijn app - you can get tickets, find connections pretty easily wtih it.

Did you deal with any health issues during your stay?no

🤠Help create the perfect bucket list

Share your best experience:Probably the Studay music festival. Terrible weather but I had an amazing time dancing and hanging out in the rainstorm. I don't think I was ever so wet in my life though.

💅A nugget of wisdom to make the life easier

Did you need to handle a visa?no

How did you get to the place?Plane

Can you pay by card?everywhere

🥳Summary

Whew, what a ride! 😮‍💨 Thanks so much for taking the time to complete our survey and for sharing your unique experience. Just one last thing. 🙏 How would you summarize your trip in one or two sentences?An experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. I hope to do it again, and encourage anyone to do so too, if possible.