287 reviews
4.02 / 5 based on 287 reviews
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1
Nina A
Housing
Type of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
I loved the people I spent my exchange semester with! We had so much fun together! We are still in touch and even see each other from time to time, although we all live in different countries! :))
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Personal comments
As I pointed out above, the housing at Utrecht university was a bit too expensive for what they could offer us - the building, we were living in, was old and kind of left behind. We did clean and tried to make it as friendlier as it could be. Besides that small housing discomfort my semester in Utrecht was brilliant!
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0
Anastasiosyal
Languages
Language of instruction: English
Local language was: Different than language of instruction
Was learning English a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
Was learning the local language a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my the local language
How much did you improve your the local language?
My level before: Did not speak it
My level after: Basic phrases
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
Dutch for me seemed like a very difficult language. It took me more than a month only to start getting the pronounciation correct. However, in the Netherlands, everybody speaks english... (well most people do). You need to know dutch if you want to get a decent job though. If I wanted to find a job in my sector I had to know dutch if not I had to know 3 foreign languages! Oh, there are also a few jobs for speakers of the german language. Overall you do not need to speek the Dutch language in the Netherlands.
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1
Ester C
Overall
I wish I had known...
I wish I had known about the ESN before leaving.
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In my opinion:
I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
From my own experience, I hardly recomend to pact a timetable before startin any resarch project, otherwise you are going to spend much more time at university than you would like, specially in comparation with the regular Erasmus students.
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
Met people from other countries
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies & career
Final comments
If you are planning travel a lot around the contry, it is really intersting to by a discount card for the train that can be used for 4 persons at the same time. It's quite expensive but you really save money at the end.
And the most important advice: if you don't want to spend a month in a hostel, look for accomodation before to get there. It's really difficult to get a room for rent for yourself!!
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0
moni2
Housing
Type of housing: room in a student house
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: On campus
Why?
You stay more in contact with people, I used to live with Dutch students and they are really cold
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Personal comments
It was a wery well arranged accomodation, but at the beginning I stayed one month with a lady who had two cats, who gave me a very small room without armachairs where to put my stuff and, furthermore, she wanted to be my mum and she didn't allow me to go out every time I wanted. My second accomodation was the best, it was in the centre of the city, next to my university and my room was really big.
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1
twistyc
Languages
Language of instruction: English
Local language was: Different than language of instruction
Was learning English a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
Was learning the local language a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my the local language
How much did you improve your the local language?
My level before: Did not speak it
My level after: Basic phrases
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
I had previous experience with the German language, and that helped me out a lot with understanding written and spoken language. I still cannot speak Dutch much at all, but I could a little bit if I had to, enough to get by. Take a class offered to you if you can. The Dutch love it if you at least try to learn their language. It was a problem sometimes, not to speak Dutch, but just about everyone in Holland speaks English fairly well, especially the students.
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0
yael v
Expenses
Main source of funding:
An ERASMUS grant
Other sources of funding:
Family<br>
Government assistance
Work opportunities:
I didn't want/need to work
Personal spending habits
food is less expensive in Holland than in France. However, mostly all the other fields are more expensive, namely , accomodation. travelling is more expensive in Holland. apart from that, I had expenses I do not usually have in France where my parents live. being completely independent is the main factor of these new expenses.
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Overall, Travel, Housing:
was more expensive than at home.
Telephone, Nightlife:
was the same price as at home.
Food:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
the banking system is either expensive (normal banks) or provide a very low quality of service (post office bank)
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