Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice

If returning, I would choose: Dormatory

Why? Social interaction and cheap rates.

Personal comments:
You can sign up for a dorm room, but in reality this has no effect. Instead, the best way to get a room is to go to the university dormatory administration office and beg for a room. It is my experience, that this approach is far more effective than doing things the orderly way. Because I did not follow these rather primitive methods, I ended up having to find an appartment, which was quite a struggle, but also a good experience.

Describe host city: Students equally interact with the local and student community

Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Activities, Nightlife: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
The student cafe satellite is a nice place to hang out during breaks or even at night, due to a lot of cultural activities. Lausanne has several clubs with different types of music. House clubs are pretty expensive, but you'll also find student places, where it is not that expensive, e.g. Blue Lezard.

Course recommendations:
There were many courses to choose from. Most were in French, but many Master courses were in English. I especially enjoyed the database courses and Multimedia Documents. The department for Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship had many interesting courses. I also atended two courses at HEC Lausanne, the city's business school. I strongly recommend doing that as their courses are interesting and you get to know students outside your own university.

Personal comments:
There were too few laboratory sessions. Out of the 13 courses I took, only three had lab work. Many courses should have contained more exercise session.

Language of instruction: French

Main source of funding:
An ERASMUS grant

Other sources of funding:
An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits:
Switzerland is a very expensive country. Food is more expensive. You usually buy a pre-paid phone card, which is also more expensive than a regular contract. Housing is more expensive, even student residences are very expensive compared to Germany. The entry to nighlife locations is very high and the drinks as well. If you have a car, there shouldn't be a big difference between Switzerland and Germany, but if you are using public transport it is more expensive.

Food, Travel, Nightlife, Overall, Telephone, Housing: was more expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
Everything was organised pretty good, so there is nothing I should have known before.

In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!