en 
1136 reviews
Recommended by
94%
4.20 / 5 based on 1136 reviews
Useful | 1
Ulrika J
HousingType of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Independently - My choice
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
The campus is situated outside the city of Bordeaux and the houses there are very ugly, concrete 70s style. It is quite easy to find accomodation in the city, so you get much more fun and a nicer atmosphere as well.
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Personal assessment
Cost
Facilities
Location
Cleanliness
Space
Personal comments
See above. I stayed one week in the depressing room that was provided for me by the school. That was one week too much...
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Useful | 0
Ulrika J
Student lifeDescribe host city:
Students interact with the local community without much university involvement
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Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Nightlife, Activities: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Activities
Nightlife
Travel
Overall
Personal comments
The names have sort of slipped my mind by now, but there were a lot of places at Place de la Victoire. Also, a fun place was an Irish pub called Connemara. Outside the city...beaches, vineyards, ols villages, castles, etc. There are a lot to see - spend the weekends wisely (don't spend them in the city).
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Useful | 0
Ulrika J
AcademicCourse recommendations
Markeiting courses overall on a very low level, while strategic/management courses were better. Impressing resources such as large computer rooms. Also, some courses were built up as case studies with computer support systems to run different scenarios; interesting but difficult to participate in large groups when your French level is too low...
In general, too many courses were managed in a very hierachic way with a teacher preaching for a couple of hours while everybody is sitting quiet and takes notes on their laptops.
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My academic experiences
Quality of courses
Variety of courses
Access to resources
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
Yes, above all the introduction councelling for foreign students. At this time there was only one incompetent person for over 30 exchange students, who actually just made the situation worse by being unhelpful and giving bad advice. You really had to find out about everything yourself.
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My opinion of the university assessment
Exams at end of course
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
Overall
Useful | 1
Ulrika J
OverallI wish I had known...
Not really... If possible, maybe some insight of French sense of humour in general (and humour at ESC in particular!).
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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
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Academic reasons
3
Culture
3
Costs
1
Activities
3
Campus life
1
Party / people
2
Weather / location
4
Personal recommendation
Hmmm, if it was not for all the activities, friends and happenings outside the school, and the location, I don't think I would have liked it at all. So, school isolated, I do not recommend it. All other things included, I would recommend it, not very strongly if it was for a full year, but for one semester: strongly.
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
4
Traveled
4
Improved language skills
4
Met people from other countries
4
Became more independent
3
Partied a lot
4
Experienced a change in life
3
Advanced my studies & career
3
Final comments
Where to live - in the city
Travel a lot - beaches, Les Landes, Dordogne, Paris, Spain, etc...
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Useful | 1
Ulrika J
ExpensesMain source of funding:
An ERASMUS grant
Other sources of funding:
Government assistance
Work opportunities:
I didn't want/need to work
Personal spending habits
A lot more spent on food since we lived in a big appartment and had some dinners. Also, while sharing an appartment you tend to eat more and better (there is always somebody who feels like cooking). Eating out was also a little more expensive since in Uppsala you can eat cheap at the student nations. Wine (food? Yes, we're in France) and cheese were large spending accounts. Travel...Ireally think you should take the opportunity to see the country that you are in. I would happily spend even more if necessary on travelling.
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Overall, Food, Nightlife, Travel:
was more expensive than at home.
Housing, Telephone:
was the same price as at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand text books
Second-hand household items
Second-hand bedding
Administrative
Money from home
Personal comments
Cost savings - share an appartment (but with french people if you want to learn French...). You get "Allocation familiale", sort of a housing allowance, from the french government if you are a citizen of the European community. LOTS of administrative work but worth while when you get the money :)
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Useful | 1
Ulrika J
LanguagesLanguage of instruction: French
Was learning French a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my French
How much did you improve your French?
My level before: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
My level after: At ease in most situations
My level after: At ease in most situations
Language difficulties
Social
Educational
Administrative / Institutional
Overall
Personal comments
Emarassingly enough I had been studying French for about seven years before I came, and I still felt like if I was mute and deaf (and dumb!) for the first month. It got better after a while but I think that the most annoying thing for me was not to understand jokes and not being able to say anything funny myself. You walk around feeling like a moron for a long time which, naturally, is bad for you overall self esteem. But, on the other hand, as long as there were Germans and Spanish people around that spoke even worse, it was OK. Overall experience is still good, since the learning curve was pretty steep.
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