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Other names:
University Fernando Pessoa
Contact: + 351 22 507 13 49

Universidade Fernando Pessoa

Praça 9 de Abril 349, 4249004 Porto, Portugal
4.00 / 5 based on 138 reviews.

Reviews
International Partners
Programmes
Accreditations
87% of students recommend
138 reviews
Housing
3.9/5
 All experiences (138)
Student life
4.2/5
 5 stars (48)
Academic
3.8/5
 4 stars (48)
Languages
4.3/5
 3 stars (42)
Expenses
3.9/5
 2 stars (0)
Overall
4.4/5
 1 star (0)
“In Spain it is better than in Pt, on many parameters. It is unfortunately very hard to travel by hitchhiking in Pt, esp.if u r a nice girl. And it is hard to find a job, even for the locals” Read Review
arcadagua, Latvia

Universidade Fernando Pessoa review by Julia

Review by Julia, Rigas Tehniska Universitate, Riga, Latvia
Business Studies, Erasmus
HOUSING    
Personal assessment
Cost
KEY:
Couldn't have asked for more.
Pretty good.
Could've been better, but didn't lessen the overall experience.
Disappointing.
Facilities
Location
Cleanliness
Space
Type of housing: On campus
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why? cause our residence is too small-only 36 people and it costs too much. It was too far from the facutly
Personal comments:
There were only 36 single rooms at the residence and 1 double. The cleaning ladies did all for us-washed the dishes, washed our clothes, cleaned the rooms, the kitchen, and everything else. There were all the facilities at the kitchen. There was free internet and 2 tv rooms and a game room. The problem was that there was specific time defined to return to the residence, e.g. it was forbidden to come late in the night on weekdays. Also a bad thing was that we couldn't take our friends there. Friends could only be entertained in the downstairs tv room until 00.00. Another disadvantage was that the walls were oo thin and one could actually here EVERYTHING happening EVERYWHERE!!! But as we were a small company we got on well and knewe each other quickly
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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STUDENT LIFE    
Personal social experience
Activities
KEY:
Amazing! Hardly had time to study.
Plenty to do when I had the time.
So-so.
Did not get involved.
Nightlife
Travel
Overall
Describe host city: Students equally interact with the local and student community
Activities: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Nightlife, Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal comments:
1. The gyms we went to were Premier group-one of the best in town! The coaches were so good, almost all Brazilians, and the classes they gave were so different from my country's aerobics! The best courses were dancing-hip hop, funk, mtv dance and aerodance 2. Another healthy way is Capoeira-brazilian mix of dance and fight done to Birimbao music,very widespread in Portugal 3. The biggest event NOT o be missed is definitely Queima Das Fitas-a student party week which symbolizes the end of the study year and takes place in May. The main day is Tuesday when there is Cortejo (student parade)-a greatest part y ever!!! 4. Lady's nights in most of the Porto clubs-the entrane for ladies and 2-3 any cocktails for free! 5. A cafe called Barrigas-the huge porions for everhungry students for the normal price
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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ACADEMIC       2.5 / 5
My academic experiences
Quality of courses
KEY:
Fantastic.
Pretty good.
Could've been a bit better.
Disappointing.
Variety of courses
Availability/access to resources
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with other international students
Interaction with local students
Course recommendations:
We were supposed to study in English and chose course marked as 'course in English'. In fact, when we arrived some of those courses were held in portuguese and we changed them. In fact, if u know Spanish, Italian, Romanian it it pretty easy to learn Portuguese to that extent to follow the course. It's better to take a course held in Portuguese even if u don't know pt but know one of these languages than be sorry after. Some of the course s were not good at all. There were sometimes only 2 people in a class, and never more than 20. There are late courses starting at 21.00. There is an obligatory attendance of 40% in almost all of the courses.



My opinion of the university assessment
Exams at end of course
KEY:
Liked it.
It was alright.
A bit annoying.
Didn't like it.
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course.
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
Overall
Personal comments:
Yes! first of all, to provide a fast Portuguese course before the studies start! We arrived a week beore the official start of the studies but the actual studies started 2 weeks later the official start. For that time we could have learnt the language!! Also, to look at some courses' containing-it's not good if a teacher only gives us some copies and doesn't explain anything interactively

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Language difficulties
Social
KEY:
No problems.
I coped pretty well.
Sometimes it was difficult.
It was a constant struggle.
Educational
Administrative / Institutional
Overall
Language of instruction: English
Local language was: Different than language of instruction.
Was learning English a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my English
Was learning the local language a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my knowledge
How much did you improve your English?
My level before: No problems in any areas (including slang)
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)
How much did you improve your local language?
My level before: Did not speak it
My level after: At ease in most situations
Personal comments:
As i said before, there were some language problems in the beginning in the 1st month. after that-no problems. We didn't choose the course held in pt in the beginning because we didn't know pt. In fact, if u know italian, spanish, romanian its very easy to learn pt. After a month it was equal for us to study and communicate both in english and pt. There are few people in pt that speak eng, espacially older people and Brazilians, so we had to start talking pt from the very 1st day. Since i know Spanish, I can tell that pt is a kinda simplified Spanish
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EXPENSES    
The accessibility of student needs
Second-hand text books
KEY:
Very easy.
Minimal effort.
Accessible but required effort.
Almost impossible.
Second-hand household items
Computers / Internet
Administrative
Money from home
Main source of funding:
An ERASMUS grant
Other sources of funding:
Family
Personal savings
Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options
Personal spending habits:
Because in pt there is a higher life level and all the prices are higher which doesn't correspond to the level of quality(esp. some services)
Travel, Nightlife, Overall, Telephone, Housing: was more expensive than at home.
Food: was the same price as at home.
Personal comments:
Definitely go shopping to Mini Preco and LIDL supermarkets if u wanna save on food. The DIA trademark products are the cheapest ever. Obtain a MINI PrECO club card to get even more discounts. If u want to live cheap u can rent a room/house/flat with other students but it is never cheaper than 120 euros/month. A big surprise was that we had to pay so much for our campus residence. Beware of taking too much luggage on cheap ryanair flights through London Stansted because they may fine u there! Another big finansial surprize was the cost of travel by bus within portugal and the cost of tickets for music fests and concerts. If u want to buy the cheapest and the best fruit and vegetables, go 2 Arcadagua fruit shop near the faculty. The cost of drinks in nightclubs is huge! And the cost of things like manicure, pedicure and cosmetologist is immense whereas the quality is not worth this money.
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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OVERALL    
Important to choosing this university...
Academic reasons
KEY:
Very Important.
Important.
Not really important.
Unimportant.
Culture
Costs
Activities
Campus life
Party / people
Weather / Location
I wish I had known...
That some of the courses marked as 'taught in English' were actually taught in pt. And that i would learn pt too fast, enough to study on it. That the weather in porto is not too hot cause its a northern ocean city. That the water in the ocean never exceeds 20 degrees. That most of the locals are stupid and r very different from us.
In my opinion:
Most people loved it.



During my experience abroad, I ...
Became familiar with another culture
KEY:
Happened all the time.
Happened quite a lot.
Happened a bit.
Didn't happen.
Traveled
Improved language skills
Met people from other countries
Became more independent
Partied a lot
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies/career
Personal recommendation:
Introduce a fast pt language course before the studies start! Revise some of the courses! Reduce or take away the cost of the residence (in Sweden Erasmus students don't pay at all!) This is a private uni with all the sequences. It is not the best uni in the world and the knowledge is sometimes bad in some fields.



FINAL COMMENTS

In Spain it is better than in Pt, on many parameters. It is unfortunately very hard to travel by hitchhiking in Pt, esp.if u r a nice girl. And it is hard to find a job, even for the locals
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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