EMLYON Business School
  
Grenoble EM
  
ESADE Business School
  
Rouen BS
  
ESSCA
 
Other names:
Catholic University of Louvain
Contact: +32 10 47 25 39
Accreditations and rankings:
CEMS, PIM

Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)

UCL, Place de l'Université 1, 1348 Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
3.96 / 5 based on 336 reviews.
Description:
The Université catholique de Louvain was established on December 9, 1425, by a papal bull issued by Pope Martin V. The University split along language lines as a result of political turmoil in the late 1960's. A law recognizing separate Flemish-speaking and French-speaking universities was passed in 1970. The former remained in Louvain while the latter moved to a new location on the outskirts of Ottignies. This new campus became the town of Louvain-la-Neuve.

Between 1972 and 1979, nine faculties (schools) gradually moved to Louvain-la-Neuve. The Faculty of Medicine chose to move to Brussels (Woluwe-Saint-Lambert), in an area now known as « Louvain-en-Woluwe ».



Reviews
International Partners
Programmes
Accreditations
80% of students recommend
336 reviews
Housing
3.7/5
 All experiences (336)
Student life
4.3/5
 5 stars (102)
Academic
3.9/5
 4 stars (132)
Languages
4.2/5
 3 stars (96)
Expenses
3.6/5
 2 stars (6)
Overall
4.4/5
 1 star (0)
“Brussels is in the very center of Europe, well served by trains, buses and Low-cost airplane: take profit of this travelling as much as possible.” Read Review
salvo120680, Italy

336 reviews of Université Catholique de Louvain

PAGE: 1 2 3 4 5 … 56    NEXT »
1 to 1 of 56 
HOUSING    
by virginie, Université Jean Moulin: Lyon III, Lyon, France
Business Studies, Independent
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: KOT (flat shared with 8 other student)
Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice
If returning, I would choose: The same: KOT
Why? Because i like living with other student. Community life is xonderful, even if you can meet some problems (cleaning...)
Personal comments:
Community housing in Belgium is very different from the one in Sweden : shared rooms are not that clean (rapid cleaning is done once a week by a private firm), dish washing is not done systematicaly... Still, i really enjoyed it because people are nice and you can benefit from the real student life in this particular city : amazing!
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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STUDENT LIFE    
by ariane, Sciences Po Paris, Paris, France
European Union, Erasmus
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: Student life dominates the city
Activities, Nightlife: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment
Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Personal comments:
Each Belgian region has its own house, where tey have parties, and they're much more fun than the city bars and cafés. It's hard to go out at night in Brussels if you ave no car - public transportation between Brussels and Louvain stops around 11 PM. Week-ends are terribly dull if you don't travel around the country (many beautiful cities to visit up north, in the Flemish area). All Belgians get back to their parents' on Friday afternoon. The local cinema has cheap sneak previews.
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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ACADEMIC    
by Gemma, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Business Studies, Erasmus
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:
No. It's important to assist and interact with both teachers and local students, but this recommendation would be the same for anyone at any university.



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:
The person who had to give me some orientation wasn't too kind with international students. They assumed we knew how things worked at the university but there are many different things we may not know. For example, at my home university it wasn't necessary to register for final exams but at Université Catholique de Louvain, at some of the faculties it was necessary to do it. It's important to give this information at the beginning.

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by Salvatore, Universitŕ Bocconi, Milan, Italy
Business Studies, CEMS
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?
No, it wasn't.
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: At ease in most situations
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)
Personal comments:
The belgian accent is a bit different from french, and mainly with people coming from specific zones is very difficult to interact at the beginning, but after one mounth every difficulty will disappear. The belgians are very opened and tolerant and nice to talk with: it is a good chance to improve french.
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EXPENSES    
by PATRICIA, UNIVERSIDAD DEL PACIFICO, LIMA, Peru
Business Studies, University Agreement
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:
Family
Other sources of funding:
HOME UNIVERSITY
Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options
Personal spending habits:
I spend more in food, telephone and accomodation because is cheaper in my country and I live with my parents over there. And is also more expensive for travelling because in Europe is easier to travel so I do it more than home.
Food, Travel, Overall, Telephone, Housing: was more expensive than at home.
Nightlife: was the same price as at home.
Personal comments:
none
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OVERALL    
by Anna, Szkola Glowna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego, Warsaw, Poland
Environmental Sciences, Erasmus
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...
Any experience was a new lesson for me, so I wouldn't trade any.
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:
It is a good university for people who want to meet new people, as well from the host country, as from many others. Some teachers are great, with good teaching skills.



FINAL COMMENTS

It is better to look for a housing through someone that is already there, and if there isn't anyone like that, through a internet newspaper. The agencies in the internet are sometimes a lot more expensive.
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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