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)
“Go there but be careful to your studes: it's too easy to forget studying while you're here, and then you have too many to do just 2 weeks before the exams. Work regularly, and enjoy this particular student life.” Read Review
virginiedaude, France

Université Catholique de Louvain review by virginie

Review by virginie, Université Jean Moulin: Lyon III, Lyon, France
Business Studies, Independent
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: 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    
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:
Every "cercles" (as they call them), the café "pyramide cactus" at week end (when all other student are back home). There are parties everywhere, every week evenings. I especially appreciate "les mercredi de la guitare" and "les mercredis de la jonglerie". Don't miss the "15 days of beer" (located in the mds this year): you can try 150 belgian beers at a good price!
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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ACADEMIC       3.5 / 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:
Don't miss too many courses because you have 2 weeks exams at the end of the semester and only 2 weeks to prepare all (it's called the "blocus"): pretty hard! Ask for tips to previous students



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:
Bad balanced between first and second semester (at the management faculty) : not so many thing to do during the first one (parties!), but almost no time for social life during the second semester. I really regret to end my student life like this!

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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
Was learning English a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my English
How much did you improve your English?
My level before: At ease in most situations
My level after: At ease in most situations
Personal comments:
The local language is the same: french, but you can learn flemmish (second official language of this country; spoken in the north). Speaking Flemmish is an important criteria if you want to work in the management field in Belgium. Concerning english language, speaking it during the course helped me not loosing what i learned in Sweden.
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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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:
Family
Other sources of funding:
Personal savings
student job during the academic year
Work opportunities:
I worked during my study abroad experience
Personal spending habits:
Belgium is a low living cost country compare to France. Food is cheaper, beer is cheaper(!), housing is ok (200 euros all included for my room in the center of the town)
Telephone: was more expensive than at home.
Food, Travel, Nightlife, Overall, Housing: was less expensive than at home.
Personal comments:
Phone is expensive : subscribe to télé 2, or try dialing 070 777 777 before calling abroad. Travelling is not that expensive because you can fly from Brussels with ryanair (to italy, spain, england etc)
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...
If you go there as an independant student (not with an exchange programm) you receive no financial help from Belgium, neither from France (except if you usually receive a grant from the french government. (rem: don't forget to ask for a cut in your subscribing fee at the beginning of the year).
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:
Academic level in management is really high (lot of work). Student life is amazing: I've never seen a city like that before!(ideal for erasmus student)



FINAL COMMENTS

Go there but be careful to your studes: it's too easy to forget studying while you're here, and then you have too many to do just 2 weeks before the exams. Work regularly, and enjoy this particular student life.
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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