204 reviews
4.20 / 5 based on 204 reviews
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ingridvalde
Student life
Describe host city:
Students equally interact with the local and student community
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Travel, Nightlife: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Activities: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
Try out the ice cafe at Alexanderplatz. You can get delicious rice porridge ice cream there!
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ingridvalde
Housing
Type of housing: In a dormatory
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: In a dormatory
Why?
You got to know people and it was cheap. I only wish I could have lived a little closer to the city centre, although I was pretty close to university.
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Personal comments
They had very strict rules when you moved out, but other than that it was a good place to stay. It had a garden around the house, and I had very nice neighbours. I shared the bathroom with my next neighbour, and had a room for myself which contained 20 kvm. or so. There was a kitchen for the people on the floor, it had a refridgerator, but no freezer. The dorm hat many activityrooms, including a tv and billiard, washing room and training room as well as practicing room if you played in a band. There was a shop just around the corner.
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ingridvalde
Academic
Course recommendations
The courses are so many, so you have to do a list in before and check out your interests, then after the first or second week (but not later!) decide what you are going to do that term. My interaction with other international students was so bad because history is a subject mostly German students study. I saw only five (from a few thousand overall students) international students at the Institute of History. If you want to get in touch with students at all, do not go at too many lectures. You get to know students if you go to seminars and have to cooperate with them.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
I had a lot of work only to make appointments with lecturers for a test at the end of the term. That happens when you take a lot of lectures. If you take seminars you have to write 10-15 pages long papers, which is a very good training in writing papers. There are not many exams at the end of the term. All in all that gives you the opportunity to get a lot of practice in academic writing, which is very positive but also very time-consuming.
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My opinion of the university assessment
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
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ingridvalde
Languages
Language of instruction: German
Was learning German a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my German
How much did you improve your German?
My level before: At ease in most situations
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
I spoke German pretty perfect before I went to Berlin, and I would have had great difficulties if I had not done it. There was never a lecture in any other language than German, and even in the dormatory there was nearly all the time German and not English.
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ingridvalde
Overall
I wish I had known...
I had very good contact to students in Berlin before going, so I could ask them every question. Also the Erasmus office at the Institute of History was very helpful and e-mailed me to offer services if I had questions.
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In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
Met people from other countries
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies & career
Final comments
Get yourself a BahnCard, which offers 50 % off at any train travel you do in Germany. If you go outside Germany, get RailPlus fo a small extra fee, and get the same service outside of Germany.
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ingridvalde
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Government assistance
Other sources of funding:
Personal savings<br>
An ERASMUS grant
Work opportunities:
I didn't want/need to work
Personal spending habits
Since Germany is cheaper than Norway I had no difficulties in paying the rent and the food. Therefore I could do more travelling than I am used to at home.
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Travel:
was more expensive than at home.
Telephone:
was the same price as at home.
Housing, Food, Nightlife, Overall:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
I was surprised that the German students in History do not need to buy large amounts of books. If you need books you go to the library, that is very well stocked. The university also had very good internet service, and if the university was closed there were numerous internet cafes in town. Mosly you paid 1,50 € for one hour, but at one internet cafe in Joachimsthaler Strasse you pay only 50 Cent an hour! If you are a student you do not pay fees for bank services, if you have a German account (which you need to have).
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