203 reviews
4.09 / 5 based on 203 reviews
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Joel G
Student life
Describe host city:
Students interact with the local community without much university involvement
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Activities, Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
Night spots, winter = Maracana on via Faenza, summer = Central park.
Mexican food = Ebys Bar in Santa Croche
Pizza = Pizzeria Nerone in via Faenza.
General hanging = Wine Bar on via Faenza, great salads and sandwiches, and good atmosphere...and amazing wine!
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Joel G
Housing
Type of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
All in all, I enjoyed living with my friends in Florence, but, we had to pay an agency fee, and it totalled nearly 800 euros for two people, on top of a month's deposit, and a month's rent in advance, was quite an initial sting!
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Personal comments
Florence Uni offers NO HELP for foreign (or Italian) students in their search for housing. We came with a pretty below average level of Italian and things were really difficult, it's possible to find a house via street-ads, but as with most things in Italy, it's complicated and quite soul destroying at times.
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Joel G
Languages
Language of instruction: Italian
Was learning Italian a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my Italian
How much did you improve your Italian?
My level before: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
My level after: At ease in most situations
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
Most Italians who you can socialise with, are really interested in meeting a native English speaker who wants to learn their language, and will make an effort to socialise with you and help you. But the initial 'getting to know them' is hard, we found the men are really forward in wanting to know the girls, the Italian women generally don't wanna know anyone but Italian men. And foreign guys are pretty much at a disadvantage, unless your female friends introduce you to their Italian male-friends!
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Joel G
Academic
Course recommendations
If you can, take your courses in your native language unless you're fluent in Italian. Don't worry about picking up Italian, that will come socially and in a language course. Taking your classes in Italian is a bad move, the local students didn't want to help, and the teachers don't really take pity either.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
The assesment process is wildly unfair, there's no invigilation, you do your exam orally with your tutor (who has no knwoledge of who you are, as your classes are so large), and you are subject to whatever mood he/she is in. There's no appeals process, and because the exams are done in front of the whole class, everyone is witness to your failure, or indeed victory. Can be quite embarrassing!
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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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Joel G
Expenses
Main source of funding:
An ERASMUS grant
Other sources of funding:
An ERASMUS grant
Work opportunities:
I worked during my study abroad experience
Personal spending habits
being new to an area means you want to discover new places and try new things, which results in spending more, it was worth it though, it's all part of learning the culture.
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Food, Nightlife, Housing, Overall, Telephone:
was more expensive than at home.
Travel:
was less expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
cost saving tips for train travel, use www.trenok.it, for travelling to other countries use ryanair, booking enough in advance can mean amazing savings (I went to Sardinia for 20 euros from Pisa!). Go to restaurants and try their local foods, its a great way of learning new words and taking in a bit of culture too, eating out is not as pricey as the UK either, so, sometimes it's cheaper to eat out than go to the supermarket and cook yourself!
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Joel G
Overall
I wish I had known...
Things aren't similiar to the UK, even though you think there's be certain uniform standards because of the EU. Italy is not a nanny-state like the UK is, everything is down to you, the individual. Your victory - your praise. Your mistake - your fault.
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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
Personal recommendation
The University is a shambles really, diferent faculties have different standards of what theye expect from Erasmus students, the exam process is a joke and wildly unfair. But Florence as a host city is absolutely fantastic.
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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
Come well prepared financially, try and save a little, it does end up being pricey (rent being the main source of drainage!), use the internet at Uni, it'll save you so much money from net cafes. Go out and socialise, it's the only way to meet Italians and improve your language, it worked for me, it'll work for you!
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