228 reviews
3.97 / 5 based on 228 reviews
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Lucy W
Housing
Type of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House
Why?
Freedom to come and go as please was a major plus point. One aspect I would change, however, would be to share with Italian students to necessitate more regular language practice.
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Personal comments
The housing agency that the Erasmus Student Association at Verona University had links with were unreliable and have so far failed to return any of the huge deposit we left at the start of the year. They are called "For Sale" and are best avoided! The appartment was basic in every way but we enjoyed the year due to it's location 2 minutes walk from the uni and just 5 minutes from the city centre. Also became close friends with the Italian, Spanish, Irish and other British Erasmus students living in the same block.
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Lucy W
Student life
Describe host city:
Students equally interact with the local and student community
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Activities, Nightlife, Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
Camelot: English/Irish pub which definitely doesn't remind you of either of those countries! Cool music, wicked atmosphere.
Nirvana: just off from Piazza Bra, left off Via Porta Nuova (down some steps). Try a "Black out" and you won't remember a thing...
Highlander: rubbish pub but only place you can get anything resembling a fry-up for nursing the hangover you'll get after Camelot & Nirvana.
Grace: cheeeesy nightclub.
Campus: student central. Nice cheap, strong drinks.
Veccia Veronetta:Just don't use the toilet there. Ever.
Tropico Latino: The cocktails are amazing and lots of Erasmus people, mainly German, went there on Mondays.
Bottega (Vino): Expensive restaurant with extremely posh wines and snotty waiters. Very, very nice indeed.
Campodoglio: Big bar off Piazza Erbe which also has amazing cocktails. Go for a quiet drink.
Pomod'oro: Pizzeria/restaurant which had a cool atmosphere and lush pizzas, good for bringing large groups.
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Lucy W
Overall
I wish I had known...
Wish I had known that all the accomodation with the possibilities of having a single room and/or sharing with Italians would be gone by the time we got there (end September). Would have been better to organise before arrival.
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In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
It was an absolutely unforgettable experience and most of this was thanks to the members of ASE (Verona's Student Erasmus Association) who organised countless parties, trips and get togethers. They deserve Olympic medals for being so tireless in their efforts to make our year abroad memorable (if a little blurred!)
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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
Have the confidence to live with either Italian students or those who don't speak your native language so you have to speak Italian. Your hard work in the first few weeks/months will pay off and you will be fluent, rather than sticking with people of your own nationality which most Erasmus students inevitably end up doing.
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Lucy W
Academic
Course recommendations
Try to find out if any uni's abroad are doing anything that is at all relevant to your final year courses. It's very unlikely but you can always try.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
The main thing is to attend the language classes as they are likely to be the only thing directly relevant to your course at your home uni and they are brilliant for getting a better understanding of all those hazy grammar concepts. Other than that, it's left up to you what you can find of use accademically but sadly the lack of structure or anyone even knowing or caring that you're there to study at all does not encourage you to spend hours buried in books...
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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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Lucy W
Languages
Language of instruction: Italian
Was learning Italian a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
Feel a lot more confident with grammar and composition of Italian language after year at the University of Verona.
Can speak and understand better than I ever would have been able to had I not lived in the country for nine months. Would have been more beneficial if I had tried harder to find a situation in which I would be forced to speak Italian all the time. Had a job at a bar for three months and this proved a useful test for my skills.
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Lucy W
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Family
Other sources of funding:
Personal savings<br>
Government assistance<br>
An ERASMUS grant
Work opportunities:
I worked, but it was illegal/cash in hand work
Personal spending habits
Ate out very often indeed: eating out much cheaper than at home so you do it more, so you spend a lot.
Didn't buy a mobile phone because even basic models were too expensive. However, would have been beneficial for being more integrated with other Erasmus students...
Accomodation SHOULD have been cheaper in Italy but we were unlucky. Most students were paying half what we paid.
Drinks weren't much cheaper than home, same with clubs but going out most nights because of the Erasmus life style is very expensive.
Italy is an amazing country and spending extra on travelling and seeing as much as possible had to be done. However, train travel costs about a third of the price of that in Britain!
Overall, Italy is amazingly good value for a British person but living there for nine months and enjoying all of the above to excess means it is far more expensive than being a student in England.
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Overall, Travel, Food, Nightlife:
was more expensive than at home.
Telephone, Housing:
was the same price as at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
Trains were unbelievably cheap. Big shock getting back to English prices...
Accomodation wise, try to get bills included and if you don't mind pot luck with who the uni make you share a room with, go into student accomodation, you'll speak more Italian AND it's ridiculously cheap.
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