address level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics and Business Economics

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1 family name Zijlstra first name Leon optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly address leonzijlstra1991@hotmail.com level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics and Business Economics destination city & country Rome, Italy name host institution and/or LUISS Guido Carli company/organization purpose Erasmus grant study/courses work placement departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 05 / 09 / 2012 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 07 / 02 / 2013 You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing! preparation exchange/placement application process There were no problems with my application progress. I wanted to go to Rome, so I preapered for it. There was room for four persons and we were with four. The host institution responded timely on questions. counselling/support at home university I went one day to Andrea Naylor, the exchange officer of the Utrecht School of Economics, and everything was clear. She was very helpful. academic preparation I did not do any academic preperation. language preparation Officially I did not do a course, but I tried to study a bit Italian at home. It makes your life a lot easier, espacially the first days in Rome when you have to arrange things. finances The cost of living in Rome totally depends on your lifestyle. Food is often cheaper, but going to the big clubs is expensive. Housing is pretty expensive if you are late with arranging a room. For example, I paid 600, while some others paid study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) The really nice thing of this University is the period of two weeks to see what courses you like. I changed almost all my courses on the learning agreement, because during the first period I discovered courses I liked more. Swtiching is no problem and everything is very clear and well organized. academic quality of education/placement activities I really liked the education at Luiss. There is a lot of interaction with the teacher and if u go to the lessons the page 1 of 22

2 exams are quite easy. There are no surprises in the exams and you get what you have learned The level is normal and you get high grades if you attend the important lessons. counselling/support at host institution/organisation The exchange office of Luiss is very usefull. They speak english and are always ready to help. Next to that there is a buddy programme. If you choose for a buddy he helkps you with everything from arranging a telephone to helping with your Italian transfer of credits The credits were transferred and represent the grades I got in Rome. For normal courses you get 8 ECTS. student life welcome/orientation programme The welcome programme was very clear and usefull. You get to know the new students, which makes the first period very comfortable. Furthermore, they show you the city anf facilities. accommodation There are various options to find a room including CTS accomodation and contacting people yourself. I knew someone that went on a Erasmus exchange to Rome before me and I was really late with arranging something. He had a lot of contacts, which resulted in a very nice house in near villa Borghese. However, I payed 600 Euro, so searching early through CTS can save you a lot of money! leisure/culture Rome is a city full of life and leisure is a part of the Italian lifestyle. You have the beautifull inner city with old buildings, Vatican city, nice parks, huge shopping areas, beach nearby and a very nice nightlife. Even after half a year of living in Rome is not enough to see everything. On every corner you can get good coffee and nice pizza's. suggestions/tips I can give a lot of suggestions and tips but it totally depends on what people want to know. However, one tip is not to postpone everything. There is so much to do that you really have to discover it, so don't stay inside and call your friends to walk through the city! conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain I would definitely recommend Rome and Luiss Guido Carli. It was the best half year of my life and I still miss it. It is the combination of a nice university with nice facillities and teachers, a beautifull city full of surprises and a good nightlife. Furthermore, there is not a day that you have to be bored, there is so much too see and to explore. do you have any additional advice or comments? Do not hesitate to contact me, because I can tell you most of the things you want to know. Furthermore, it is important to start you accomodation search early. This can save you a lot of money. Another Advice is to learn some Italian before you go to Italy or follow the Intensive Erasmus Language Course. page 2 of 22

3 family name Goudswaard first name Daan optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Business and Economics destination city & country Roma, Italy name host institution and/or LUISS company/organization purpose Erasmus grant study/courses work placement departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 10 / 02 / 2013 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 20 / 07 / 2013 You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing! preparation exchange/placement application process The application process is not that difficult if you prepare it well and do it carefully. Your exchange coordinator will support you with everything you need. Be aware to send the application to the host institution on time as this may take a while. counselling/support at home university The support at in Utrecht from Andrea Naylor (Exchange coordinator USE) was great. She helped me with choosing my courses in Rome and assisted me with all the necessary information I needed. academic preparation I language preparation I didn t do any language preparation in advance. finances Before to go to Rome, I worked a couple of months to save some money for my period abroad. I can really advice everyone going abroad to try to do the same. It gives you some margin and allows you to fully enjoy your stay abroad! study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) LUISS offers quite a nice amount of courses as well as in English as in Italian. My experience is that the courses in English are straight forward, so if you would like to challenge yourself and you are doing an extensive language courses in advance, try the Italian taught courses. With a reasonable knowledge of the Italian language, you will be able to do courses in Italian at LUISS. academic quality of education/placement activities page 3 of 22

4 The academic quality of the courses at LUISS really differs for every course. I've had courses that are comparable to Utrecht with reference to quality, but also courses that we're way easier and less challenging. counselling/support at host institution/organisation The support at LUISS is fine and there are enough facilities and personell to help you and assist you with everything. The only drawback is that it's Italy, so they are not that efficient and fast in helping you. transfer of credits - student life welcome/orientation programme The welcome programme organized by ESN LUISS was in one word: great! They organize a whole week full of activities: parties, sightseeing, dinners etc. You will have endless opportunities to meet your fellow Erasmus students and the ESN activities staff are also very friendly and helpful. accommodation Finding accomodation in Rome is not the easiest aspect of your stay abroad here. Rooms are expensive as the average price for a normal sized room is about 550 euro's. If you stay in a double room it will be around 300 euros. On the other hand, the houses in Rome are beautiful and if you put some effort in it you will be able to find a great room. Especially the area south and east of the Economic faculty of LUISS are great places to live in. leisure/culture Obviously Rome is a city with an endless variety of cultural stuff to do. You can go here on holidays for two weeks and go sightseeing every day, and you will still have missed some things. But next to that, the general atmosphere and the vibe of the city is great. Romans are interesting people with a really nice lifestyle. Parties are good, it is impossible to find bad coffee, great pasta and pizza everywhere, Rome is shortly stated just a great city to live in! suggestions/tips conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain I would definitely recommend LUISS in Rome to future Erasmus students. The host university is a beautiful place with great facilities and quite good education. The city is in my opinion one of the greatest cities to live in. The weather is great, cultural stuff is endless and the food is perfect. You will definitely have a good time if you come to Rome! do you have any additional advice or comments? page 4 of 22

5 family name Rautenberg first name Jana optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly faculty/college USE level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics & Business Economics destination city & country Rome, Italy name host institution and/or LUISS company/organization purpose Erasmus grant study/courses work placement departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 31 / 07 / 2012 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 01 / 02 / 2013 You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing! preparation exchange/placement application process The whole application process was a bit easier than expected. Becasue I already experienced other extensive applications this one was rather well strctured. The only difficultly for me was to choose my courses abroad on my own without any help on where to find courses and how it works at the host institution. I spend a lot of hours on the LUISS webpage trying to find course catalogues and potential courses I could choose. The Italians don t care much for english so most of it was in italian - without any knowledge of italian I felt lost more than once. At that time I was very annoyed that I already had to choose my courses before I left, but looking back I guess this is the only way to do it. However in the end I only took two out of four courses which I choose beforehand, because some of them were even not offered anymore. counselling/support at home university In general the support from UU is rather good. If you go to the office there is always someone friendly to help you out or also scheduling a meeting is quite easy. The information meeting for interested students for going abroad was okay. It was good to get a first impression and students talked about their erasmus experience. academic preparation I did not do any academic preparation before I left. language preparation I did not do any language course beforehand and I never had Italian in High school, so I really did not speak any Italian when I arrived. But I did the EILC in Perugia in the month of August and from there I went directly to Rome. I can only recommend to to the same: You meet great people who study all over Itlaly (great for visiting other cities), you learn at least a bit of Italian and combined with a one-week language course offered by LUISS you get in total 9 ECTS if you pass and you can eventually count the language courses towards your Bachelor instead of another course. And the best: It is for free. page 5 of 22

6 finances I saved some money in the year before I went abroad and I worked in July before I left. I did most of the financing myself and plus the Erasmus grant this is doable. However Rome is very expensive, you should expect to pay at around 500 per month for rent and food is also more expensive than in the Netherlands. Be aware that you will spend A LOT of money in those six months, because you travel, eat, go out and do fun stuff as much as you can. (At least you should :)) study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) Since I do not have a minor I could basically take the courses I liked at LUISS. I only had to pay attention that they were not overlapping with other courses I already took in Utrecht and that I have enough level 3 courses to graduate. Huup Klein Schiphorst was a big help in advising me on what courses to take abroad and to check if I have all courses needed in the end to graduate. I would advise everyone to check what levels and courses you need in order to graduate and then chose your courses abroad accordingly. A small dissapointment was that since LUISS is a rather small university they do not offer many different (english speaking!) courses during one semester. Therefore the choice was rather limited. academic quality of education/placement activities Well it is easy to say that the academic quality at UU definetly exceeds the one from LUISS. However compared to other Italian universitys LUISS is definetly the most organized and with the better education. What I found a nice change was that there were a lot of "professors" who were not actually professors, but simply worked their whole life and now passed their knowledge on to students. I found this very refreshing and so much closer to the real world than what you can often find at UU. counselling/support at host institution/organisation As an Eramsus student you get a lot of support at LUISS especially at the beginning after you arrived and have no idea whats going on. They give you an information package with everything you need and also the exchange office is often open and they answer s fast. transfer of credits I do not yet know how that exactly will work, since LUISS did not yet send my grades to UU. However I heard that the transfer of credits from LUISS to UU is rather easy since all courses have 8 credits. And if you pay attention that they don t overlap with others you have already taken it should be no problem. student life welcome/orientation programme The welcoming- phase at LUISS was definetly one of the best time here in Rome. As I said you get a lot of support and the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) is very active here in organising trips, parties, a tandem program, international dinners and so on. They also organise a whole welcome week, which was quite expensive and the activities were okay, but it was great for meeting new people. My advise: Do as much you can, participate, travel and be open to other students and do not only hang out with people from your own country. accommodation I found my room through a friend from Utrecht who was already studying in Rome. I contacted some people I knew and she gave me the contact of her landlord. Everything worked out great and I lived together with 4 girls in page 6 of 22

7 a nice apartment. It was a bit outside the city centre, but relatively close to LUISS. The rents here are ridiculously high, so expect to pay around ! It is also good to be in Erasmus groups on facebook, such as ESN or the Luiss group or the Utrecht group who goes to LUISS. Often people offer or search for rooms there. leisure/culture Rome is simply amazing. I have never been here before and I was just stunned by all the great architecture, buildings, piazzen, fountains and other sightseeing things. You can do a lot here, and you will never be bored. At least you shouldn't be if you use your time to explore the city, go to the beach in Ostia (by train really easy) or take the train to another city (trains are pretty cheap here). The Italian culture is something I needed to get used to. Italian guys are very (!) flirty and fast in making comments. Italians take there time and don t mind waiting for the bus or walking a lot. The transportation system is the worst I experienced so far. Expect to wait for busses a long time and you never know when and if they actually show up. But you will get used to it. suggestions/tips Be active, walk around the city, have always a street map with you, don t be shy to ask people for the way (you will get lost a lot), participate in ESN activities such as trips and parties. A trip is a great way to meet new people! And try to adapt to the Italian way of living: Good food ( a LOT of Pizza and Pasta), vino, be patient and don t care too much about being late (also to classes, professor will be even later than you are), talking fast, get lost in the city. Be aware that rome is very big, you need time to get to places: I would usually calculate half an hour longer than you thought you would need. conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain Yes! Definetly. LUISS is a beautiful university, people are nice, but a bit snobby. Professors are usually fair and credit transfer should not be a problem. If you study well for your exams you will usually have better grades than you are maybe used to. They like to give high grades here if they are prepared well. Rome is simply great to live for a couple of months. Its super busy, in the summer months full of tourist and people on the street trying to sell you stuff. But you can do so much! There are endless possibilites and you will be amazed by the city at night and during the christmas time. do you have any additional advice or comments? Do an Erasmus! page 7 of 22

8 family name Dirksen first name Emma optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly faculty/college USE Economics level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics and business economics destination city & country Rome, Italy name host institution and/or LUISS Guido Carli company/organization purpose Erasmus grant study/courses work placement departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 08 / 02 / 2013 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 23 / 07 / 2013 You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing! preparation exchange/placement application process The application process was not difficult. First, I handed in my motivation letter, cv, study planning and financial planning through Osiris, including my top 3 of destinations. Two weeks after the deadline in January I heard that I was conditionally accepted to my first choice, LUISS in Rome. After that, I needed to fill in an online form of LUISS, and I sent it together with a copy of my passport and a few photos by mail to Italy (via the exchange coordinator of economics, Andrea Naylor). LUISS sent me back an acceptation letter and info package. counselling/support at home university The support was sufficient. If you have questions, the easiest way to get them answered is to go to the open office hours of the exchange coordinator. academic preparation When I left, I was overall in my 4th year of studies and I was in the 3rd year of economics. So as it was my plan to follow some economic electives at LUISS, I didn't expect any problems regarding the level of the courses etc. language preparation At LUISS I could follow courses which are fully taught in English, so I didn't need to speak proper Italian. I took a short beginner course Italian in the year before I left, and that was useful though. finances In general, studying abroad will be more expensive than studying in the Netherlands. Accommodation in Rome can cost you twice as much for example, and I also spent a lot on trips, going out and other activities. I could finance this by the Erasmus grant, study grant (of the Dutch government), OV compensation, I borrowed money from DUO and I saved some money in advance as well. study/placement abroad period page 8 of 22

9 study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) I had prepared my study planning carefully. Except for the thesis, I had finished everything before I left. This gave me the opportunity to freely choose some electives. In the end, I follow 4 economic electives during the semester. For each course, I had 2 or 3 lectures a week, and there were no tutorials like in Utrecht. Also the schedule is different at LUISS: there is just 1 semester instead of 2 periods, and a 3-month period of lectures is followed by 1,5 month of examination. academic quality of education/placement activities I experienced the overall level as lower than the level in Utrecht, especially when it comes to the exams. It can differ from professor to professor what level is asked. However, the professors are good in their field and the books are similar to the books used in Utrecht. counselling/support at host institution/organisation The support was sufficient. transfer of credits At the moment of writing, for me this hasn't happened yet. student life welcome/orientation programme There was a short introduction program of LUISS itself. We got a big info package and some gadgets, the exchange officer of LUISS talked about some practical issues and we were guided through the university building. Furthermore, ESN organized a welcome week with a lot of nice activities for all incoming Erasmus students. accommodation It is not very difficult to get a room in Rome, but it is expensive though. I got my room via a friend. It is also possible to subscribe for accommodation via the university, or to put a message on Facebook (look at the page of ESN Roma LUISS). Most Erasmus students of LUISS live close to Viale Regina Margherita, Piazza Istria or Piazza Bologna. leisure/culture It's really amazing to live in Rome, you will never get bored here. Rome is first of all, of course, a real cultural city. It's nice to walk through the old city, visit some churches and museums. Further, there are a lot of nice parks in Rome (like Villa Ada). Also the beach (tip: s.marinella, one hour by train from Termini) is not far away and of course it is also possible to visit other places in Italy. suggestions/tips Don't be shy and plan an Erasmus period within your studies! It is really good for your personal development and most of all it is a great experience. conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain Yes, I would! Maybe LUISS isn't the best option if you're looking for challenging education abroad, but you will certainly gain new knowledge here. page 9 of 22

10 do you have any additional advice or comments? Enjoy every moment of your stay! page 10 of 22

11 family name Poen first name Victor optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you address directly v.j.a.poen@students.uu.nl faculty/college Utrecht School of Economics level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics and Business Economics destination city & country Rome, Italy name host institution and/or LUISS Guido Carli company/organization purpose Erasmus grant study/courses work placement departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 31 / 08 / 2011 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 09 / 02 / 2012 You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing! preparation exchange/placement application process I wanted to go abroad for half a year without having a study-delay so I decided to go on exchange within Europe. First I applied for the University of Malta but unfortunately another UU student managed to get in instead of me. I was still in time for the exchange programmes from my own faculty so I decided to go to Rome (LUISS Guido Carli) instead. The application process went pretty smooth. I just made an overview of everything I had to hand in and started ticking items of the list until I could apply. counselling/support at home university The communication with the exchange officer of USE was very good, she quickly responded important s and knew everything I needed to know. Also, while in Italy, the study-counselor and the board of examiners responded quickly to all questions. academic preparation As I did the exchange in my third year I already had enough credits to be allowed to go abroad. Also, in my second year, I decided to do three courses (instead of two) per period because otherwise I would not have been able to finish my major- and minor programmes. Doing extra courses before you leave is smart because it also makes sure you don't feel that much pressure during your exchange. There is enough to keep you busy anyway, and academic performances are definitely easier in the home university since you are already used to that system. language preparation My host university offered courses in English so I did not have to prepare any Italian before I went to Rome. My language skills were already good enough so I did not prepare any English. I did start the semester with a language course and continued with learning Italian during the semester, but I only did this because I liked blending in with the locals. Learning Italian had no added value to my academic performance. finances I expected life in Rome to be more expensive than life in Utrecht, and it was. Also I did not want to work in Rome and, because it is a special occasion, I didn't want to care too much about spending money. As a result I had to make use of my savings account and borrow money from DUO. I made a calculation on what the maximum was I could spend per month and page 11 of 22

12 stayed under that maximum. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) I already finished most courses I wanted to do in Utrecht so I could pick any course I wanted to do. Since there weren't that many courses offered in English it was easy to choose. I decided to do courses that were different from the courses I had done in Utrecht so I ended up with business courses and one history course. Signing up for these courses took place at the beginning of the semester and we were told to sign up for 10 courses, check out the lectures, and then drop half of them so you make sure you do the courses you like. In the end I did 6 courses (38ects), a language course and a 'business challenge' consultancy project organised by the university. academic quality of education/placement activities I was at first surprised that the courses had started for one or two weeks but that the books were still unavailable. But apparently this is standard operating procedure in Italy and since the courses take one semester it was not a problem. Our teachers were very good. They were all very experienced in their fields and could provide us with a lot of new insights. There were mostly lectures and only a few projects I had to do, which is quite different from Utrecht. Also, I had to read a lot more than in Utrecht. Apart from the lectures the teachers made us read an incredible amount of pages. The exams were also different. For only two course I had written exams, for two courses I had oral exams and one course was examined during two in-class essay assignments. counselling/support at host institution/organisation Although slightly difficult to reach, the International Office had all the information we needed and was quite helpful in solving problems. But since they communicated everything very well at the very beginning of the semester I did not need them very often. The only inconvenience I had was when an exam date was changed after I booked a holiday, which made if very difficult for me to be there prepared and on time. transfer of credits Transfer of credits did not take place yet. student life welcome/orientation programme I arrived a week early in Rome to arrange some stuff (telephone, housing, transport etc.) so I was well prepared at the very beginning of the semester. For those who signed up, there was a one-week language course offered by the university. This course was very good and it was also the first opportunity to meet the other erasmus-students. After this one-week language course there was an official welcome by the local ESN office. They organized a lot of activities for the erasmus students and communicated everything very well. The welcome programme was excellent. accommodation I was very lucky with my accomodation. The University offered help with finding an appartment. I could contact someone from the university who would then send me information on rooms that I could rent. The University did not offer rooms themselves but via this service they did a great job in helping the erasmus students. I told the contact person at the University that I wanted to live in an appartment with other Italian students and I found the perfect place; close to the University, in a good area, big room, cheap and with Italian roommates. leisure/culture On an exchange to Rome it is impossible to miss the culture. Everywhere you go there is something to see, there are many museums (often no student discount) and a lot is going on in this city (day and night). Also outside Rome there are some interesting places that are fairly easy to reach with public transport. I was especially delighted to find out that it took me 45 minutes to get from the centre of Rome to the beaches of Ostia. suggestions/tips If you have sufficient biking experience, make sure to buy a bicycle. You are no longer dependent on the public transport page 12 of 22

13 (quite unreliable in Rome) and you will get to know the city so much better. It is also quicker than public transport. conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain LUISS is a wonderful host organisation. You will get great teachers, good food at the mensa, and a beautiful university campus in a very nice city. Compared to other Italian universities everything is organised very well. Also, since it is an 'international university', a lot of the local students are not really Italian but also international students so it is easier to blend in. do you have any additional advice or comments? page 13 of 22

14 family name Weinberg first name Maryse optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly address maryse@familieweinberg.nl level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics and Business Economics destination city & country Rome, Italy name host institution and/or LUISS Guido Carli company/organization purpose Erasmus grant study/courses work placement departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 07 / 09 / 2010 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 05 / 02 / 2011 You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing! preparation exchange/placement application process I was sure I wanted to go somewhere already when I started my study. I went to information meetings to orientate and heard that it was the most easy to study abroad in an European county. So I came to my choice of studying in county more to the south, Spain or Italy. In the end, the curriculum (which was changed when I came there) and the contact of the Utrecht School of Economics with LUISS Guido Carli in Rome were the most important factors to chose Rome. counselling/support at home university Andrea Naylor, the exchange officer of the Utrecht School of Economics helpt me a lot with the chosing of university and the rest I had to arrange. academic preparation To select the courses I wanted to follow, I made an appointment with Huub Klein Schiphorst, the academic counsellor. He went with me through all the courses of the 3 universities I had in mind (Rome, Madrid, Bologna). language preparation The language in the courses was English, the same language we use in Utrecht but I did a little Italian course on the James Boswell Institute. finances I looked for a job for the summer to finance my living costs. In the end I worked 2-3 days per week in the summer and did the rest of the days nice things. My Erasmus grant plus my salary financed the rent of my room ( 590 per month), the rest of the money was from the IBG (studiefinanciering + lening). study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) When I arrived in Rome, almost the whole curriculum was changed. I had to select my courses again and look page 14 of 22

15 very carefull through all the requirements to finish my bachelor this academic year. It was quite confusing. academic quality of education/placement activities I think the academic level of the courses at the host institution was definitely lower than in Utrecht. The approach has more a focus on learning by heard and not an application of the things learned. I think the university of Utrecht is more academic and researched based then the host university. Also the workload is lower during the year but with exams higher because it is more to study (because it is everything from half a year). counselling/support at host institution/organisation When you have questions regarding all kinds of things, for example about that your name is not correctly spelled, there is a difference in the dealing with them. Maybe it is the cultural difference but when I have this sort of problems in Utrecht they have more of a 'problem solving attitute', while at the host university they first explain that it is not their fault and then they try to help you. It is often that you should ask another person and then the other person does not know anything, going to another person and in the end you are again with the same person as in the beginning! transfer of credits My courses are not yet in Osiris but hopefully they will be there soon. I get the same ECTs as they get in Italy for the courses, except for the language course, I am not yet sure if I get credits for it. student life welcome/orientation programme On the 7 th of September the university organised a welcome day. We had to fill in a lot of papers, met people, did our italian test for the language course and they showed us the buildings of the university. It was well organised with a lot of usefull information! accommodation I arranged my room via CTS and came in contact with them though the university. They ed me accommodations and I had to confirm them. A girl I knew who lived in Rome advised me a district to live. When I arrived, together with my mother, the room was a complete mess. We needed 3 days to clean and buy things that were not there. After that I really loved my room. My roommates were also very nice, with the exception of one roommate they are really friends of me. In the beginning I had one Dutch and 3 Italian roommates. Later I had one Belgium, one Italian, one German and one French roommate. In the house I saw cultural differences but also similarities. leisure/culture In the beginning I thought, I have enough time to see Rome and travel in Italy in half a year. But after a while I saw that that time flies when you are having fun! I tried to do a cultural activity every weekend. Also I travelled in Italy, I went to Toscane, Napels and did day trips with the train from an hour to 3 hours away from Rome. Rome is the best city to do cultural things, there are so many churches, musea and other beautiful things and I really liked that. suggestions/tips Try to make the most of it and spend your time well. You think you have a lot of time, but like I said, time flies when you are having fun! conclusions page 15 of 22

16 would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain Yes, I would recommend this city for sure and also the university. Rome is a beautiful city and has everything, with a focus on the classical art. After half a year I still could do things I haven't done. The university was the best in Rome in this period for sure because (almost all) the other universities striked untill mid November. I think also if they did not strike, it was the best, I base this on stories of other students on other universities. do you have any additional advice or comments? Read all the forms before and try to arrange everything in time. page 16 of 22

17 family name Atlihan first name Sinan optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics and Business Economics destination city & country Rome, Italy name host institution and/or LUISS Guido Carli company/organization purpose Erasmus grant study/courses Erasmus Mundus master s programme work placement field work other, departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 01 / 02 / 2010 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 08 / 02 / 2011 preparation exchange/placement application process At LUISS university (Rome, Italy) I participated in courses which were only related to Business. This is due to the home institution (Utrecht School of Economics) that has an certain agreement with the host institution which allows students in Utrecht to have a minor in Business. This requires students to stay one year in Rome. I was told that the business programme is a highly selective one which will choose only a certain amount of students. In order to be accepted I had to write a letter of motivation and hand in a cirriculum vitae. The exchange coordinator at Utrecht School of Economics was responsible for the evaluation. After having received the information that I belong to one of the selective students, I only had to wait for further information given by the coordinator of exchange. Since the exchange is based on certain agreement between the home and host insitution, I was not required to apply through the normal process of Erasmus. counselling/support at home university The home university organized some events and information programmes. We followd a Italian language course in Utrecht which was organized by the home institution. Learning these basics of a new language were very useful in Rome. First, we could easier follow and improve our language skills in the Italian language course which was held in Rome. Secondly, the knowledge that we gained in the course in Utrecht were also really helpful to accomplish daily challenges in the beginning. I could easily contact the the exchange coordinator if I had any questions and problems regarding the programme and the exchange in general. The home institution did not organize an event when the Italian students arrived in Utrecht. I got them to know in the lectures and tutorials in Utrecht. But later on, the coordinator of the exchange office organized different activities such as bowling or dinner in which we got to know the Italian students better. It was very important for me because I knew at that time that I am going to spend some time with them in Rome. Therefore, I appreciated such events and I am really thankful for the organization. Conclusion: I am satisfied with the support of the home institution. academic preparation page 17 of 22

18 There was no need for an academic preparation. Since the exchange belongs to my bachelor degree, there was no necessity for a special acaemic preparation. I just attended some courses in the same way I did in Utrecht. I finished all my courses in Utrecht and went immediately to Rome. language preparation As I mentioned in the section "counselling/ support at home university", there was a language course organized by the home university. It helped me to get started in a new coutry with different habits and a completely different language. The language course in Utrecht course was held once a week (1.5 hours each meeting) for a period of two months in total. It was very helpful for me in my daily life. For exampple going to the supermarket and asking for a bag or buying a bus ticket. Therefore, I liked it very much to get in touch with a new language and to learn more about the culture of the country. But the language preparation was also really useful in the Italian language course which was offeren by the host university. Having learned the basics of the new language in Utrecht we could improve our language skills much better in Rome. Therefore, I liked the language preparation in Utrecht. finances Everything was calculated and discussed with my family. I expected Rome to be very expensive. Therefore I safed some money beforehand to cover unexpected costs. Indeed, it was a good choice to have additional money on my savings account. So, I could pay for things that were not planned. Rome is much more expensive than Utrecht. Thanks so the savings and the help of my family I am able to stay and study in Rome. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) The courses that I took in Rome were all mandatory (which means I couldnt even choose one course based on my preference) because I am following a large Business minor here in Rome next to my major economics. So Utrecht School of Economics decided for me which courses I am supposed to take in Rome. Since I decided to follow a minor in Business I am absolutely satisfied with the courses I am attending and the material what we study in class. academic quality of education/placement activities I would say that the academic quality of eduaction in Rome is approximately the same level as in Utrecht. But are there things which are easier and things that are more challenging in Rome. For instance, in Utrecht we have four periods in one academic year. Each period has two courses which means that we have approximately two exams for each course. However, in Rome an academic year consists of two semesters and in each semester we have four courses (and their corresponding assessment method). So adjusting yourself from the Utrecht system to the Rome system is a tough challenge. This makes it hard in the beginning to keep on track with the study material in all of the courses (because you think that you have plenty of time to study later, but infact it is difficult to study for four courses simultaneously). I had to manage my time bet ter in order to follow and attend all the lectures of the four courses. This was the biggest challenge for me. The study material was not so hard for me because I liked the courses (the courses was related to business). The teachers and professors are really motivated. They are willing to help students as much as they can and are well prepared for coming lectures or classes. The impression of the professors was very professional. For example, in the course "marketing" we had guest speakers from big companies. They gave us a short overview about the company itself and their corresponding strategies in the market. This kind of lectures were really page 18 of 22

19 interesting and useful for the future. I am right now in an exam period and notice that in such period it is much more difficult than Utrecht. I have to study for four courses simultaneously for a long period of time. Since I like the courses, I hope to score high in the exams. counselling/support at host institution/organisation The support at host institution is approximately the same as in Utrecht. The coordinator for exchange students was really friendly. She tried to answer all of our questions and was really ambitious in helping students. Unfortunalely, there was only a small orientation programme but not a proper introduction week to help students to get used to the new environment. This was missing. Since I knew all of the Italian students already from Utrecht, they basically have shown me the area of the university and the corresponding buildings. To conclude I was really satisfied with the support at host institution and perhaps positively surprised about it in the beginning. transfer of credits Transfering credits from the host institution to the home university is basically not a problem at all. As I mentioned already above this exchange is a highly selective business programme. There is a special agreement between the two universities. The courses that the students will follow is approved by each party. At LUISS we can get 8 ECTS for each course except the last course where can get only 4 ECTS. Everything is perfectly organized by Utrecht School of Economics. So this means we would have gotten the same amount of ECTS when would study in Utrecht instead of one year in Rome. To conclude there is no problem of transfering the credits to the home university. student life welcome/orientation programme There was only a small orientation programme. In this programme, we were taught about general issues (which means university system, exam dates, etc.) at LUISS but not specific information about libraries in the city or any study avices. However, the university organized a dinner, a party, and a welcome brunch. Since we were not really considered as Erasmus students (because of the certain agreement and the minor in Business) it was difficult to talk to other students because the welcome brunch was not a long event. It was rather an short introduction. accommodation The location of the appartment is very nice. It is close to the center and also to the university. The condition of the appartment was good when I entered my room. Everyhting was fine. I share the appartment with three other students. I know them from Utrecht because we attended the same courses and are in the same programme. This was definitely an advantage for me because coming to a new country without knowing anyone and not speaking the language would feel a bit lonely. On the contrary, I would have liked to live with some Italian students in order to know more about the coutry, the people, the mentality of the inhabitants, and of course to improve my Italian by talking to inhabitants. The appartment is very expensive. The costs and payments that I have to pay are much more than in Utrecht. page 19 of 22

20 leisure/culture Leisure is a big part of the Italian mentality. They know when to work hard but also know when to relax and not to think about anything. They like to drink coffee and eat pizza while having a nice conversation with friends. Even if it's only for 5 minutes, they would like to talk to each other. During the day, most of the shops close because of the so called "siesta". This is basically a break where all the Italians eat and relax. Few hours later, they open the shops again until the evening. To know more about a different culture and lifestyle was also one of the reasons to go for such exchange. I wanted to experience it and learn more about it. I think I will benefit a lot from this experience not only for my future job but also as a person/character. The culture is definitely perfect for Erasmus students. There was plenty of time to see everything in Rome. The Erasmus community from LUISS organized few trips where everybody could join (of course only people from the university). It was a great experience to learn more about the Italian culture and menality. Obviously, there were things I understood right away and things I couldn t agree with. Generally, Italians are calm people and know exactly their values as human beings. suggestions/tips One should be aware of the following things when deciding to go for an exchange to Italy: - Be aware of the mentality and culture. It is not the same as in north europe. People value different things. So don't expect people to adjust to your way of thinking. Adopt to their mentality - Italy is expensive. Especially in Rome where a lot of tourists come from all over the world. Calculate your budget and safe money in addition. This will help to pay extra costs that were not included in your lists of expenses - Use the time not only to see Rome but also some beautiful parts of Italy. It's absolutely worth it conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain I would absolutely recommend this host university to others. The teachers and professors are very professional and are willing to help students as much they can. They are well prepared for the lectures. The lectures are not just based on theoretical concepts and framworks but also related to real life or big companies (for example, the guest speakers from large multinationals in the marketing course). It makes the course also really interesting. This is very positively to remark. Apart from the teachers and professors the university itself offers a great cafeteria, terrasse, study rooms, and a lot more which makes going to university much more fun. It was an amazing experience. I can only recommend it to others. It's definitely worth it. do you have any additional advice or comments? Additional advices: - Concerning the studies be aware of the different university system - Be aware of the different grading system (obviously it depends on the faculty of Utrecht School of Economics) page 20 of 22

21 family name Orlowski first name Johannes optional; only if you don t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly address j.s.orlowski@students.uu.nl faculty/college Utrecht School of Economics level bachelor master PhD other name degree programme Economics and Business Economics destination city & country name host institution and/or company/organization purpose Erasmus grant Rome, Italy LUISS-Libera Universitá Internationale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli study/courses Erasmus Mundus master s programme work placement field work other, departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) 01 / 03 / 2010 return date (dd/mm/yyyy) 01 / 02 / 2011 preparation exchange/placement application process In generall the application was easy. There was a minimum requirement of ECTS (90) and i had to write a letter of motivation counselling/support at home university The support at my home University was outstanding. Every question was answerd fast and sufficient. academic preparation My academic preperation was more than sufficient for the study abroad. language preparation I joint a language course in advance at my home university. Furthermore i continued this course in Italy finances The fincances were sufficient for the stay. There were no complications in receiving it. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) The study programm absolutely matched with my expectations. The courses were interesting and helped to broaden my academic mind. The joint degree Utrecht/ Rome is a programm i only can recommend. academic quality of education/placement activities The academic quality was on a high level. The courses were demanding but doable with quite some effort. However the language skills of the professors could be improved. counselling/support at host institution/organisation page 21 of 22