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Quite Confusing... Academic Reasons of studying abroad in Continental Europe?

Hello everyone at TSR!

I’m now considering studying abroad in continental Europe, and I plan to directly enroll at a continental European university during my studying abroad period, not take part in separate study abroad programs run by British / American universities.

However, according to my friends, they have a nice time partying and travelling when studying abroad in continental Europe. So that makes me wonder, is studying abroad in continental Europe a good decision regarding academic study? For example, is this an effective way to acquire a wide academic horizon?

On the other hand, is academic experience of studying in continental Europe quite different from the US? And is this beneficial academically?

By the way, since I plan to take some courses of humanities, I wish to know that, is intellectual atmosphere in European universities quite different from British / American universities?

I will be very appreciated for each reply. And I’ll be very grateful if anyone could give some examples about this. Thank you!

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 1

Donosti

I will be studying in Sweden next year, so I'll be more prepared to answer your question then :P

But I don't think there's any reason for you to worry. University rankings are often very centred on US-UK universities and tend to ignore those in other countries. But you'd be pressed to find universities better than (for example) Uppsala, Copenhagen, Leuven or SciencesPo in the United Kingdom. These are very strong universities academically that can give Oxbridge a run for their money

Reply 2

Nathanielle

1. Europe is very small and has a good infrastructure, so it takes you sometimes only half an hour to drive to another country, which makes it very easy to see a lot if you have the money for it.

2. It depends on you, whether you do internships or partying.

3. You can expect at least 30 weeks a year without vacation. (15 weeks lectures per semester + essays, exams, internships, extra academic activities during vacation + earning some money/free time) (Okay, in Germany, we have 15 weeks.)

4. Some people study abroad only for the purpose of partying and travelling exspecially if they just spend a year or so.