Can't decide where to go on Erasmus

Hey there,
I would love to spend my last year of studies at a University in either Italy or France. I've narrowed down my choices to:
1. Nice
2. Toulouse
3. Bologna
4. Firenze

But I still need to cut down 2 Universities, as my final choices can only consist in 2 Unis. :frown:

Since I've never been to any of these cities (except Nice, but I don't remember much), a little help from former Erasmus students who have studied there would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm mostly going for the "erasmus spirit" if you can call it that way.. I want to have that cool cultural/international experience, party, study, get to know tonns of ppl, travel... :smile:

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

Reply 1

kamc

I don't have personal experience but the French people I've spoken to from erasmus have said their isn't a party culture in French unis, which is why they came here, and there aren't really many societies to join besides sports. They said the focus was all on studying rather than the "uni experience" people go to uni for over here.

Reply 2

aquamarine_blue

OMG that's rather bad :frown:

So maybe I'm best off going to IT for some dolce vita :biggrin:

Reply 3

oxymoronic

Well you need to consider would you be more comfortable in studying in French or Italian? This should be your first priority (I'm assuming you're not a language student as you've said you want to Erasmus spirit etc) as otherwise you'll really struggle.

I was an Erasmus student in Scandinavia last year so it was in English but most people were non native English speakers wanting to improve, and some did come over with next to no language skills - as in all they could say was "hi my name is..." and by the end of the year they were some of the best at English, but they really struggled with it so I'd reccomend going to the country where you feel your language skills are the strongest.

However, if you feel you're pretty okay with both languages then I'd base it on where you'll be living. From what I've heard from both my French friends and friends doing Erasmus in French, a lot of the universities are campus based and outside of the town meaning it is fairly difficult to get in and out for nights out as you're relying on busses which stop early in the evening. You want to be somewhere where you can walk home at night easily enough from clubs. The French students tend to live at home, and to a lesser extent so do the Italians, and you'll find that as an Erasmus student you'll end up absorbed in the Erasmus world and might only end up with a few local students as friends then the rest of your friends are international. At least, thats what happened with me! I know people in both Bologna and Florence at the moment and are having a really really good time :smile:

aquamarine_blue