Q. Are you satisfied with your exchange, and would you
recommend others to do the same?
I am not satisfied with my exchange. I am rather
disappointed, but that does not mean that someone else can’t enjoy it.
ULB has interesting EU courses, and I would say it is a
good option (maybe the best) for someone interested in EU politics. The EU
institutions in Brussels do play a positive role regarding this topic, with the
university organizing lectures by people with hands-on experience from the
institutions.
If someone wants to go to ULB on an exchange they should
have good enough French skills to do courses in French. It is hard to find 30
ects worth of relevant courses in English when each course is 5 ects. This
means you must do 6 courses to follow normal study progression. Most courses
have weekly reading reports, a paper or presentation and a final written exam.
I don’t think it’s viable to take 30 points if someone also
wants to experience something on the side like traveling, which is an important
part of being on exchange.
Brussels is perfect for people if they want to go to
France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, or other places in Belgium. It
has great connectivity.
Another aspect of the exchange is that the student must be
ready to pay a lot for rent in comparison to Ås, and it is very hard to find a
room. Expect to pay 800-1000 € for a
room in a collective. They must be early and research in what parts of
Brussels they want to live - as it makes a huge difference for the general
satisfaction. They should buy something in the Ixelles area, even though it is
more expensive. They should also be cautious and buy through either Airbnb or
housing anywhere. There are a lot of scams in Brussels, as four people
attempted to scam me before I found an apartment.
Another heads-up is that general house quality is poor.
There is also no good trash system in the city, so trash is put on the street.
This leads to rat and mouse infestations. I had a room on the first floor –
which meant I could not open my windows unsupervised without having visitors.
Housing anywhere gives you security by providing you with a
new place if the one you rent from them does not fit the description. The fee
you must pay for this service is around 3000kr and the university claims they
will refund it. I never saw that money again.
Q. Was it difficult to get the courses you wanted at the
host university?
The total selection of courses is fine. Unfortunately, upon
arrival, several of the courses were not available – including some in English.
Due to the limited number of relevant courses in English, I would not recommend
going with no French skills, even though some master subjects are in English.
If you have an academic level of French, this should pose
no problem to you, but if you want to do mainly English courses you may face
problems filling the academic calendar.
The workload in many of the courses is much higher than in
Norway. And they have a system where exams are in January, which makes it
impossible to attend a January bloc at NMBU if that is wanted. You will most
likely be studying during Christmas if you take 30 ects.
Q. Did you get all of the courses approved when back at
NMBU?
At the moment of writing this post, I have not received the
marks for my last exam – which I should have received. The slow bureaucracy is
something to get used to in Belgium, both in Academia and in the municipality.
This means I have not received the rest of my Erasmus funds.
Q. Are you satisfied with the academic quality at the host
university?
The quality of the courses is high, but they also have a
high workload compared to NMBU. NMBU gives you time to delve into the topics
you are most interested in, allowing you to tailor your academic outcome. My
experience from ULB is that there is just enough time to get ready for the next
presentation, in-class debate, paper, or exam. There was no room to delve into
what I found most interesting. Therefore, I prefer the courses at NMBU, as they
allow you to tailor your academic outcome.
They are rearranging the language course system at the
university, so their French courses are bad, and communication is nonexistent.
It’s just reading from a PDF twice a week. I came one month early because they
recommended it, and they could not provide any course. They spent two months on
finally giving me one.
If you need to improve your French don’t come early. Save
that one month in rent and use it on courses not provided by the university.
Another important aspect influencing your academic outcome
is the student environment and the campus facilities.
We are spoiled at NMBU with great facilities. The buildings
and libraries are much better at NMBU in comparison to ULB. There are no
options to book rooms as a group at ULB, and during exams, you must come early
to secure yourself a seat at the library. The libraries are big and rather
noisy. Therefore, I would recommend having a flat where you can read on your
own – in peace.
The student environment is what you make of it. If you want
to get in touch with your students you have to actively approach them, as there
has been limited group work. The professor’s approach to lectures gives little
room to engage the content collectively – though there are some courses where
discussions and debates are encouraged.
Q. How beneficial was the Erasmus grant?
It was crucial. You spend more money on living in Brussels
than in Ås. It could be compared to living in Oslo. But keep in mind that you
only get the first part of the money while you are there. If you don’t want to
make compromises on living standards, you should save up money before coming,
especially if you want to travel.
Q. Did you obtain what you wanted by going on exchange?
Personally, I would go somewhere else if I could choose
again. ULB has a good reputation, and the exchange adds value to your CV. If
you know French, you will get more out of the stay than me. If you save up
money before you go and avoid the additional costs of learning French, you can
enjoy travel as well.
In conclusion, I think ULB can be a good experience for
someone who speaks French fluently and wants to study EU politics on the
condition that they find a place to live in the better areas of the city.
I would recommend doing January and August courses at NMBU
before going so that you can reduce the workload while on exchange.
I may add that there is quite a lot of crime there, with
frequent pickpocketing and robberies. And I would not advise going home late
alone. This does of course depend on where you are in the city. Always hold
tight to your belongings.
Country - Belgium
Name of host university – Universite Libre de
Bruxelles
Study area while on exchange – Political Sciences
Study program at NMBU – Master program International
Relations.
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