Details

• France
• MAWiRe-21
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

Arrival: If you want to make use of the Erasmus Green Travel fund, I recommend using the day train over Stuttgart (Westbahn: Vienna - Stuttgart, TGV: Stuttgart - Paris) as the nightjet does not work right now. Room: Do not stress too early about rooms/appartments - for student residencies it makes sense to ask them to put you on their waiting list but for private appartment as the notice period is usually 1 month they are available short-term. I found my room end June. Transport: I used the Imagine R students (PassNavigo) annual pass and terminated it in January. So, in total it was cheaper than buying monthly passes. CAF: Housing allowance from the city of Paris for some appartments. Apply beforehand. The payments are retroactively (I applied in August and received the first payment in December). I got an international birth certificate from the "Standesamt" in order to apply. Do not forget to tell them when you are going back to Austria. Courses: As we got the syllabi of the courses when the courses start in September I only used courses mentioned in the "Anerkennungsdatenbank" for my "Feststellungsbescheid".

2. Accommodation

I booked my appartment over Wellow.houses. I lived in a coliving with 3 roommates in the 12 Arrondissement. It took me about 35-40 minutes to go to uni. I recommend living in Paris but near metro line 8 as this is the one going to the uni in creteil. I payed 500 € administration fee for the appartment and I had to have a guarantee (cost around 250 €). The 12 arrondissement is a really calm arrondissement with a lot of families but not so many cafés, restaurants, etc. Wellow was okay for the appartment but I am not sure if I would recommend because you have to do the move-in-inventory over an app and the app never works. If you use Wellow I would recommend photo-documenting the inventory as a back-up and also asking them before signing the contract how long the main contract will be (because they sublet the rooms and my roommate had the problem that the main contract got terminated and she had to move out early) There is also the cité international where you can apply but you need to be early. Often you get a 1-year rent contract that you can then terminate with a notice period of 1 month. Most of the appartments/student residencies demand either a french guarantor or a guarantee from a guarantee firm like SmartGarant or GuarantMe.

3. Academic life at host university

Campus infrastructure: Campus is not in Paris but in Creteil. There is not a lot going on in Creteil. You have a mensa and a cafeteria on the campus where you can eat lunch for about 3,3 €. There are some supermarkets, small restaurants but not really a lot. Teaching style / Comparison WU: Mostly frontal lecture. Not really participation needed (only in 2 out of 8 of my courses there were points for participation). Attendance also less strict than at WU. In half my courses I had to do a presentation.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport: In september there were some strikes, but overall worked great. Recommendation: IDF Mobilités App as you can see problems up-to-date. Social/leisure activities: There are some sport courses at the uni. Also language courses. Most of the museums are free for people under 26 years.

6. Testimonial

Museums, french pastries and french speaking - I really loved my semester abroad in Paris as you have 1000 different things to do every day and it is such a vivid city. Also I overcame my fear of speaking french with others and slowly started to become more confident. I would 100% repeat the exchange semester here. There are also comedy clubs, cheap cinemas, great food, etc. to experience.