Details

• Italy
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

The International Student Desk of Bocconi creates a Facebook Group with all incoming exchange students where you can connect with people prior to your exchange. Start looking for accommodation as early as possible. Reach out to other students from your university or connect in the Facebook group to find private accommodation, it is actually cheaper than student accommodation in most cases.

2. Accommodation

There is some accommodation available through university but it is very competitive and places are limited. I stayed in one of the student residences but it was very expensive. The accommodation was around 15-20 min by foot from the university, the area was really good in terms of infrastructure (huge supermarket and tram station nearby) but it was not recommended to walk there at night, the area can be unsafe. In hindsight, I would definitely recommend to find people to share private accommodation. Student accommodation is very expensive in Milan. So are the rents in general, but my friends staying at private accommodation ended up paying less than I did.

3. Academic life at host university

Compared to WU, Bocconi focuses more on real-world application. In many classes, there are guest lectures and group projects where you collaborate with real companies. You can usually choose how you want to be graded, e.g. just take a final exam or do group project + exam. A huge difference to WU is that you have the same class 3-4 times a week, each only lasting for an hour and a half. So even if I took only 4 classes, I ended up having around 3 classes every day of the week. When it comes to studying, the library is much smaller than WU´s and always very packed. For studying I would recommend to find coffee shops nearby, there are a lot of them.

5. Every day life in the host country

Bocconi offers a lot of clubs, but I did not join one. There are a lot of social activities, Aperitivo culture is huge. Especially during summer, everybody is meeting outside and the city feels very lively. Public transport is not as reliable as in Vienna, there are a lot of strikes and delays. In general, it does not operate as frequently. But as Milan is not that big, walking or taking a bike is very convenient. Regarding sports, I highly recommend going to San Siro to watch a football match, tickets can be as cheap as 10€ and you still get a nice view.

6. Testimonial

The people I met are definitely the most important part, I made friends for life from all over the world. It was really challenging but rewarding to immerse myself in a new culture, in a country where I do not speak the language. Academically, it was a very demanding semester and I spent a lot of my time on exchange studying. Still, I learned a lot about myself and made experiences I will never forget, like attending the Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony.