Details

• United States of America
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

It is very important to bring your DS-2019 formular with you when you fly because they will check it if you enter the USA. I flew from Vienna to Boston directly with Austrian Airlines, which was very convinient. I also arrived 4 days before orientations days even began, I booked myself an Airbnb in the center of Boston and I would highly recommend that. I didn't know anyone and I had time for myself to explore the city a bit before moving 30 minutes away to campus and to get used to the different country and get to know everything a little bit.

2. Accommodation

I would highly recoomend to live on campus just because its way funnier with all of your friends and also way more convinient with everything else. Public transport doesn't really exist around Waltham, the only thing we had was the Bentley shuttle which drove to Harvard Square once in an hour and a bit around Waltham around every 15 minutes, which is really nice to get into the city, so you're not forced to take an Uber all the time. But to live outside of campus without an car is complicated, in theroy you could live in Cambridge/ around Harvard square so you could take the shuttle to campus, but its also a 30 minutes drive. In generell everything happens on Campus which is also the reason I stayed there in a dorm. I requested a single room in a suite, but I only got an double room which was also perfectly fine, I live in Kresge hall which was perfect because the studentcenter and dining all was right next to my building and we were exactly in the middel of campus, going up to the classes, going down tho burritos and the Gym. I knew the girl I was living with before from WU so it worked out pretty well. In total we had a suite for 4 girls, so we shared a living room and a bathroom with lovely american grils as well which never was an issue at all. Of course you do not really have any privacy anymore, but it's really not as bad as it sounds and also fun for a semester. Safety on campus was really really good, we had the campus police which was available 24/7 and also super helpful no matter what you needed, they also drive around at night and make sure everything is safe and how it is supposed to be. In generell I would say Waltham/ Boston is very safe, I have never felt unsave or uncomfortable once. You have the option to choose between dorms with a kitchen and without one (then you HAVE to take a mealplan). The healthier options is definetely to have a kitchen and cook on your own, but then you have to go grocery shopping (which is very hard without a car) and you cannot eat everyday with your friends (which is a lot of fun as well). I had the middle sized meal plan (around 240 mealswipes) and no kitchen in the dorm. The dining hall (called seasons) is OKAY, its not outstanding food but also not that bad, after some time you just whish you have Austrian food again. But you also have some dining options, there is a Burrito shop in lower campus, another dining hall on upper campus where the classes are and so on. You have the mealswipes on your student card and swipe through a mashine every time you enter the dining hall, you have meal trades which you can trade a mealswipe for, in the burritos shop, the other dinging all on upper campus and so on. Additionally you have an specific amount of disc rash (additional money on the card) with which you can buy other stuff like coffees, shakes, sweets, bagels... Iwould recommend to take a mealplan because you save a lot of time to go for groceries and for cooking and cleaning and you can eat with yor friends everyday.

3. Academic life at host university

You can choose from a lot of different courses and of course they have different difficulty levels. (all the courses have numbers, if they start with 1 oder two like, 113, 227, they a more easy, if they start with a higher number like 354 or 416, they are harder) In generell I would say you can not compare it with WU, I had to stay waaaaay more at WU then there. Also because the teaching style is just so different. You have very small classes with max 30 people and a very close relationsship with the teachers, they know your name, your academic scores, they do a lot of smallltalk with their students and I can't really describe it but it feels more like they really want you to get to know the topic, that you show interest, that you learn something for life and not just for the exam and the grades. So also the grades are weighted differently you don't have the feeling that everything depends on only one exam, they but much less weight on exams and a lot of weight to group projects, presentations homework and so on, which takes a lot of pressure away and makes everything way more enjoyable. For me, the teaching style was a lot better than in Austria. I took the classes: EC 111 Principles of Microeconomics MG 215 Supply Chain and Operations Fundamentals (for BLP) MG 240 Interpersonal Relations in Management MK 339 Fashion Merchandising and Buying XD 360 Digital Public Relations All of these were suuuper chill and not hard at all (accept from supply chain, but also not as hard as at WU), not because the toppings are not ard but just because the teaching style is so different that it does't feel that hard. You can also swap and change classes until one week after all the classes have started, which is also different from WU. So, if you don't like a class or a teacher you can change to classes that are still available.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport was not as good as in Vienna. If you're in the city, you get around pretty well, but as soon as you go a little bit more to the country side you need an Uber. Bentley has a Shuttle that goes once in an hour from Campus directly to harvard square where the Red Line brings you in the city which is very nice. So with this shuttle you need around 40 Minutes into the city center, and like 30 minutes Harvard Square. As I said before I alsway felt save, also in the city not only around campus. There are not a lot of homeless people and also during the night it was completely fine. There is a lot going on, on campus every week. Sport is a very big topic at Bentley, we have a lot of sportsteams, which play a lot of games you can watch and I would highly recomend to go to these games as the Sport spirit there is something different then in Austria, all of the students are there, the vibe is petty cool. Especially the Ice Hockey games are sooo much fun (and the hockey parties off Campus afterwards). In general there are a lot of parties around campus, in dorms and also in frat houses around Campus. To get to a frat party you have to know some people, who are in Frats or Sororities to get the numbers of the drivers and the addresses, but most of the times all the parties are open and girls can alway‚ go there (for guys it's a little bit harder to get into frat parties if they are not a member of the frat) You can basically join every sports team you want, if you are good enough but its also a lot of commitment as you have a lot of practice and games on the weekend. Bentley also has a Gym on campus which is crazily full during rush hours but has a lot of options which is also nice, and for free for every bentley student. Best times of the year: Spring Day, Marathon day, Spring Break, Halloween, Day Frat Parties

6. Testimonial

For me, it was the best time of my life!! Not only because it was in Boston (which is an amazing city) I think what made it so special, are the people you get to know during that semester. Go to classes together, have breakfast lunch and dinner together, make game and movie nights, go to parties together. Just like the perfect exchange dream and it really is like that. If you're scared to go away from home/Vienna, if you think you miss your family/friends/ boyfriend/ girlfriend too much, I can only tell you please jump over your fear and just try it!! It will be the most amazinh time of your life, you will not miss verything at home as much as you think because you will biult a life and friendships and thousands of unfogettable memories over there which will be so special and last forever!!