Details

• Peru
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

It is very important to start planning 4 or even 5 months before the beginning of the semester. For me, it was 4 months, and I really needed that time to organize everything without any problems. I applied for my visa about 2 months before my flight to Peru. Although I received it on time, you definitely have to expect the process to take a long time. To avoid any risks, I regularly called the embassy in Vienna to ask about the status of my application. Good student accommodations are also booked out very early! I started looking for my room in Boluma exactly 4 months in advance, and I was lucky because I got the last available room. The other student residences were also fully booked early on. Another option is to rent an Airbnb, but I would strongly recommend exchange students to live in a student residence because it is much easier to make friends. In my accommodation, we often met up with friends, which made it very easy to get to know other students. Course registration at UP was very chaotic! Before registration, which takes place about one week before the start of the semester, I selected all my preferred courses and carefully planned which ones would suit me best. In the end, however, I only got one of my five preferred courses. It was quite difficult to get courses taught in English, and we had to complain to the university for quite some time in order to receive enough ECTS credits. In the end, though, it worked out, and I was very satisfied with my courses (Marketplace Management, Agribusiness, Digital Product Design, International Relations, Intercultural Competences).

2. Accommodation

I found my accommodation through a similar experience report, and I was very satisfied with it! It was a student residence called Boluma. Boluma is divided into four houses, with around 50 students living there in total. I lived in Boluma 4, which is located directly by the ocean. This was great because the air by the sea is noticeably better than in the city center. Boluma is a private student residence, which means that almost exclusively European students live there while attending various universities in Lima. We often had parties together! All Boluma houses are located in Miraflores, which in my opinion is one of the best districts for students. It is a very beautiful, safe, and well-located area. Other good districts are Barranco and Lince. I cannot recommend other districts since I do not have personal experience with them, but it is generally not advisable to live on the outskirts of the city. La Victoria should be avoided. My accommodation was about 20–30 minutes from the university by Uber. I usually took the bus only for the return trip because it is often unpredictable and does not run on a reliable schedule. Depending on the traffic, the bus ride takes 30–50 minutes. In Miraflores you will also find Kennedy Park, which can be considered the city center, as it is surrounded by shops and bars.

3. Academic life at host university

Overall, I am very satisfied with the university, mainly because I had very good and experienced professors from whom I was able to learn a lot. All my professors had impressive professional backgrounds, which allowed them to give us interesting insights into both the Peruvian and international working world. Although I learned a lot from the professors, this was solely due to their experience. The actual course content covered in class and tested in exams was often quite superficial, which meant that the workload was much lower compared to WU. As mentioned before, the course selection process was very chaotic and frustrating. I only got one of the five courses I originally wanted to take, and it was very difficult to enroll in alternative courses. This was partly because I could not take any Spanish-taught classes due to my poor Spanish skills. Many other exchange students faced the same issue, which resulted in far too few spots in English-taught courses. In the end, however, I was able to take enough courses to reach the required 20 ECTS. I am quite sure that the university will revise this process for future semesters, as they received a lot of criticism from exchange students and hardly anyone got the courses they wanted. I was very satisfied with the campus! Compared to WU, it is much smaller, which makes walking distances much shorter. There are two cafeterias on campus that offer very good and affordable food. There is also a doctor for students who is on campus every day. There are plenty of study spaces on campus, although they do become scarce during the week before exams. Classes at UP are much smaller compared to WU. This makes the learning environment and the relationship with the professor much closer, which I really enjoyed. In my courses there were almost only exchange students, so I had little contact with Peruvian students.

5. Every day life in the host country

Unfortunately, there is no subway or commuter rail system in Lima, which means that public transportation is limited to buses. These are often very unreliable because the chaotic traffic in Lima makes it difficult to estimate when a bus will arrive and how long it will take to get from A to B. I almost exclusively used Uber, as it was very cheap and reliable. I lived in Miraflores, which is considered a very safe district, and I did not experience any unsettling incidents, which is why I can highly recommend this area. Although you often hear stories about robberies or similar incidents in Peru, I cannot confirm any of that. For me, Miraflores felt very safe, and I felt comfortable walking around during the day and at night. The parties and gatherings I attended with my friends took place almost exclusively in the districts of Miraflores and Barranco. We often met at one of the many student accommodations and then continued to a club or bar. Since the nightlife is mainly centered in these two districts, the distances were usually very short. There are plenty of opportunities to do sports. I personally went to a gym called SmartFit, which can be compared to FitInn in Vienna. The chain has gyms all over the city. The one I went to was located in the Larcomar shopping center, which is situated right by the ocean. I would recommend this gym to everyone. I also played padel very often with my friends, and there are many places to do so all over the city. In addition, around 20 students met once a week to play football, which was always a lot of fun!

6. Testimonial

My semester abroad in Lima was the most exciting and enriching time of my life. I lived in a student residence in Miraflores, made close new friends, and truly experienced Peruvian culture. Although course registration at UP was chaotic, I eventually found great classes and learned a lot from highly experienced professors. What made my exchange truly special were the people I met, the vibrant student life, and the unforgettable moments I had while exploring Peru and traveling to Bolivia, Mexico, and Chile. I am very grateful for this experience and would happily share my story in WU marketing materials. I can wholeheartedly recommend Peru and South America to every student for their semester abroad.