Details

• Brazil
• MAMgmt-14
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 6 months

1. Preparation

My tip for the application process is to be on time. Try to do everything as early as possible so you have enough time to adjust things if they don’t work out the first time. Besides this, don’t stress yourself. The International Office is very helpful and tries to support you as much as possible.

2. Accommodation

I would say that the accommodation search was not that easy if you don’t want to stay in a student residence or are not willing to pay Airbnb prices. I was in several WhatsApp groups, but I felt that most of the offers were a bit shady, so I decided to book an apartment for the first two weeks and then search in Rio for a long-term stay. Once I was there, I looked at different neighborhoods and contacted Airbnb hosts who had suitable apartments in the areas I liked. I thought that if I told them we wanted to stay for five months, they might be open to negotiating the price. In the end, we found a really nice three-bedroom apartment in Arpoador, between Copacabana and Ipanema, for a very good price. The university was a bit far away, but since we only had to attend classes two days a week, it wasn’t a problem. We could take the metro in about 20–30 minutes or use a motorbike Uber, which took around 20 minutes.

3. Academic life at host university

Since we only had to attend classes two days a week, I didn’t spend much time on campus. However, the campus is very modern, and there is a good cafeteria with fair prices. The courses are relatively small. I had some classes with only six students and others with around 25 people. Because of this, there is a lot of interaction and discussion with the professors and classmates. The teaching style depends on the course. In one course, we had to prepare a case every week and then discuss it in class. Other courses were more similar to those at WU, with regular lectures.

5. Every day life in the host country

Most of the time, I used motorbike Uber, as it is quite cheap and fast. In my opinion, the safety situation here is often overestimated by Europeans. I never had a situation where I felt unsafe, and I think it is similar to other big cities like Paris or London, if you are unlucky, you are unlucky. However, if you follow basic rules and use common sense, it is safe. There are many activities you can do here. The whole city is active throughout the day, you can go surfing, play futeivolei, go hiking, work out at the gym, go running, and do almost any other sport you can imagine. In my free time, I spent most of my time at the beach, doing sports, or going to a bar in Botafogo. Some other things I really enjoyed were the hikes around Rio and traveling to nearby places such as Búzios or São Paulo. I also attended a few football matches at Maracanã, which is a must-do in my opinion, and some music events by DJs I like

6. Testimonial

What made my exchange special was the lifestyle in Brazil, easygoing, joyful, and full of life. The people I met, both international students and Brazilians, were extremely friendly, and everyone was special in their own way.