Details

• France
• MABizComm-22
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

Start thinking early about where you want to go and why (for the motivation letter). Prepare to leave your accommodation in Vienna and start looking early for a new one in Bordeaux.

2. Accommodation

I started looking for accommodation about 3 months before leaving, with the last 2 months being more intensive. I had a very hard time finding housing for a short-term rental. About three weeks before departure, I was lucky enough to find an apartment through personal connections. - Accommodation type: prive, full apartment, one bedroom - Price: €760/month - Location: Chartrons (beautiful and very safe area, 50 mins by public transport to Kedge) Recommendation: If you are going on exchange during the summer semester, get in touch with students who are already there and contact Melting Potes (the international student organization at Kedge), as you may be able to take over their apartment easily. If you are going in the winter semester, finding accommodation can be quite difficult, as many landlords require you to pay for the summer months as well. Start early and regularly check websites such as Studapart, La Carte des Colocs, Roomia, Leboncoin, Airbnb, and Oqoro (the university will also send you a list). Also, don’t live close to the university, there is nothing in this area.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus is fine, a bit in the middle of nowhere. The staff are very kind and supportive. The teaching style is more practical than theoretical; most of my teachers (if not all of them) were working professionals, meaning people who were still working while teaching at the same time. The workload was definitely much more chill at WU.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport is very efficient, you can reach almost everything by bus or tram (use the TBM application for tickets). The city is also very safe overall, just be aware of the Capucins area and the main shopping street Rue de Saint-Michel at night which should rather be avoided when alone. Regarding social activities, Melting Potes, the university’s sports association, and ESN all organize a lot of events and parties. You will definitely never get bored. Kedge offers many sports activities, such as football, tennis, dance, cheerleading, and more, for a fee of around €60 per semester.

6. Testimonial

All in all, I had the best time ever during my exchange semester in Bordeaux. Even though the academic level is not quite comparable to WU, everything else was at its best. It was super easy to make new friends from all over the world. The city is very lively and young, you can go out for a beer any day of the week and the bars are always full. I loved the experience and would 1000% recommend it to everyone.