Details

• United States of America
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

In order to prepare for my exchange semester I looked up the universities I was interested in and ranked them according to my liking. In order for me to find out what universities I like, I looked at their websites, their reputation and made my list based on those information.

2. Accommodation

Overall I would say it is quite important to start this process as early as possible, as a lot of accommodations (especially subleases) go away fast. Other than that I looked up accommodations on Facebook (multiple groups to find a lease) and googles "accommodations close to UIUC". Personally I stayed at a private housing off campus. All of the websites say how far the specific accommodation to the university, which is why it is important to check out the details to each housing.

3. Academic life at host university

Overall I loved my exchange at UIUC. The professors are extremely friendly and always willing to help the students out. Compared to WU, I think the professors were more like "friends" towards students, which made the whole classes so much fun. UIUC's campus I really big and very green, which makes it beautiful. The courses are designed it a more "relaxed" way and come with more assignments. I personally liked that better, as the end grade does not solely depend on an exam grade, rather the overall performance throughout the whole semester.

5. Every day life in the host country

Champaign is overall pretty safe. Public transport, such as busses exists, but since the city is quite small, every place is very walkable. The university offers a lot of amazing events (basketball games, football games, events for international students), which contributes to meeting a lot of new people. UIUC has a gym (ARC) which is very big and consists of everything needed to have a good workout.

6. Testimonial

My UIUC study abroad was the best time ever. Not only because of the classes with amazing professors, but also due to the football games, basketball games and events for us International students. I don't think more of the typical "American College Experience" would have been possible. I am extremely grateful for this exchange and will forever talk about it.