Details

• Denmark
• MASIMC-17
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

It's not extremely difficult to get a place at BSS Aarhus University in my personal opinion. Most people want to go to the capitals like Copenhagn, Oslo or Stockholm, but I beliebe if you really want to experience student life Aarhus was one of the best choices for me. You need quite a lot of bureaucratic preparations before arriving in Denmark, which was quite surprising for me. You need an appointment to get you CPR number (a free health insurance) and register yourself in Denmark. Nevertheless, they are also really early with all preparations and help with everything - so don't be too worried.

2. Accommodation

My search experience was really good as you can get an accommodation through organized student housing. It is super affordable and guarantees you a place (as a master student), but heavily varies in location, newness and condition. Nevertheless, be sure to apply because I had a newly renovated and extremely central flat for 420€ per month. You can always not accept and look on facebook marketplace if you aren't happy with the offer. As already mentioned, I was really happy with what I got and it was a shared housing student residence 2 minutes away from the library. I was on the main campus, but the business campus was a little farther away (only 5 minutes by bike though). However, after this semester the business campus will be moved to the main campus area. So look out if you get Universitetsparken as a student dorm - it was great!!!

3. Academic life at host university

I really like the university and I need to say it was quite easy as well to get decent grades. The university building itself lacked a little bit in study areas, but the library on the main campus was anyways our favorite spot & the new business buildings look AMAZING. Generally speaking, all the danish students are quite stressed and always invest A LOT of time in their readings, lectures etc. In my opinion that wasn't necessary. First of all, you never have attendance during the semester, second of all they don't call you out if you didn't read or prepare. It was mainly frontal lectures and at the end you have either some papers, oral or written exams and they make up 100% of your grade. That was perfect for an exchange as I was travelling around the whole semester and only was a little stressed in December and October (where I studied for my exams). Nevertheless, I think it was nice to get to experience oral exams (as they aren't a thing at WU) and I did learn somethings as the university is rather practical. That's why in my opinion the courses are wayyy less stressful than at WU and you have a lot of time for enjoying your exchange semester!

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport: That is something you basically don't need. The first thing I did when I came to Aarhus, was getting a bike for 20€ a month from Swapfiets (all repairs, etc. included in the subscription). For me by bike I needed 8 minutes into the city center and around 20 minutes to the other side of it. So I never needed more than 15 minutes by bike to get somewhere. I also walked quite a lot as the city is really walkable and in my opinion best explored by foot. Nevertheless, if you want to use it, it's quite expensive and the bus stops aren't really conveniently placed - so just don't ahahha. Moreover, Aarhus is EXTREMELY save. I have never heard of anything dangerous whatsoever and felt extremely safe even going home at 4am alone was no issue. Socials: Aarhus has a very big exchange community as the university takes a lot of exchangies in each semester so at the beginning you will have a lot of these events (either ESN or by the uni in the student house). This was really nice to get to know people, but once you found your group it wasn't necessary to attend anymore. Aarhus has a bunch of nice bars, pubs, restaurants and everything you can think of as a student. It was an extremely fun time and I would tell anyone slightly interested to go there and have the best exchange ever. You can go ice bathing, dance in a club, eat kardamonsnurren in a bakery and go in 100 thrift stores. For the sporty people I would suggest some running clubs, gym memberships are super affordable and the university also offers some sports.

6. Testimonial

My exchange in Aarhus was amazing mainly because of the people and the experiences that came with it. During the intro weeks, I met an incredible group of international students who quickly became a close circle of friends, and together we explored different areas, bars, and restaurants around the city. I also lived on campus in a shared dorm with Danish students, which made it feel like I was truly living there and experiencing Denmark to the fullest. Since Aarhus is a relatively small city, everything felt close and accessible, and getting around by bike or on foot made everyday life even easier. On top of that, before my exchange I had never been to any Nordic countries, so being able to visit Denmark, Norway, and Sweden made the experience even more exciting and something I’ll always be grateful for.