Details

• France
• MASCM-21
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

Make sure to pick multiple options and talk to your classmates to know what partner universities they are going to apply for, so you can figure out for yourself which options you have the best chance to get into based on your grades and availability. Make sure not to miss the deadlines for course registration and pick many different options based on your preferences, cause you probably won't get all of them. For your semester you need to sign up for a total of 6 course, 3 for each module.

2. Accommodation

Finding accommodation was quite difficult, and EMLYON Business School recommends LivinFrance, but their fees for student rooms are very high and not really worth it. You should start looking as early as possible, around April, because availability becomes limited quickly. I still ended up booking through LivinFrance and got a room in a four-person shared apartment with my own shower and sink but a shared toilet, paying €650 per month, and I also had to pay for July and August even though I only moved in at the end of August, because they said there would be no availability later and landlords prefer students who cover the summer months. It’s worth trying to find accommodation through Colocatère or student residences, as there are many options but they can be hard to find online. I found Lyon to be quite safe overall, and getting around is easy if you live near the metro, with public transport working well and costing about €25 per month.

3. Academic life at host university

Academic life at EMLYON Business School is quite practical and hands-on, with many assignments, in-class quizzes and exercises, although the teaching style depends a lot on the course and professor. The campus is easy to reach by metro or bus, the building is very new, and the facilities are good, but it can feel overcrowded, the library is small and you may have lectures in the evening or even on Saturdays because of limited classroom availability. Compared to Vienna, I personally felt the teaching quality was sometimes lower, although the professors are very knowledgeable and the experience really varies by instructor. I recommend the intermediate business statistics course, the machine learning course by Frank Jaotombo, and the Strategic Networks course. It’s a good idea to choose subjects outside your comfort zone and courses that are not offered in your WU program so you can learn something new. The grading system is also different, with grades out of 20 where anything above 15 is considered very good/excellent.

5. Every day life in the host country

Everyday life in Lyon is very enjoyable, with many restaurants, cafés, and events such as the Fête des Lumières, and it’s also easy to travel, for example you can reach Paris in about 2.5 hours by train or visit other nearby cities. A great aspect of EMLYON Business School is that they offer many sports courses you can sign up for after course registration, completely for free, including both competitive sports with matches on weekends and leisure sports just for fun, but once you sign up attendance is mandatory and you can only miss one session. I did badminton, which I normally wouldn’t have had the chance to try, and it was very fun. They also organize weekly Erasmus parties, although I only attended once, and there are many student clubs, but you need to actively sign up and look for information about their activities. I found it a bit difficult to make friends with French students but much easier with other exchange students, so it helps to identify the exchange students in your classes and make plans with them, as there are not many additional social activities organized by the Erasmus program at the university, meaning you need to be proactive when it comes to socializing.

6. Testimonial

My exchange at EMLYON Business School was special because it allowed me to experience life in Lyon, a city that feels international but more manageable than Paris, while studying in a more practical and hands-on learning environment. I had the chance to learn from very knowledgeable professors and take courses that were not available at WU, which made the academic experience particularly valuable. The exchange also gave me insight into French culture and lifestyle, and it is especially worthwhile for students considering a future career in France, as EMLyon has a strong reputation there.