Details

• Italy
• MASCM-21
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

The application process at WU is already clear and smooth for me. Planning ahead accommodation and transportation is beneficial, as it not only saves money but also energy, especially given the housing situation in Milan.

2. Accommodation

Accommodation search experience: Finding a place to stay is not that difficult on agency platforms, but it comes at the expense of quite high fees. Polimi also offers student residence, which is cheaper and easier, but it was hard for me to get a spot. Accommodation type: private Location, safety, and proximity to the university: I lived near central station, which is closer to Leonardo campus, but also not far from Bovisa campus. I think the location is good and safe. Tips I wish I’d known beforehand: There's many tips on "yesmilano", a website aiming to help exchange students in Milan.

3. Academic life at host university

Campus facilities: There are cafes and microwaves on campus, as well as small restaurants near campus. I'm not the biggest fan of the libraries though, the number of seats is rather limited compared to the number of students. Academic culture: Students are generally hard-working and strive for excellence. Teaching style compared to WU Vienna: The content is great, but in my opinion, there are too many lecture hours. For example, a 5-ects course involves 4 hour lecture almost every week for 3 months. Meanwhile, students are expected to put a lot of efforts into group project, so the workload is quite high. During the final assessment, professors require a focus on theory understanding, but also case application. Course recommendations: There are plenty of options, which is one aspect that excites me a lot. Operations Risk Management and Resilience offers a deep dive in resilience management. The assessment includes a written report and an oral exam. Advanced Performance Measurement focus on data cleaning and visualization. It's cool as the project is based on real data, which makes it correspondingly more complicated and demanding.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport: monthly card within core zone Safety situation: be aware of pocket-picking especially Social/leisure activities/events: a lot of activities and events from Erasmus Student Network, as well as in the city Sports options: some sports classes from polimi

6. Testimonial

I learnt a lot at a great university and experienced the differences from WU. It was also wonderful to experience another culture.