Details

• Spain
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

Deciding on a few specific universities is often not that easy. It really helped me to use a mixture of facts and real experiences: WU's World Map provides a great overview of all the options, while the testimonials from other students provide great insider information that you won't find on the website. As for the selection interview, there is no set pattern, as each interview is a little different. Nevertheless, good preparation helps a lot. Be sure to check out the course lists of your favorite universities beforehand. The questions in the interview are usually quite similar to what you have already explained in your letter of motivation. They usually also ask why you chose a specific region or country, and how you would deal with cultural difficulties.

2. Accommodation

In terms of accommodation, I teamed up with two other girls from Wu who also went to Valencia. We booked our apartment about three months in advance via SpotaHome. Although you have to pay a fee, it's relatively safe because the landlord only gets the rent if everything is okay with the apartment. There are also other platforms such as Idealista or HousingAnywhere that operate on similar principles. Most of the time, you book a room with them, which you then share in an apartment with other Erasmus students. Our apartment was near the Amistad metro station in the Algrós neighborhood, which was about a 15-minute walk to the university, 30 minutes by bus to the beach, and 3 metro stations to the city center. The location was really great because we were very central, close to really cheap bars, Turía Park, and restaurants. Many of our Erasmus friends lived nearby. In general, I would highly recommend the neighborhoods of Benimaclet, Algrós, and El Carmen. Ruzafa is also really nice, but it takes a little longer to get to the university. Some people also lived near the beach, but I heard that it can be a bit rough there, especially at night. Overall, however, I felt very safe in Valencia.

3. Academic life at host university

I really loved my semester abroad in Valencia; the only thing I didn't enjoy so much was the university. Although campus life here is much more relaxed and you start the subjects much more slowly, it was still a lot of work. The academic level wasn't as high as at WU, but I had group assignments or essays to write every week, especially in my marketing courses. In addition, some professors unfortunately didn't have very good English skills, which made listening difficult. Furthermore, attendance is mandatory, at least in the practical classes. The exams all take place in January, and the level of difficulty varies greatly. You just have to be careful, because many exams deduct points for wrong answers. I took the courses Marketing Management (quite a few assignments, moderately difficult exam), Consumer Behavior (many assignments, easy exam), Introduction to Business Management (many assignments, very easy exam), and Economy of the EU (hardly any assignments except for a presentation, midterm, difficult exam).

5. Every day life in the host country

Daily life as an Erasmus student in Valencia is really great. You can get pretty much anywhere using public transport (Suma card for 10 trips = €5), but most people buy a Valenbici membership, which costs €30 per year and allows you to borrow a bike whenever you want. Valencia is actually the perfect size you can get anywhere in under 30 minutes, the weather is usually above 20 degrees Celsius, there is a huge park that runs through the whole city and is perfect for picnics or jogging, eating out and especially drinking coffee is a lot cheaper than in Austria, there are often events with fireworks and the like in the city, and in general, I really love the city so much. I would recommend everyone to follow the Erasmus organizations ErasmuslIfe and HappyErasmus on Instagram. They offer lots of get-together events as well as day or weekend trips where you can quickly get to know people. You can also sign up for the guest list for many clubs on these pages, which means you usually don't have to pay admission until 1 a.m.

6. Testimonial

My Erasmus semester was truly one of the best experiences of my life. I love Valencia, the sea, the old town, and the Spanish lifestyle. You get to experience so many amazing things and simply step outside your comfort zone. But the most valuable thing for me was the wonderful friendships I made during this time, which I wouldn't want to miss now.