Details

• United States of America
• BaWiSo-19
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 8 months

1. Preparation

I flew via New York, where I stayed for 4 nights and then to Chicago. Before departing to Illinois I participated in the EBN Buddy program which allowed me to meet a lot of UIUC students in advance. This really helped me a lot once I arrived in Illinois as the americans that went to Vienna the semester before were keen on showing me around, driving me to Costco and Walmart as well as inviting me to their student clubs, intramural teams and parties.

2. Accommodation

I rented a four bedroom two bathroom private appartment with 3 other WU students. Accomodation was the biggest struggle at UIUC, as we signed a lease online, but the complex that we were assigned to once we arrived in campus was different and not the same layout as we agreed on. We had to cancel the contract and had to look for a different appartment. This was a real struggle but luckily we found a different accomodation that was proficient. We lived on 304 E. Daniel which is in 15min walking distance to all the university departments, the gym, football field, grocery store and right by Green Street. I can very much recommend subleasing a room or appartment instead of signing a new lease, as my lease for example goes until July, even though the semester ends in May. This means I still had to pay for June and July, finding a sublease for the sommer months is basically impossible.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus facilities are amazing, there are so many departments, study spots and opportunities. The teaching style is much more personal and mostly divided into smaller groups and classes. I can recommend taking courses that really are of the persons interest as the amount and the diversity of the courses offered are simply amazing. The workload is overall lower than at WU and I would not be scared to sign up for any courses, even though they might be a 400 course or considered more difficult.

5. Every day life in the host country

There is a very good bus transportation system that takes you everywhere on campus. Every student pays a fee trough their student account which allows them to ride the bus as often as they want duting their stay. The big shopping mall as well as any major grocery store is fairly outside of campustown and not reachable by bus. I can only recommend making friends that have a car and can drive you to go shopping or to get a Walmart+ subscription that allow you to order groceries online and get them delivered to your doorstep. While there was a one man shooting once on campus the overall safety situation is really good and I never feared for my safety even after dark. There is a lot of police present on campus that is designed to keep students safe. There are so many social as well as leisure activities. For exampled I joined the Illinois waterski club, played all type of sports through intramural activities, went to the local and very well equipped gym that offers rock climbing, fantastic sport courts, a pool, sauna and many othe leisure activities such as specific sport courses. I can highly recommend going to the quad day where each student and sport club is represented. Americans are typically very interested in europeans and many will love to have you participate in their club even if it is only for a semester.

6. Testimonial

My exchange was an incredible experience where I not only saw a different side of the world - in terms of culture and academia - but my experiences at the UIUC also allowed me to learn more about myself and show tremendous growth. I quickly realized that one semester at the U of I is not enough and I still felt like there was more in the tank for me - so I extended my stay for another semester, so one academic year in total. The people along the way, americans as well as fellow exchange students are the main reason why this exchange was something I will always cherish and l can only recommend any future exchange students to make an effort to make new friends and aquaintances and take a step outside of your comfort zone.