Exchange Report

You should start looking for your accommodation quite early, because it can be stressful. If you go by plane, it can be cheaper to fly business for short travel, because if you need more than one piece of luggage the prices can be extremely high in economy. If you decide to stay in the UK look for the 16-25 Railcard. With that you can save up to 50% of the original price for Trains, etc.

It was quite hard to find an accommodation for only 17 weeks, because most of the buildings only offer the whole year or semester. Sometimes it can be easier to find a room on AirBnB. I stayed at a studio appartment at the Study Inn Talbot Street. It was a "private" accommodation, but the university did recommend it. It was only 3 minutes away from the university and 10 minutes away from the mall (Victoria Center) and really safe, because of the 24h reception and the double doors to get in.

The Campus is HUGE, walking through it feels like being in a different city. The buildings are mostly new. Normally, you only have courses in the Newton building, where the NBS (Business School) is located, but sometimes you have some lectures in different buildings, but they are normally only 2 minutes away. Every course is divided into seminars and lectures. During the seminars, you need to get ACE Points, which show that you worked during the seminar, but most of the time it's just reading something or starting your assignments. The teachers mostly speak in a rather personal tone and they encourage you to approach them by their first name. My personal course recommendation would be Digital Marketing, because it is interesting and the teacher (Nicky Me) really knows what she is talking about without letting you believe that you know less than her. After finishing this course you need to write an analysis about a company you chose and what they should change / not change when it comes to their marketing strategy. First it looked like a lot of work, but you always work on it during class so it is rather easy.

Studienbeihilfe

You don't really need public transport, because you can reach everything by foot. If you decide to travel, buses in Nottingham only cost you up to 8 pounds, but normally only 3 pounds. The train tickets are also cheap if you book them in advance, except for London, but there is a bus for 16 pounds which only takes about 30 to 60 minutes longer. Even though you hear about some car accidents, etc. it is safer than you think. You can joyn any kind of club ( they have clubs for literally anything), but there are also some things organised for exchange students. Most accommodations have their own gym, but there are also cheap options on campus.

My personal highlights were the cooking evenings we hosted, where we cooked different dishes from different countries. We also spent a lot of time traveling to other cities like Brighton, Leicester, Cambridge, etc. Our daily coffee walks and pub nights were also a great opportunity to meet up and get to know everybody, especially during our karaoke and Irish pub night. All in all, I met incredible people who I not only shared a lot of memories with but people who became a small family for me.