Experience Report Leuven (Belgium)
Study Program: Psychology
Exchange semester: Fall 2013
Academic year:
Host University:
2013-2014
KU Leuven
Country: Belgium
I.
General information about the school
My experience with KU Leuven is in one word AMAZING! Leuven is a real student city, everything revolves around students there. The ambiance is great in this city. Leuven is not a very big city, it´s a bit smaller but that definitely has its charms. The university is spread across the city of Leuven in all kinds of historic and impressive buildings, which is amazing and inspiring. Because the buildings of the University are everywhere in the city, there´s not really one big campus. There are some smaller campuses, for social sciences for example. At the old market, there are a lot of bars and restaurants where you can definitely have a good time. Besides, there are the so called “fak-bars” in Leuven.
These are bars for every faculty. The drinks are very cheap there and it’s a great place to get together with all of your study mates. There are also some student restaurants spread around the city, they are called Alma. These belong to the University and here you can have a proper meal for 4 euros.
And it tastes good too, so when you’re not in the mood to cook, it’s a good option! The university also has its own sports facility. It’s called “sportkot” and there you can do all kinds of sports and fitness too. It’s situated at the ring of Leuven. Leuven is a real historic city and it has a lot of pretty small streets and lovely buildings, it’s amazing to discover this city and really get to know it. Besides that, there is the “Kruidtuin” which is a botanic garden with a lot of beautiful flowers which is great for a nice and relaxing walk. Besides that, there is the “Begijnhof” which is really worth seeing too.
This is a place with lots of cute houses and small streets, like you’re back in the middle ages. Very impressive! When you’re in Leuven around Christmas time you’re really lucky. There is a Christmas market from half December until the end of December and it’s very cosy and pretty. The whole city turns into a Christmas paradise with Christmas trees, gluhwein, hot chocolate and a lot of conviviality. This Christmas market opens with a very lovely fireworks show. In this time of the year, there’s also one night at the “Begijnhof” when the whole place is full with candles. That was really impressive and worth seeing too!
Leuven is a very big university with 16 faculties. These faculties can be divided in three groups:
Humanities and social sciences group
Science, engineering and technology group
Biomedical sciences group
At the university, there are 40.000 students. Of these 40.000 students, 18.289 are bachelor students,
10.296 are in a master’s programme. Besides that, there are 4.181 doctorates and 1.004 students part of interuniversity programmes. Finally, there are 1907 students in preparatory and transitional programmes. The university also has a lot of international students too, namely 6.135.

II.
Practical information
Before I left for Leuven, there already was good contact with the University of Leuven. They informed me enough about all the practical things and everything was clear to me. There was an introduction week organized for the international students. This week is called Orientation Days. In these days, you get to know your fellow students and you also receive a lot of practical information about studying in Leuven and the courses you’re able to follow.
With regard to housing, there wasn’t much organized really. It’s important you really get out to search for a room or studio by yourself. But that’s not that hard. I’ve heard nobody who encountered problems with finding a room or studio. Because the city is so student-oriented, there are a lot of housing options, you just have to know the right websites where to search (kotnet.be, immoweb.be etcetera). I was really satisfied with my studio. It was located at the Muntstraat, which is the street with all the restaurants and a great ambiance, in the centre of the city.
To finance my stay in Leuven I’ve worked the summer before, so I could save some money. Besides that, I received a scholarship from DUO. Groceries are a bit more expensive here compared to the
Netherlands. However, when you go to Aldi or Lidl, that problem is solved! Most money went to the rent of my studio. Besides that, I’ve rented a bike here which is quite cheap. You can rent these bikes at “Velo”, and when the semester is over you return your bike and get your deposit back, I think it costs like 50 euros or something. Your bike is the only transport you need in the city, nothing is very far away.
The academic calendar in Leuven is quite different from Tilburg. The academic year started three weeks later compared to Tilburg. Courses are organized in semesters, so after we started the semester, there were 13 weeks of courses. At 20 th
of December we already had our last day of the courses. Then there was Christmas holiday and after that a week to study. On the 11 th
of January, the exams started. It was quite unusual for me to find out that exams take place there on Saturday too.
Because they work with semesters, it’s a quite busy time before the exams and everyone is studying very hard.
The international office in Leuven is functioning properly. Everything is clear and they are easy to reach. When you have any questions you get an answers very quick. There were all kinds of activities organised for international students by ESN. There were parties and day-trips to the cities in Belgium.
Because I spoke the language, it was easy to make contact with local students. This is a part that’s a real advantage of studying in Belgium. You really get to know the Belgian people. Besides that, I also had contact with other exchange students. It was really nice to speak to people from all kinds of cultures and I’ve learned a lot from them. I haven’t travelled much around when I was studying in
Leuven. I did see a lot of the cities in Belgium but these were all daytrips.
For me, there obviously wasn’t such thing as a culture shock. However, don’t underestimate the difference between Belgian people and Dutch people. They do have other standards and it’s great to learn more about that and to adjust more to them. I’ve learned a lot of this experience and I enjoyed every second of it! I’ve met great people and had a really good time. Besides that, I’ve learned a lot about myself and learned more about Psychology. I’ll never forget this experience. It’s great to live in a new city and get to know every bit of the Belgian student life. I would really recommend it to everyone!

III.
Academic information
The university offered courses in Dutch and in English. Because I wanted to get in contact more with local students too and I wanted to learn more about their Psychology courses, I’ve attended all Dutch courses. I wanted to expand my knowledge about Psychology and social sciences too. Besides that,
I’m one of the few people who actually likes statistics. I wanted to expand my knowledge a bit more on this area and decided to follow a course in Maths for Psychology. I would say the academic level in
Leuven is very high. It’s really detailed and there is a lot of study material which all needs to be read and understood. I’ve experienced the workload quite high here. KU Leuven is very theoretical and you’re expected to know details too. However, there were also practical parts in the form of guest lectures and a lot of cases that were discussed. Besides that, there are a lot of practicums in which you can convert your knowledge from theoretical to practical. Teaching staff in Leuven is very willing to help and whenever you have a question, you can always email them. It was striking that the teaching staff replied emails with questions very quick, even in the weekends!
There are a lot of places around the city to study. There is one central library in the centre of the city.
Besides that, every faculty has its own library. You can sit in each library, it doesn’t matter which faculty you’re from. There’s also a study centre named Agora. This is a place with silent rooms, group rooms and flexible workplaces. This is a great place to study too.
I’ve attended seven courses, in total worth of 33 ECTS. The courses are listed in the scheme below.
Course
Youth Criminology and Juvenile Justice
(Jeugdcriminologie en Jeugd(beschermings)recht)
Psychopathology and Psychiatry
(Psychopathologie en Psychiatrie)
Mathematics for Psychologists
(Wiskundige Propedeuse voor Psychologen)
Psychological Assessment in Student Guidance
(Psychodiagnostiek in de leerlingenbegeleiding)
Educational Assistance to People with Learning
Disabilities
(Pedagogische hulpverlening aan personen met een leerstoornis)
Psychological guidance, counselling and consultation
(Psychologische Begeleiding, Counseling en Consultatie)
Sociolinguistics
(Sociolinguïstiek)
Exam
Written
Written
Written
Written
Written
Written
Written
ECTS Comments
6
6
5
4
4
4
4
Working groups
Possibility for practicals
Possibility for practicals
Possibility for practicals
Open book exam
In conclusion, I would recommend an exchange period to Leuven! It’s a great student city with the best ambiance! The university is great and you can learn a lot there. You can learn a lot about the complete experience really!