E-mail:W.J.J.vdRiet@tilburguniversity.edu
Study Program: Organisatiewetenschappen
Exchange semester: Fall semester
Academic year: 2015/2016
Host University: Pécs University
Country: Hungary
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
White t-shirt is me, on the main square
Pécs is a lovely city in the south of Hungary
near the border of Croatia. It is located on the
feet of a hill which makes sure you have a pretty good climate. The University of Pécs
is spread through the whole city but my faculty (Business & Economics) was located
just outside the city centre, approximately 25 minutes walk from our hostel where the
most Erasmus students lived. The faculty was very nice but not as modern as Tilburg.
On the faculty you have a small bar where you can drink some coffee and meet up
with your group if you have a group project for example. Besides that you can have a
hot lunch across the street in the cafeteria for 2 Euros every day. Before you go to the
college you can also grab a breakfast in the centre for 1 or 2 Euros, this is basically on
your way.
I walked everyday to the faculty because I didn’t mind to have some exercise in the
morning and you can always walk together with other students, we were with
approximately 40 Erasmus students on the business faculty. However if you think
this is not enough exercise you also have 3 gyms in the centre. I went to F3 gym, it is
located next to the main square and has an ideal location. I only paid 13 Euros per
month so, as everything in Hungary, it was quite cheap.
II Practical Information
I received the course manual on time and could choose every course I wanted
however there was some difficulties with the housing. For example we didn’t an
explicit mail that we had a room for sure. I can recommend the hunyor hostel for the
social experience because you live with 80 people in a hostel, 2 persons per room, so
you make immediately make a lot of new friends and miss nothing. However if you
want some comfort I would recommend to move after the first month and rent an
apartment with 4/5 people. This is just as expensive as the hostel.
The first month was amazing as soon as I arrived there was an integration camp
organized by the ESN of Pécs, you should definitely go there it is going to be one of
your best memories of your exchange. Besides all the parties from ESN was the Pécs
University also very welcoming. I received all necessary information about the
courses and practical issues on the first day of the semester from the University.
The cost of living in Hungary are very low. If you don’t want an expensive exchange
but do want the full experience and all other benefits of going abroad I can definitely
recommend Hungary. I received in total around 550 euros per month ( 125 Erasmus
Grant, 300 Student grant, 90 Public Transport reimbursement, 80 euros Health
insurance which I could keep from my parents) which allows you to do whatever you
want without a limit. The rent is approximately 100 euros and the rest you can spend
on good food, parties, travelling and other activities.
I made several trips to Serbia, Rumania, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania,
Kossovo, Macedonia and obviously to the Balaton Lake and the Budapest! You have
plenty of time to travel because you don’t have classes on Friday and if you’re lucky
you also free on Monday. Furthermore you have the chance to travel in the fall break
for 12 days and organizes ESN a lot of weekend trips abroad.
I think the local people which I was close to very friendly and helpful but I also
experienced that Hungarian people can be very grumpy and stabber. I guess
everybody has to experience it themselves.
By meeting all these new people with different habits and norms I can say that a door
was opened for me. I learned a lot about my own background and personality but also
how to deal with others opinions and behaviour. This experience was a big step in my
personal development and although the content of the academic level doesn’t add so
much to my career but my personal development definitely does. For example I feel
more comfortable to start a discussion with someone, I’m willing to present more, and
I know how to study the best and what direction I would like to go now.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The courses I choose where all offered in English except the Hungarian Language
course. The teachers for strategic management and career management spoke really
good English but for international business it was a bit hard to understand what he
was saying. The course international business was also the least interesting I think
because the teacher just read the slides nonstop and had no interaction with the class,
it was basically an old teacher who didn’t cared that much anymore. I do recommend
the course strategic management it is a bit difficult but the teacher is really interesting
and interactive with the class so you can get as much out of it as you want. The course
career management was a really easy course and had not much content so I can
recommend that if that is wat you want. Last but not least I would choose the
Hungarian language course because it was really fun together with other exchange
students, the locals appreciate it a lot if you try to speak Hungarian and most
important it is worth 9 ECTS points for a relatively small effort.
In summary I would say that the courses are easy to follow and the exams where also
easy but you can get as much out of it as you want. If you want to do extra stuff or
gain more knowledge, the teachers are very willing to help you and they are really
easy to approach. Furthermore is it really good for your resume for example I did 4
course and gained 31.5ECTS points whereas 18 ECTS points were sufficient so it
seems that I did a lot of extras but actually it was all with minimum effort in
comparison to academic level of Tilburg University.
Course
Strategic
management
Level
difficult
Exam
Written
ECTS
7.5
Comments
Midterm, group project
and final exam
Career management
easy
Written
7.5
International
business
Hungarian language
course
easy
Written
7.5
easy
Oral
9
Individual presentation,
final exam
Group project, question
of the day, final exam
Weekly tests, oral
exam
Finally I would say Go on Exchange it is going to be the best time of your career on
the university! If you really want the experience of a social exchange go to Pécs in
Hungary it is not all about studying but more about ‘’socializing’’ with a lot of new
people from different countries. Pécs provides the perfect environment for an active
exchange because it is centrally located in East-Europe, it is cheap and it has an active
ESN!