Experience report: Rome: LUISS Guido Carli
Name: Sarah Mir
Exchange semester: 2nd semester
Academic year: 3rd year
Host University: LUISS Guido Carli di Roma
Country: Italy
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
On the 7th of February I arrived with two other Dutch girls also from Tilburg University. We booked our
apartment together, which we had found via a Facebook page called “TiU Outgoing Exchange
Students” where a girl told us about a company “In-solito srls”. The Host University has an external
company who takes care of the Erasmus students housing, but we wanted to have an apartment with
the three of us. We booked our apartment 3 months in advance. When we arrived at Ciampino airport,
we met a boy who was also a new Erasmus student. He also had a room form the same landlord, so
we took a cab together to the city center of Rome. The cabdriver charged us like 15 euros too much,
but we made it to our apartment though. The apartment was 1 minute away from the LUISS Law
Faculty, which was ideal. I really liked our apartment since it was so close to university and close to a
metro station, which could bring us to the city center in 10 minutes. The location was perfect. We
arrived a few days before the ESN LUISS welcome week. During this week we went sightseeing and
walked a lot!! We walked 15 kilometers each day, because Rome is really La città eterna, there is so
much beauty to see and I still doubt if I have seen everything.
ESN LUISS organized an awesome welcome week, which helped us to get to know all the other
Erasmus students.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Where to start, where to end; if I’m to tell you about the lovely city of Rome. In my humble opinion
Rome is the most beautiful city in Europe or maybe even in the world! The University is located in the
north of Rome, in a beautiful, quiet and clean area in the center but outside the touristic area. It has 3
faculties, the main building is for Economics and Political science. I didn’t go there very often,
because all my lectures where given at the Law campus. But…. I really liked to go to the main
campus because it is extraordinarily beautiful and the canteen is really cheap for Erasmus students! I
followed an Italian course, so I went there every Wednesday. Another fun thing LUISS arranges is the
“bicycle-sharing program”, which means that you can use a LUISS bike for free to move between the
different faculties.
Not only is the university pleasant to stay, but so to is the city center of Rome and beyond. Most of
the time I used the Metro to go to the city center, it brought you to many nice places, but of course
you can also take the bus. I’ve used the app “citymapper” which shows the real time schedule of the
public transport. Rome is a city full of culture and art. I had Latin classes and history, of course, about
Ancient Rome in high school, but I felt kind of bad that I forgot most of it, especially when you see all
the great buildings and sculptures it makes you curious about the stories behind them. Living in Rome
is to literally live in an open air museum! Besides all this beauty, Rome is an amazing place to go out
for dinners and drinks. With the countless amount of bars and restaurants it is always pleasant to go
out. The many aperitivo bars offer you a buffet and a drink for only €10,- mostly between 18:00 –
21:00. And of course all the amazing pizzeria’s and pasta places give you great taste sensation! But
try to avoid the touristy focused places, most of them do not make that good food and they are way
overpriced.
TOPIC: Academics
All the courses I took were taught in English. The courses I followed were:
- European Criminal Law:
oral exam
- International Private Law
oral exam
- European Administrative Law
oral exam
- Comparative Public Law
written exam
All my courses were 6 ECTS. I liked the European focused courses, since they have given me a
better understanding of EU law and in my opinion it’s important nowadays to have enough Union
knowledge. I’ve learned a lot of criminal law, private law and administrative law, but I was a little
disappointed about the comparative public law course since I had to learn many state structures by
heart, which to me had no value. The academic level differs, but as I can say compared to Tilburg,
the exams are easier. The main focus was on the theory instead of an analytical approach. Another
new thing was that most of my courses had oral exams. In the beginning I was scared of the idea of
an oral exam, but after the first one I didn’t feel uncomfortable anymore.
TOPIC: Social life
The social activities were organized by ESN LUISS. The first week we had an welcome week which
was really nice and fun and made it easy to meet all the other Erasmus students. ESN organized also
several trips and day tours. I applied for the first trip of the semester to Venezia, Verona and Padova.
It was an amazing trip. Furthermore they organized lots of parties. But most of the trips I did we
organized ourselves. I’ve seen a lot of Italy besides the first ESN trip I joined, I’ve seen Palermo,
Catania, Milano, Lago di Garda, Napoli, Amalfi, Sorrento, Positano, Firenze and last but not least
Trani and surroundings. The parents of a new Italian friend live there, so I visited her. LUISS students
don’t really get in touch with Erasmus, so it’s a real pleasure for me that I’ve become such good
friends with her.
TOPIC: Living costs
My living costs in Rome were way higher If I compare my living costs in Tilburg. The rent of my room
was €600 a month and supermarkets are more expensive than in the Netherlands, but all the really
good Italian wines are cheaper than in the Netherlands. Going out for dinner is also cheaper, and that
was an important thing, because we went out for dinner a lot. The clubs were quite expensive,
especially the drinks. In some clubs you pay around €10 a drink. I also spent a lot of money on trips,
but these were lifetime experiences. Overall my monthly costs were around €1200.
TOPIC: Culture
Personally I love the Italian culture, it is way more relaxed than the Dutch culture, people take the time
to take care of their appearance and to make really good food. But there is one thing what I don’t
appreciate and that’s the bureaucracy. If you want to arrange something it takes time, Italian
Institutions take a lot of time. When I needed to recharge my phone in the TIM store, it always took
me at least 30 minutes. When we had our oral exam, we had to wait half a day till it was our turn. But
still, I prefer this to the rush we live in in the Netherlands.
TOPIC: Personal development
This exchange is the best experience in my life. I feel enriched, I have friends all over the world and
my feeling of being European has grown. But also all the beautiful things in Rome made me more
interested in culture, history and art. I feel more mature and independent. My English language skills
have grown as well, I want to everybody who is thinking about applying for an exchange to Rome: Do
it!!
TOPIC: Tips for future students
If you’ve decided to choose Rome as destination for your exchange and you’re searching for rooms:
ask for clarity about renting prices, and extra costs like fixed costs, electricity and water. And try to
learn some Italian since most Italians are not that good in English.
All together I really recommend you to do a semester abroad at LUISS Guido Carli. The University is
beautiful and the city is magnificent!