Some might think that this is bizarre, already studying at a foreign country. Yet, many internationals opt to visit distant lands, practice language skills, and meet even more interesting people.
The price isn’t right
Madita Splint, an exchange coordinator in the ESHCC faculty, says that since it is so costly to go to San Diego or Sydney, international students are more likely than the Dutch to stay in Rotterdam. She points that that “usually American or Asian students think that since they are already in Europe , they must go and see more of it. But going on exchange is an opportunity for every student to experience new educational systems, study at great universities, and add an extra bonus to their CV.”
Tricky ECTs
Adapting to new cultures doesn’t seem to be a problem to any international students; however failure to obtain all the necessary ECTs occasionally prevents some from going. Thea Dimcheva experienced this firsthand. She is a Bulgarian third year IBCoM student, who has had to stay in the rainy Rotterdam instead of going on exchange. “I was looking forward to go but I didn’t mainly due to the lack of organization on the side of the programme. I had to re-take a course and due to the specific character of the course I could not even find a similar course in the universities I was looking at.”
“On exchange” in Rotterdam
On a more positive note, Thea still feels like she is on a sort of exchange in Rotterdam already. “To some extent I regret the fun times I would have had, but if you stay, you don’t have to bother with a lot of things, like finding an apartment in a developing country over the internet.” In contrast, Gabriele Chlevickaite, also a third year IBCoM Lithuanian student, didn’t have any trouble with the practicalities because the National University of Singapore has been extremely helpful. “Being an international in Rotterdam is far from being on exchange. I feel really grateful that Erasmus has provided an opportunity to go to one of the top universities in the world.” MD
