Experience Report Poland

Course Finding

This is one of the most important parts before starting your application process, as you must find the university offering the courses relevant to your current study course. Moreover, to choose the university you can search it through Hochschule Stralsund (HOST) website for partner universities information and programs related to your study curriculum.

Application Process

After short listing three universities, you can fill-in the necessary information and upload documents; complete the application through HOST outgoing portal which is quite easy process. When you get acceptance confirmation then the next step is to start working on the learning agreement (LA) in which you can mention the courses you are willing to study at AGH University that can easily be found on their website, meanwhile you need to get the courses recognition also from the responsible person of your department at HOST. According to the rules to get Erasmus funding, you should complete at least 10 ECTS, no matter even if it is not related to your study field. Therefore, you can choose courses in other departments also of your interest which is quite useful in terms of adding more value to your profile.

Finding Accommodation

Over 7000 students were living in 20 different dormitories at AGH campus still it was so organised, always lively and on top budget friendly where you just pay around 110 Euros for a shared room. However, if you need a single room you will need to pay 70% more in addition to the cost of shared room but due to the high demand, it is unlikely you will be able to get a single room at AGH dormitories so for single rooms it is better to find rooms in private student dormitories some of them are very luxurious, eventually a bit costly as compared to on campus rooms ranging between 300-350 Euros. Anyhow, booking a place at student dormitory can be done smoothly via contacting AGH dorms website. Once you provide them the necessary documentation then you will be provided a link to create an account for AGH dorms portal where you can enter your date of check-in, you can check-in at any time you want as their staff is available 24/7 on the reception desk, and check-out can also be done using the same portal three days before your departure from Krakow.

Life in Krakow

Once you reach Krakow and after completing the necessary paperwork at International Office of AGH University, you are all good to start your journey there. Most of the events including orientation week in first week of the semester is organized by Erasmus Student Network (ESN) where you can expect excursion tours, pub crawls and international dinners which is very useful for networking and making new friends. Moreover, living in Krakow was an amazing experience of my life, being one of the biggest cities in Poland it has a lot to offer having rich culture and historical sites, attractive cafes and restaurants of different origins from around the world. If we talk about cost for a lunch or dinner in Krakow, it is comparatively much affordable and pocket friendly as compared to Germany and can cost you in between 10-15 Euros, even less for stall food from 4-6 Euros. Moreover, I would recommend visiting other cities specially Warsaw and Wroclaw both are around 3 hours away from Krakow via intercity train, so a day trip is possible. In addition, if you are into mountains, trekking trails and skiing then you must visit Zakopane, you will get stunning views as whole city is covered with mountains.

Studying at AGH

AGH University is a modern university with modern infrastructure, classrooms and laboratories, furthermore, offering courses in different departments including engineering, business and social sciences and being an Erasmus student you have the advantage to take courses in different departments even if not part of current study curriculum which is very fascinating. In my case, I chose combination of courses from different study field, however, I dropped few of them as some of them did not meet my expectations and during your mobility you have the option to make changes in the learning agreement in case of losing interest in one course or timetable clash. As far as examination is concerned, it depends and varies where you can expect a combination of presentations, oral and written exams.

Conclusion

Concluding my experience at AGH University in Krakow was a wonderful time I spent of my life, not just by gaining new knowledge but also studying in a multicultural classroom and meeting students from all over the world was the best part of my journey. In the end, I would like to say thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity, and special thanks to great staff of International Office of HOST for making this possible.