If you are interested in spending a semester abroad, I can definitely recommend contacting the International Office. Even if individual concerns stand in the way of the decision to spend a semester abroad, the team can offer helpful advice. The International Office and Ms. Schwabe in particular provided me with excellent support during the planning process. The organization of the semester abroad always takes place quite quickly after the call for applications, which is why it is definitely worth starting the planning and especially the communication with the partner company early.

I flew with WizzAir from Dortmund to Budapest. Overall, I have always had positive experiences with this low-cost airline. I paid a total of around €200 for the return flight. Some of the friends I met during my semester abroad traveled to Budapest by train. This option was also perceived as positive. For traveling by train, I was able to take advantage of the Erasmus+ Top-Up for Green Mobility, which is supported by Erasmus+ for environmentally friendly travel.

I had also considered driving to Budapest at the beginning. Looking back, I can say that traveling by car would not have been worth it, as local public transport is much more practical, cheaper and safer than parking or renting a parking space.

Public transportation in Budapest is very well developed. For 16,200 forints (approx. 45 euros), I was able to buy a ticket for the whole semester with my student ID. The ticket allowed me to use the buses, metro and streetcar without any restrictions.

I lived in the eighth district near the M2 (metro station 2 – Blaha Lujza) in a shared flat for five people. The rent was €390 warm for my 13 m² room. On average, the rent for living as a student is around €200 to a maximum of €400. As a student, I would recommend choosing an apartment in the V. to IX. district.

I found my shared flat via www.wg-gesucht.de. The other four rooms were shared by Erasmus students who had also moved to Budapest for their semester abroad. We all went to different universities. Especially in the first few weeks, we explored a lot together as a shared flat and were able to network well with new friends from different universities. I would definitely move into a shared flat again for a semester abroad.

There are many events for Erasmus+ students in Budapest. It’s worth finding out about events from organizations such as ESN Hungary(https://esn.hu/) and Erasmus Life Budapest(https://erasmuslifebudapest.com/). I attended a lot of the get-to-know-you events. During the semester, I also took part in various trips to neighboring countries, which were offered by Erasmus Life Budapest at a reasonable price. On these day and weekend trips, I was also able to get to know many international students and explore other Hungarian cities or cities in other European countries together.

Thanks to the shared flat I lived in and the various offers for international students, I was able to make new contacts quickly and get to know students from very different cultures. It’s amazing how many friendships can develop in such a short time.

I found METU to be a good partner university. Before the start of the semester, there was an information event via Zoom with initial tips and advice, which also helped during the rest of the semester. If I had any problems or questions during the semester abroad, I was able to contact the Student Information Center (SIC) or the International Office by email. A personal consultation can also always be arranged via the METU platform.

After I arrived in Budapest, I made an appointment at the METU International Office in the main building. There I received the Letter of Attandance and applied for my Foreigen Student ID. METU has several campuses. I had all my lectures at the METU Nagy Lajos Campus for “Communication, business and tourism programs”. This is also the main campus. It took me a total of 20 minutes to get there from my apartment in the eighth district. The building is a bit out of the way, but it’s easy to get to on the M2 and is conveniently close to IKEA, so I was able to buy a few things for my shared room in the first few weeks.

METU organized an introductory event at the beginning of the semester, although I would say that other universities have organized more offers for their Erasmus students. However, I was still able to make lots of new friends through the lectures and seminars at METU. METU offers various voluntary sports clubs for those interested, such as basketball, volleyball and dancing. Although I didn’t take part in any of the courses myself, I have heard that the offer is well implemented and that this also leads to many new encounters.

Some of the modules I took at METU were in two parts. This means that I attended both a lecture and a seminar for these modules. Attendance was checked for the seminars and mid terms – small tests – were written. For the

Lectures, only one final examination was taken. In principle, very different examinations were required from module to module. From written examinations to team projects or term papers to online multiple-choice tests.

For the exam dates, I was usually able to choose one of three dates per module and plan flexibly when I wanted to take the respective exam. The quality of the modules and lecturers was good overall and comparable to the standard in Germany. On the whole, all exams were feasible and the flexible planning of the respective dates made it easy to organize my studies.