Nick – Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)
Semester 2, 2024
Bachelor of Business
University Life
The two week orientation and culture program offered by WU was really great and allows you to see some cool parts of Vienna as soon as you get there while also being given the chance to meet some people and make friends with other exchange students before class starts which was great. Even though it was a touch expensive you do a lot of things and stuff like food and day trips are included and the ability to make friends is quite handy. Apart from this WU do offer some events for incoming students before this like a speed friending event. I did not arrive in the country in time for this but from all accounts it sounded pretty good and also gave more opportunity to meet people ands make friends. As I don’t know if this would be the case for everyone but trying to make good friends was one of my primary concerns with exchange.
When the semester has already begun there are a number of events and trips held by the Erasmus Buddy Network which further allow you to meet more people. They offer a lot of weekend trips to other places; I went on a trip to Hallstatt which was very cool they also offered Budapest and Krakow trips, but they sell out really fast and I wasn’t able to get a ticket. People do resell tickets so never fear you may be able to get one. So yeah I would recommend looking up and booking early if these sound interesting. A trip I did go on was the ski trip which was unbelievable and would be ok for skiers of all levels as you can get lessons. I can highly recommend going to all of these events as they are usually not too expensive and can be very fun and allow you to meet the vast majority of other exchange students for example there was nearly 500 students in the network and it felt like I’d talked to or seen the vast majority.
Vienna
Vienna was a fantastic city and blew away my expectations in how liveable it would be. The public transport is super easy as you can buy a semester ticket with your university card which allows unlimited use of buses, trains and the metro. Learning the metro routes and using it will be the most handy as it is incredibly punctual and efficient and rarely has delays like our fantastic trains in Brisbane. I also felt very safe in the city all the time and did not really see any people or occurrences that put me on edge and I was up until all hours of the night during my trip walking around to and from pubs and events and what not.
The architecture and history of the city are also absolutely magnificent and it is very beautiful along the Danube, it was a great place to walk around and go for runs. When I first arrived in Vienna it was kind of Brisbane Spring temperature without the humidity which was very nice before turning into a true winter with some snow gradually from early September into December onwards. With Winter came the Christmas season which was unbelievable with Christmas markets and every putting up decorations it was a very cool place to be for Christmas and I can highly recommend the Christmas markets at Schonnbrunn Palace.
Vienna is also a great location if you want to travel as it is quite central Europe and you can train to neighbouring countries like Munich which I did for Oktoberfest which I can highly recommend if you are here for that time of year. And flights out of Vienna are cheap depending on the destination and how early you book, the airport was also very efficient, and I did not really have any major delays or setbacks. It is a great jump off point for weekend trips to do during semester.
Class
I would definitely recommend leaving your uni-wide electives for the exchange as it makes selecting a class easier and if for some reason you need to change classes much easier. This is as you only need approval from QUT for the subject and don’t have to find a relevant one within your own course. This was especially helpful as the registration process at WU is similar to QUT in the sense that unless you have practiced speed-running the process for far too long you will not get the classes you want. The international student team were very helpful however and would said that no matter what you would get the required credits you needed something could be sorted.
The structure of classes themselves was also quite different with some courses being very intensive and having a class everyday for two weeks but then being over and others having one a week for a couple of months. Assessment usually involved an exam, participation in the class and an end of subject exam.
Find out more on how you can apply: Student Exchange
