A Blog about Education Abroad

Tag: Switzerland

Nthatisi Mota at the University of Zurich, Switzerland

Nthatisi Mota

M. Economics

Semester Exchange in the First Semester, 2024 at the University of Zurich

Pre-departure:

Embarking on a semester exchange at the University of Zurich (UZH) in Switzerland was an experience of a lifetime. As a master’s student in Economics from Stellenbosch University, this exchange provided me with an invaluable opportunity to expand my academic horizons immerse myself in Switzerland’s rich culture and travel across Europe. From attending world-class lectures to exploring the picturesque Swiss landscapes and attending the Montreux Jazz Festival (a bucket list event of mine), every moment of my exchange was a journey of discovery, learning, and personal growth.

The pre-departure process for UZH was remarkably smooth, thanks to the comprehensive guidance provided by UZH. From sorting out visa applications to securing accommodation, UZH’s exchange office was prompt and responsive to every query I had. They ensured that I was well-prepared before leaving South Africa, sending reminder emails for any outstanding documents, and providing detailed information about what to expect upon arrival.

Selecting modules was another crucial part of the pre-departure phase. UZH assigns a faculty mentor to each exchange student, and my mentor was instrumental in helping me navigate the different course options, and student life more broadly. There is also a popular app called Matricula, where students share their experiences and advice about various modules, which is incredibly helpful. Importantly, UZH offers flexibility in changing modules even after you arrive, which provided a sense of security knowing I had options once I settled in. The modules I took included: Big Data Methods for Econometrics, Gender Economics, Introduction to the Philosophy of Economics, Econometrics for Policy Analysts and Social Choice Theory. All were incredibly fulfilling and encouraged me to challenge myself.

Experience at the Host University:

Once in Switzerland, UZH’s exchange office continued to provide support, hosting welcoming events that made the transition smoother. Additionally, the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) played a significant role in fostering a sense of community, organizing events and city tours where I met some of my closest friends during the exchange.

UZH is truly a world-class institution, and this was evident from the moment I stepped onto the campus. The state-of-the-art facilities, coupled with the caliber of lectures and course content, initially felt intimidating. Coming from Stellenbosch, where my master’s class had around 30 students, the large class sizes at UZH were overwhelming at first. However, I soon realized that Stellenbosch had more than adequately prepared me academically for my exchange. It was affirmed that UZH was not only a place where I would survive, but I could also thrive.

One of the biggest challenges was adapting to a different educational system, particularly the grading scale, which operates on a 6-point system instead of percentages. My advice to future exchange students is to make an effort to connect with your classmates. Despite the Swiss reputation for being reserved, I found that everyone I approached was warm and welcoming. Contrary to what I had been told, most of my friends ended up being full-time UZH students rather than fellow exchange students.

Living with international students who were full-time at UZH also greatly enriched my experience. My flatmates quickly became like family, and together, we shared countless dinners, game nights, and even a memorable trip to a cabin in the Swiss mountains, where we hiked in the snow and bonded over home-cooked meals. Their openness and willingness to help me navigate my new environment made a world of difference. I lived in the housing suggested by UZH, the WOKO housing.

Nthatisi and her flatmates’ end of semester ‘fancy’ party

It’s no secret that Switzerland is an expensive country, and this was something I had to manage carefully during my exchange. I was fortunate to receive the Henning Roelli Scholarship, which provided me with 4,000 Swiss Francs, a significant contribution towards my expenses. To access my scholarship, I had to open a Swiss Bank account. I did with UBS. The process was incredibly easy. However, there are a range of options available to students, with most banks offering student benefits.

The major costs I encountered included accommodation and travel. To make the most of my time in Switzerland and beyond, I invested in several travel passes that were invaluable. These included the GA Night Fare Card (which made travel between 7 PM and 7 AM free), the Half-Fare Card (which gave me a 50% discount on most travel outside Zurich), and the Zone 110 Card (covering all travel within Zurich). Although these cards required a steep initial investment, especially as someone under 25 who qualified for discounted rates, they were worth every franc.

During my exchange, I took the opportunity to travel to several countries outside of Switzerland, including Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain, and France. To manage costs effectively, I tried to adopt a strategic approach to travel. One of my key cost-cutting strategies was to stay with friends or family whenever possible, which significantly reduced my accommodation expenses. This not only allowed me to save money but also gave me the chance to reconnect with old friends and build new friendships. Additionally, I made it a point to book my flights or train tickets well in advance, ensuring I could take advantage of lower fares.

Return to Stellenbosch:

As I write this blog, I’m on a flight back home, reflecting on the incredible journey I’ve just experienced. Although I haven’t yet had the chance to settle back into life in South Africa, I’m filled with excitement and anticipation. I’m eager to reunite with my family and friends, share stories of my adventures, and, of course, indulge in some much-missed biltong. While I know it will take some time to fully adjust back to my routines, I’m looking forward to bringing all the knowledge and experiences I gained in Zurich into my remaining SU journey.

September 3, 2024
Jessica Van der Berg at Lausanne University, Switzerland

Jessica Van der Berg

MCom in Economics

Semester Exchange in the First Semester, 2022 at Lausanne University

Pre-departure:

The pre-departure planning felt a little bit chaotic since there was still uncertainty about the covid-19 regulations and whether traveling abroad would be possible. However, there is only so much you can do to prepare and then you just have to wait and see what happens. Luckily Emirates started flying from South Africa again on the 01 February 2022, and my flight was on the 5th of February 2022, so everything worked out perfectly. Since I only have a South African passport had to apply for a type D visa with the Swiss Embassy in Johannesburg. If you are a student, you do not have to pay any visa fees. However, you do have to pay to get your documents delivered to the Swiss Embassy (if you are staying in Cape Town) which cost around R1000 if you use post-net.

The type-D visa requires you to send in 3 copies of all the documentation that they require, so the admin related to applying can take some time. The process also takes about 9-12 weeks; therefore, you should get started as soon as possible. I didn’t hear anything from the Swiss Embassy and when I contacted them after waiting 10 weeks, my visa was approved and ready. You then have to arrange with post-net to go pick up your documents and it takes about 2 days to get delivered to their branch in Cape Town. Since the visa process if quite lengthy, my suggestion would be to send in more information than necessary to ensure there are no delays. After I have received my visa application, I could start packing.

If you are staying with FMEL (Lausanne University accommodation), then you have to take your own bedding, cutlery and crockery. This ends up taking a lot of space in your bags and therefore I decided to purchase everything once I arrive in Lausanne. You can rent bedding from your place of accommodation, which cost around 80 CHF for 5 months. However, my advice would be to rather go to the IKEA which is a few train stops away and buy the cheapest bedding that you can find. I bought bedding, cutlery and some basic crockery which all added up to 120 CHF (with the bedding costing around 55 CHF). The only disadvantage of doing it this way, is that you have to leave all your purchases behind when you return home, or my suggestion would be to donate it to other students. My advice for packing is that less is more. Looking back now, I packed way too many jerseys and too many books that I never got around to reading. Only pack items that you really need. Remember that you will also purchase some clothing and gifts while travelling and living abroad, so it is best to leave space in your bag for when you return.

Experience at the host university:

The University of Lausanne gives you a very generous bursary of around 1750 CHF for 5 months. This is more than enough to cover your monthly expenses in Lausanne if you don’t indulge in too luxuries. When you arrive in Lausanne, you have to set up a meeting with the exchange coordinator and they give you a cheque for your first month’s bursary. You then have to take that to the bank and then you can either deposit it in a Swiss bank account or take it cash. The rest of the bursary is than paid into your Swiss bank account. It is relatively easy to open a bank account, however you do need to make an appointment and they do require you to have your temporary residence permit. You can make an appointment online and they tell you which documents you need to bring. The bank account takes about a week to activate. So, if you do not feel comfortable having 1 750 CHF in cash, you need to make sure you have enough money to survive for at least 2-3 weeks before you have all your admin sorted.

You also have to get compulsory health insurance when you are in Switzerland. You can apply for an exemption; however, they do have strict requirements. The cheapest option I could find was with Golden Care and cost 51 CHF a month. You have 3 months to get health insurance otherwise the canton you are staying with assigns you to an insurance company and then you don’t have any say in the price. The public transport in Switzerland is quite expensive. I purchased a zone ticket which allows you to travel around in centre Lausanne for 52 CHF a month. You can also buy a half-fare card for 120 CHF (for the whole year) which gives you a discount when you purchase a train ticket. Furthermore, there is also a 7/25 card which allows you to travel free between 7 pm and 5 am. This is great for longer travels over the weekend and cost around 49 CHF per month.

The University of Lausanne is an extremely culturally diverse university with many exchange students, which makes it easy to meet new people. To make sure I wasn’t falling into the trap of only becoming friend with other exchange students, I took a class that involved a group project and met some great people from Switzerland. The university sits right on Lake Geneva, and you often see sheep (the universities lawnmowers) walking around on campus. In terms of teaching, I was impressed by the quality of lectures that I had. The lectures were flexible in terms of attending class since there were still various COVID-19 rules in place when class started. All my lectures were in English and were presented both online and in person. The assessments focused on class presentations and assignments, rather than exams. This was a refreshing approach to assessing a student’s understanding of the work. I thought the difficulty level of the classes that I took was on par with that of Stellenbosch.

Jessica by Lake Geneva

The accommodation process is also relatively easily with the only disadvantage being that can’t choose in which student house/apartment you stay. Before they assign you to a house, they ask you what your budget is. If you want to stay close to campus, you are going to pay at least 750 CHF rent per month, however there is accommodation further away from campus for 550 CHF per month. I really enjoyed staying close to campus and Lake Geneva, and definitely think it is worth the extra cost. The administers at the accommodation are extremely helpful and I often went to them to assist me with using the laundry facilities, insurance letters and getting around. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need some. Lausanne is extremely beautiful and safe. You can take a train and travel all around Lake Geneva and visit many neighbouring cantons. Switzerland is also extremely central which makes it super easy to travel to neighbouring countries. A bus (with Flixbus) to France cost around 8 CHF and a bus to Milan around 25 CHF. You can also fly for relatively cheap with Easy Jets and travel to places like Croatia for 40 CHF (however the flight prices increase drastically during tourist season).

Return to Stellenbosch:

I am excited to return home to South Africa and finish my studies at Stellenbosch University but will definitely miss being in Switzerland. Switzerland has an extremely high quality of life, and therefore you are not exposed to problems such as load shedding. Switzerland also has a low poverty and crime rate, which was refreshing. I have also been very proud to be from South Africa and this experience has not changed that. If anything, I think I can take the life lessons that I have learnt in Lausanne and apply them to my life in South Africa. The exchange journey has made me realize that I would like to work abroad at some point in my life. There are many opportunities for you to grow in a professional capacity and ways to expand your career. However, I believe I will always want to return to South Africa.

September 19, 2023
Mvelo Nzimande at Bern University, Switzerland

Mvelo Nzimande

LLB Student

Semester Exchange in the Second Semester, 2022 at Bern University

Pre-departure:

I decided that I wanted to end my final year in a rather ceremonious way by going on exchange. Before this exchange experience, I had never even been abroad (unless you count Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique), so this was very exciting for me but also anxiety inducing. Also considering that I’m also doing probably my most challenging module (Company Law 471) this year, and so I had the added stress that I might struggle to keep up with the course work and potentially fail the module while on exchange. This fear alone almost made me decline the offer to study at the University of Bern, however I’m very glad I made the decision to go.

There were many things that I had to do before I left. For starters, I had to find a new tenant to take over my lease in Stellenbosch, and because I was going back and forth in deciding whether to even go on exchange, I began this process rather late. However, luckily enough I found a tenant one month before my departure. Second on the agenda was getting my Visa, which for Switzerland, one can only get from Pretoria. This meant that I had to travel via plane from Cape Town to Pretoria (and back) twice to get my Visa: the first time to drop-off my application documents (since they don’t work with courier services) and the second time to pick it up after it was processed. I remember when I had to go pick it up, it was a day before my second Law of Evidence test, which meant that I unfortunately had to study on the plane.

Third on the list of predeparture prep was buying the plane tickets to Switzerland. This was rather easy as I buy tickets from home (Durban) to Stellenbosch (and back) almost 6/7 times a year. The only tip I could give is for people who like me have never been abroad, to not be afraid to ask your parents to come with you for the first week. I was lucky enough to have my mom fly with me and help me settle in at Bern. This made that initial entry into a new country a little less scary. I had her and my exchange partner with me every step of the way. In general, my biggest word of advice would be to start all pre-departure prep as early as you can (i.e., VISA, plane tickets etc.) as this gives you a sort of buffer time for contingency plans in the event that things go awry.

Experience at the host university:

In Bern all of my courses were international law courses, and more interestingly they were all Master level courses since these were the only English options. My modules included international trade regulation, international investment law, international intellectual property and European data protection. In addition to these courses, I still continued with company law and the law of evidence remotely. What was nice about this arrangement, is that my academic work was shorter than what it would have been had I stayed in Stellenbosch and not gone on exchange. For instance, I had no lectures on Fridays. Of course, I still had my work cut out for me, however it was nice to have a three-day weekend to travel and catch up on anything I had not completed during the week.

Bern is a lot like Stellenbosch in that there is a lot to do, maybe even more to do since it is much larger. I am happy to say that a lot of shopping and site seeing happened – I mean when the public transport is so reliable you can’t help but explore. One can swim in the Aare River, take walks in the Könizbergwald forest, visit the Rosengarten for views of the old city of Bern, visit the Gurten hill for panoramic views of the entire city and much more. Might I add that these places look even more magical when it snows.

Bern, under snow

With regards to how the academic strain compares Stellenbosch, I can say that it is both easier and more difficult. It is easier in that there are less hours of class per week, the course content is not as difficult e.g., I found contract law, law of delict, law of succession, company law much more challenging. However, I think this might be because the only courses I could do were international law courses as opposed to the substantive law of Switzerland – which I can imagine is as difficult as South African substantive law. Further, for all of these courses I did not have assignments, or tuts, or requirements for class attendance. The catch is that for each of them there is only one exam that makes up all of your marks for that course. So, in essence you only have one opportunity to pass, which makes it more challenging than Stellenbosch.

Many of the lecturers also did not have English as their first language or their home language. For example, my lecturer for Investment was from Chile with a very strong Chilean accent. So sometimes it was hard to understand what he was saying. Lastly, all the exams were oral exams and were all scheduled in one week and although I enjoy oral exams it gets tough when you have four different lecturers who conduct them in four different ways. So, this was interesting to maneuver but I’m glad I did so successfully.

Return to Stellenbosch:

Exchange has most definitely given me the travel bug. I know that most definitely after my articles I will be travelling and perhaps even relocating to another country–maybe even Switzerland. I just love how everything works there and how easy life felt there. And because I’ve made so many friendships from exchange, I know that wherever I relocate to abroad I will have a friend nearby.

My return back was not too bad. I think a part of me was missing home a little and my family and friends. Obviously, December in South Africa is a festive season, so you know that everyone is making the most of their summer holiday, which was tough to miss out on. The only part that was difficult was saying goodbye to all my exchange friends as others were staying in Bern for a yearlong exchange.

What made my return back home all the better was seeing my entire family at King Shaka airport with balloons, flowers and huge cards. This was so lovely to see after a long 16 hours in the sky and 3 hours in Dubai. It was nice to know that my family missed me as much as I missed them.

September 18, 2023