Undergraduate
Student Experience
Greetings, My
name is 탁력. I hope this experience report would be helpful for those who are
interested in applying to the exchange program at Bocconi University. All the
information included is based on my personal experience. FYI, due to the
covid-19 outbreak, I only stayed at Bocconi for a month and more.
1.
Introduction of an exchange school
Bocconi
University is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides
undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate education in the fields of
economics, finance, law, management, political science, and public administration.
SDA Bocconi, the university's business school, offers MBA and Executive MBA
programs.
After I got
the nomination, I received instructions on how to apply online application for
the exchange program. And the id&password will be sent to our emails.
2. Course
application & Course introduction
Course
Registration
The
syllabus for courses can be found on the Academic Calendar. Academic Calendar
is available at www.ir.unibocconi.eu/calendar.
During the
Course Selection period, access the yoU@B agenda at agenda.unibocconi.it, by
using the credentials available at the bottom of the message, and select the
study plan. We also had the chance to modify our study plan during the Add/drop
period. The courses are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis.
Course
introduction
At Bocconi,
they offer two styles of studying method, attending and non-attending,
basically attending is what we have in KUBS, the final grade would be
determined by attendance, activities, and exams, etc. The non-attending one is
that you don’t need to attend the lectures regularly, and there is 0
assignments and projects for you, only the final exam contributes to your
grade. However, the exam coverage is different for these two styles, the
non-attending one usually needs you to read two whole books.
I’ve taken
5 courses, all attending.
Corporate
Finance (전공선택)
Management
of Fashion Companies (전공선택)
International
Finance (전공선택)
Personal
Selling (전공선택)
Principles
of E-Commerce and E-Marketing (전공선택)
I
personally felt that the finance courses are very hard at Bocconi, it took me a
lot of time to work on them.
3. Housing
a)
Dormitory information
Bocconi
University provides residences for exchange students with limited amounts.
There are Bocconi Residence, Javotte Residence, Dubini Residence, Spadolini
Residence, Arcobaleno Residence, the more modern Isonzo Residence, Bligny
Residence, and the latest Castiglioni Residence. The type of accommodation
varies between the residences and the choice is among single rooms in
apartments for either one, two, or four people. The residences offer also
services to students such as cleaning services, laundry rooms, study rooms,
parking spaces. Many students, however, choose to rent private apartments that
are easy to find around the university area. When I doing the online
application, I’ve got to choose a residence with priorities, paid a 400 euro
deposit in advance which will be refunded in cash at the end of the stay.
I was
assigned to a single room in a 2-room apartment with a bathroom to be shared with
one other student at Residenza Arcobaleno(not my first choice) which most of
the exchange students are located. The housing rent must be paid in advance for
the whole period when you received the housing confirmation (my case: 2.520
euro).
b) Private
housing information
Since I was
lucky enough to get the dorm, I didn’t take a deeper look at the private
housing. As I heard from my friends, you could find the housing information and
your roommate in the Facebook group created for exchange students.
4.Lifestyle
and others
a)
Existence of a buddy program
There is no
buddy program like KUBS has, but there is a closed Facebook group ''Bocconi
Exchange (Official)” which helps gear up for the incoming exchange students.
The ISD staff will post important communications in this group, on matters such
as course selection, exam registration, changes in office hours, etc. Besides,
you can use this group to ask questions, virtually meet, and get to know your
future exchange buddies.
Basically,
all the information is shared in the official Facebook group and WhatsApp group
students created.
b) Alumni
program information
I am not
sure if they provide an Alumni program for exchange students, but they hosted
an International Fair to give prospective exchange applicants detailed
information on their future experience abroad. This is a unique opportunity for
us to represent KUBS and to meet Bocconi students.
c) Living
expenses
Sim Card:
I used the
Vodafone, you could go to the store located near the duomo, it costs 10 euro
per month with free roaming in Europe.
Transportation:
When you
check-in at Bocconi, they will give you an application form for a regular
transportation card in advance. Then you can go to the atm point (Duomo and
Cadorna station have one which near to the campus) to apply for it, it costs 22
euros per month, valid from the beginning of each month to the end of each
month, you can charge for the next month in advance at the atm point.
You can
also download an app called ATM Milano, which you can buy a single ticket on
it.
5.
Preparation: What to prepare before departure
I
personally suggest you do some research about the theft and robbery scenarios
in Europe.
It did
happen to one of my friends when we travel to Venice, her wallet was stolen.
And you
should prepare on how to get to your house from the airport, Milano has three
airports, you could find someone from the exchange group to share an Uber.
6.
Insurance & VISA
Insurance
I joined a
short-term travel insurance for the visa and joined the insurance for the whole
period stay in Italy as the university suggest after I arrived in Milano, you
can refer to waitaly.net.
VISA
Since I am
an international student, my visa preparation might not be the same as Korean
students, here is an instruction about the materials that the Italian embassy
stated:
1. Visa
Application Form
2. Recent passport-style photo (white
background)
3. Passport or travel document valid for at
least three months after visa expiry + Colour Photocopy (essential pages
containing photo, bearer’s sign, validity)
4. Alien
Registration Card issued by the Korean Immigration Office original and color
photocopy (both sides)
5. Copy of the Airplane ticket or confirmed
flight schedule
6. Certificate of enrolments in an approved
programme of exchange issued by the Italian University + Certificate of
Attendance in original issued by the Korean university + Certificate of
Participation to the Exchange program issued by the Korean University
7. Copy of receipt of payment of Enrolments fees
or written confirmation of payment issued by the Korean University
8. Proof of economic means of support, as per
Ministry of Interior Directive 1.3.2000 (Certificate of Bank Deposit of the
Applicant’s account)
9.
Declaration of the availability in Italy of appropriate lodgings during the
period of Study in Italy
10.
Insurance coverage for medical treatment and or emergency hospitalization
7. Italian
language course
Bocconi
offers Italian language course for incoming exchange students, a crash course (200
euro) before the semester start, and a follow-up course(170 euro) in the
semester. I think it is very important to learn some basic Italian if you want
to experience the local life. The crash course is very intensive, 4-5 hours a
day, and lasts about two weeks. Attendance is mandatory, only students who
attend a minimum of 75% of the course and pass the final test will receive the
Italian language course certificate. You have to pass the crash course to take
the follow-up course. In case of overlap between the Follow-up Course and
Bocconi classes, you can cancel your registration for the course by emailing
ISD.
8. ESN
Erasmus
Student Network (ESN) is a non-profit international student organization. They
represent international students, thus provide opportunities for cultural
understanding and self-development under the principle of Students Helping
Students. You could join the ESN at the beginning of the semester, I remembered
the joining fee is 10 euro. They will organize short trips and outside
activities like wine parties etc. You could meet many other exchange students
from different schools and countries, I had a lot of fun with friends I met on
the ESN trips.
9. Covid
After the
outbreak in Italy, Bocconi immediately stops the school for a week and then
transfer all the learning with the online methods. I left Europe after April,
it was very hard for me to take online lectures because of the time difference.
Except that, it was all good till the end of the semester.
Lastly,
even my exchange was not smooth, I still think I was lucky enough to get the
chance to experience the local life and offline lectures for a short but valued
time. And I do really recommend Bocconi as an exchange university if you want
to experience an authentic European life.