Exchange in Milan, Italy

Are you considering a global exchange as part of your degree at UTS?  Ever wanted to experience a new country, city, and culture from the perspective of student?  If this sounds like you then keep reading for further insights into what a study abroad experience can bring, as well as my personal tips and recommendations on planning your global exchange at UTS. 

I am currently living in Milan studying at the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Cattolica).  Cattolica has provided me with an amazing study abroad experience so far, providing their exchange students with an international curriculum that not only teaches all subjects in English but also provides topics of international interest to their students.

I was given the opportunity to complete 6ECTs through a two-week intensive Italian language course within the university before the official semester commenced.  This left me with only 24 ECTS left to complete throughout the semester which I am obtaining within the international curriculum.  My subjects cover Italian Food and Culture, Fashion Markets and Luxury Business Insights, all topics of popular interest for foreign students living in Milan (the fashion capital of Italy). 

Here at Cattolica I have personally found the study workload to be significantly less than that of a regular semester at home.  However, I believe this is due to my participation within the international curriculum only, designed for international students living an extravagant lifestyle of weekend travel and social weeknights.

Life as an exchange student has been extremely social, exciting, and educational.  When it comes to meeting new people and making new friends you really do get out what you put in.  Almost all other exchange students are open to friendships and expanding their social circles and there are plenty of organisations, promotions and planned events designed to bring foreign students together.  I have found that you learn just as much, if not more outside the lecture halls when living abroad, with each day providing new opportunities and experiences for growth.

My key tips to any future students planning their exchange would be to gauge what you are really hoping to achieve from your time abroad.  Do you want to take this opportunity to travel as much as possible?  Do you want to immerse yourself within the city that you are studying in completely? Or are you perhaps hoping to just have a good time and social life?  Knowing what lifestyle you want to live can really help you choose what city to study in as well as what subject to build into your timetable. 

I would also highly suggest doing a lot of self-research into your host country, city, and university as UTS only provides broad information on the planning process, due to each student’s requirements being highly unique depending on their destination. 

Finally, decide and start arranging your housing and visa’s ahead of time.  This will save you a lot of stress and provide you with a solid foundation to build the rest of your exchange requirements upon.

I hope this blog post can you help you in your decisions and planning and wish you all the best on your UTS Global Exchange.  

Rohan Ball

Bachelor of Management Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation

Global Exchange Student at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy