Tips for a stress free year abroad

By Txell Borràs, Università Bocconi, Italy, Milano.

Uncertainty when entering a new university in a new country, is intimidating and a big factor that can condition your experience during a year abroad. It should be a fun and unforgettable experience, free of worries or stress, to look back at with excitement and nostalgia, so you should not let poor management of your time and exams get in the way of that. Here are some tips for you that I would have loved to hear about before starting my Bocconi experience.

Module Selection:

After a semester at Bocconi, I can consider myself wise enough to suggest not picking one-final exam modules. I was the first one to think this would be the easiest way to go through the semester without many obligations and with more free time. However, the Bocconi University is known for having harder written exams (multiple choice and essay based) and even some in oral format, all closed book, which we can find harder coming from UoM (much more assignment and presentation based). If you want to avoid not leaving your house for two weeks during exam season (as I did) I would strongly recommend picking modules with partial exams, and especially, with group work, which I have found to be much easier than written exams.

Finally, I would strongly recommend getting out of your comfort zone and pick modules which are useful, yet not available in our university; you might want to exploit the opportunity that the exchange program gives you at the fullest. I took Cultural Anthropology and am taking Transformation of the Cultural Sectors and Art Markets this semester. I am enjoying them so much, and discovering what an important insight they give to business and management (my course).

Overlaps

The Bocconi University offer courses with core subjects to their students, however, us exchange students choose from a list of these. This results in nearly unavoidable overlaps in the schedule, which stressed me a lot during the first couple of weeks, but no worries, it is not the end of the world. I talked to all of my teachers, which were really understanding, and managed to keep up with all of the modules as an attending student.

Exam Season

Finally, take advantage of the fact that, unlike others, you have the benefit of enjoying a full year abroad! In the case of the Bocconi University, there are THREE examination periods, in December, January and February (1^st semester) and May, June and July (2^nd semester). Here I suggest you play smart and prioritise quality over quantity. Why deal with five exams in one week, obtaining lower grades and higher stress, when you can take three exams in the first sitting period and two in the second or vice versa? Some of my friends tried taking them all at once and ended up failing some of them, instead I did three before Christmas, gave myself a break to rest and study with more time, and took the remaining two in January. Best decision I have ever made!

Hopefully these tips are useful to those looking to do your exchange in Milan and maybe also to exchange students with other destinations. But do not worry, your exchange year won’t be only work, work, work… Keep up for my next post about traveling from Milan!