Bocconi University, Milan, Italy 2012, Semester 2 LLB, BCom ...

Bocconi University, Milan, Italy 2012, Semester 2 LLB, BCom (Accounting) I have just returned to New Zealand having spent 7 months abroad. I would definitely recommend to anyone thinking of doing an exchange to just get involved and go, it is a brilliant way to see the world while studying. Milan is a really good city to study in, it has a very vibrant culture and isn’t as touristic as other major cities, which means you feel more a part of the city as opposed to just another tourist. For me, needing to do law and commerce I was limited by the number of universities I had to choose from but Bocconi is a very well renowned university in Italy and has established law and business schools. Visa: I would recommend getting onto this early, its just one of those things you don’t need bugging you when you are trying to get other things sorted. The Italian embassy have a tendency to be a bit slow so you just need to keep following them up and asking for your visa to be processed otherwise they will just leave it in a pile until it gets pretty tight with timing. Bocconi: Bocconi is actually very small and really only caters for business and law students, there are no science or arts departments so the campus is significantly smaller than Otago’s. When any Italian asks you where you are studying and you say Bocconi they are always very impressed because it is Italy’s highest ranked university and costs a lot for Italians to attend. Having said that, you will find like in all of Italy that things tend to happen very slowly and are very bureaucratic at times, it is something that tends to be the case wherever you go in Italy. I would recommend doing the language course especially if you are not in dorm accommodation because it is a fantastic way to meet people. I found that if you want to learn the language you really need to make a conscious effort, it doesn’t just happened through osmosis! (like I thought). If that’s one of your aims I’d try to find an apartment with Italians. The academic classes tend to be very relaxed and there is a lot of interjector from the students. They run for 1 ½ typically which can be a bit of a shock to the system coming from 50 minute classes. I took two law papers and two commerce papers. 1. International law: I would recommend this paper. It was actually the easiest paper I took at Bocconi plus I got 9 points for it. It is one of the only courses that the Italian law students must take in English therefore it is taught at a basic level. 2. Introduction to Italian legal systems: this is not as easy as it sounds. They require you to learn an entire textbook, however it is a good way of brushing up on all aspects of the legal system even though its Italian Civil law. 3. Organisation Theory: this also sounds easy but it isn’t. This was the hardest paper I took at Bocconi. It has a very high work load and the teacher demands a lot. Despite this, it is very interesting and makes you think!

4. Business Strategy: this was a good paper to take on exchange. There was a whole class of exchange students and the lecturers were very easy on us. The content wasn’t too difficult to grasp either. Accommodation: I read these exchange reports before leaving and the general idea seemed to be to take an apartment. I would still generally agree with that but there are some other good options. One of the main obstacles with an apartment is that to get your visa you are required to have a place to live. I got around this by taking a place at Arcobalano, this required a $500 deposit but it is refundable if you pull out before the date specified. I found an apartment really close to university which was ideal for classes and getting into the centre of town. The best way to find an apartment is to arrive a week or two earlier and use the numerous internet sites available and the university has notice boards which people have pinned up ads. I would avoid signing up and paying any money from New Zealand, because there is a good chance you will get ripped off. Arcobaleano is a residence that most people tend to stay at. It is really good for social life but is full of Americans who tend to be a year or two younger than the exchange students from New Zealand. I think this was about 600 euro per month, but is about 30 minutes by tram out of the city. I had a lot of friends in a residence called Dubini which was a bit more expensive but very close to the university, they seemed to enjoy it. Money Milan is an expensive city but if you budget you can do it cheaply. The things that generally cost the most are going out and eating out. Generally it costs 10-15 euro to get into a club (which adds up) Food This was the best part of Italy for me. The Italian’s manage to make a combination of very basic ingredients taste amazing. In the apartment we cooked together and got most of a our food from the supermarket. We generally found that it is a lot cheaper to eat like the locals did because those ingredients were cheaper. International food is through the roof expensive, but a good place to get this is to make a trip to China Town. Cellphone The way I did this was just buying a cheap Italian one and not worrying about transferring my New Zealand one. I think it cost me 20 euro and I got 10 euro credit so it wasn’t a big deal. I would recommend Vodafone. Most of my flatmates were on Wind and were always complaining about how slow it is. On Via Bligny there are both Vodafone and Wind stores. Transport

Transport card: this is a good thing to get early on, because there is a 2/3 week wait after you first register until your card has arrived. For 17 euro per month you get unlimited access to all the public transport, including the metro. Travel One of the things that attracted me to Milan was its accessibility to the rest of Europe. It is pretty much at the door of France, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia. Also an easy flight via Ryan Air or Easy jet to further away destinations. One of the things to be wary of when booking flights is that if the trip is about a 5/6 hour train ride it is often better to go by train. This is because most of the budget airlines have airports up to 1 ½ hours away from the actual city you are visiting and you are required to be there 2 hours beforehand. Transit costs and time tend make a 2 hour flight turn into a 7/8 hour ordeal. So it is often easier to take a train which drops you off in the centre of the city. As far as travelling while at Bocconi, I would recommend hanging around and meeting people for the first two or three weeks. Then perhaps go quite often up until the mid semester break and perhaps for two or three weeks after that. This should give you plenty of time to prepare for exams.