Sapienza University of Rome - A short guide to the student life

Continuing my “Promoting Erasmus and studying abroad” pages, I now introduce you to the Sapienza University of Rome! Let’s suppose that you are an Erasmus student or in general a student planning to study abroad for a semester or so. What are the factors that you would take into consideration before choosing your next destination and university? How would you organize your background research? What are the things that you’d love to know about your university in advance? Here’s a short research I did about one of the biggest universities in Italy that welcomes thousands of Erasmus students every year.

Welcome to the Sapienza University of Rome!

Background info; The university; The world's leading university rankings place Sapienza at the forefront among Italian universities, for quality of research and teaching and for its international dimension. In the sectoral charts, the University excels and qualifies as a benchmark for many disciplines. Sapienza currently offers over 250 programmes and over 200 vocational master courses. The School of Advanced Studies provides an programme of excellence and free tuition for the best students. Students with a high school score of 100 are exempt from enrolment fees, and the bonus is extended if they keep up their good grades. Sapienza University promotes a vast range of cultural, social and sports activities and has various facilities (over 100,000 square meters) for sports, music, theatre and a web radio. Over 30,000 students come from other Italian cities, nearly 8000 are foreign and over 3300 students a year come to Sapienza as part of international mobility programmes. Thanks to a wide network of collaborations with universities around the world, Sapienza also provides its students many international opportunities, including double degrees, scholarships abroad, internships in different European and non-European countries, international doctorates.

Location; Sapienza University is located in the heart of Rome, just a five-minute walk away from the main "Termini" train station. The main entrance to the University Campus is at Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, but there also are many side entrances to the main campus. While many offices and lecture halls are located on the main campus ("città universitaria), there also are other faculties and departments located throughout the city. Moreover, there also are offices and departments located in other areas of the Lazio Region.

The life in the city;

Rome is a beautiful mess - a wonderful place to live, but very frustrating and stressful if you have to get anything done. Everything is an uphill battle. However, it’s a city that’s easy to feel at home in. Whereas it would take forever to feel like a true New Yorker or Parisian, you can feel like a Roman in no time (perhaps real Romans won’t agree, but you can feel like that!)

• The food is simply awesome. If you live there, you will learn to recognise tourist traps and many trattorias are awesome. You must know that Rome is a very big city : many neighbourhoods are unknown by the tourists, and there you will be able to eat very well and for a very cheap price. Examples : Garbatella, San Lorenzo, Monti…

• Italian people are very welcoming if you learn to speak a little bit of Italian and if you are respectful.

• The weather is great, especially from September to November and from April to June.

• The historical center is always beautiful to discover. You may find some hidden places (churches, streets, palazzos) at every corner.

• You cannot be bored as Rome is a very dynamic city. It’s not the museum city you may think it is : its nightlife is always evolving.

• It’s a very safe city.

• The surroundings are beautiful and you can reach the beach at less than 1 hour in transport .

Housing and Accommodation;

Unfortunately, Sapienza University does not provide students with accommodation. However, together with your login code for the on-line application form, you will receive (by e-mail) a username and a password to access accomodation notices provided by the Erasmus Student Network.Furthermore, Sapienza signed some special housing agreements with companies that offer free intermediation service and with CTS, that you will pay only if you accept the housing they found for you.

Uniplaces - An ESN suggestion for housing;

Don’t waste time and money to stay weeks in an hostel or in hotel. Uniplaces offers you over a thousand and the best accommodations for students in Rome, from rooms in shared student flats to private studios and whole apartments. Check them out now - https://www.uniplaces.com/accommodation/rome Make your booking request now using the exclusive promo-code ESNASEROMA and get an immediate 25% discount on the booking fee. How to book your accommodation with Uniplaces:

1) Choose your room & enter your move-in and move-out dates 2) Click “Request to book” 3) Fill in the booking request form

The landlord will reply within 48 hours to confirm your booking. We will send you a confirmation e-mail, and that's it - you're ready to move in! You pay with Uniplaces the first month of rent and we keep that money till 24h after you have moved in and only transfer it to the landlord if everything is ok and exactly like stated in the offer! By doing this we make sure that the apartment is the same as in the pictures. Enjoy Roma, La Città Eterna!

And a few extra websites that you might wanna keep in mind while searching for accomodation;

https://erasmusu.com/en/erasmus-rome/roommate

https://www.spotahome.com/rome/for-rent:rooms

http://www.friendsinrome.com/board.asp?c=f42

https://www.nestpick.com/rome/

...and of course do not forget to join the local ESN community!

ESN works in the interest of all international students, not just for Erasmus students. ESN offers a clear introductory programme for all international students to introduce them to the laws, rules and customs of their host country.

But how do international students experience Rome???

Important info!!!

Average rent; 470 euros. Monthly transportation subscription; 35 euros. Monthly food cost; 270 euros. Average lunch price at a restaurant; 15euros. Average Fitness subscription; 35 euros. Beer Price at a bar; 4 euros.

Pack your bags and choose Rome as your Erasmus or studying abroad destination!