Bogaziçi Üniversitesi

Taksim is the best place to hang out as a student. Since I am a native of my study-abroad university city, I got more out of the city than my foreigner exchange student friends.

I got a chance to look a some dorms where my friends lived. It's not the best housing possible, you can get better appartments in the city (for a higher price probably) but it's very convenient to live on campus. And the rooms I saw were not that bad. Usually a suite of 4-5 singles. Super Dorm was pretty good in terms on central location and new furniture, rooms...etc. Everything looked very new and clean. But you can probably get better housing at a higher cost elsewhere in the city.

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Learn some Turkish before your arrival. Turks are known for their hospitality but unfortunately not a lot of them speak English beyond a few words. Also, be street-smart, especially if you aren't used to big cities. Don't go out alone at night until you are fully acquainted with your surroundings and the city. It can get very confusing but the bus transportation is quite good (this is where a little Turkish can go a long way!)

I spoke both the language of instruction (English) and the host country language (Turkish) at a fluent/native level before and after my study abroad. So there was no problem at any point.