17 reviews
4.33 / 5 based on 17 reviews

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Jana S
Languages
Language of instruction: English
Was learning English a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
Language difficulties
Administrative / Institutional
Personal comments
Well, difficult to say. In the area of my campus it was veeery difficult to talk English to somebody. And as I dont speak latvian, either russian, sometimes it was a very hard job to explain or ask for something. At the university, there was not problem.
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Jana S
Academic
Course recommendations
Courses were really great and professionals, as this school is private you can see closer relationship student-teacher, what is sometimes an advantage, sometimes not. In my English programme, mostly rich russians very studying, so you can see some kind of posh and snob life of them.
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My academic experiences
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
Maybe the changes in schedule could be more accessable. I came to school many times and my lesson was canceled.
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My opinion of the university assessment
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course

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Jana S
Expenses
Main source of funding:
An ERASMUS grant
Other sources of funding:
Family
Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options
Personal spending habits
I dont live alone at home, but at parents flat, so it was very suprising for me how much money i spent in Riga. As I said, nightlife in Riga is quite expensive... but of course you dont have to go out 4 times a week as we did :) you will save much money.
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Overall, Travel, Nightlife, Housing, Food:
was more expensive than at home.
Telephone:
was the same price as at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand household items
Personal comments
I didnt have to buy any books for school as we received all the necessary materials in library for free for one semester, that spaed lot of money. Supernetto and Maxima were cheaper supermarkets than Rimi or Stockmann.
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Jana S
Overall
I wish I had known...
Riga is not a very safe place to be. I could have known more about the area of my hostel as that part of the city was the most dangerous one, I found out after. Everything else was great.
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In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Personal recommendation
Try to get closer with latvians at the beginning, in my opinion they are quite closed. My personal point of view - boys are more popular there :)
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
Met people from other countries
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies & career
Final comments
Latvia and Riga is very amazing place because of the mixture of russian and latvian cultures and people and language. For me that was the main reason to choose Riga, to experience something else than a typical Western Europe.
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Jana S
Housing
Type of housing: On campus
Arranged by: Host university
If returning, I would choose: On campus
Why?
It was a great opportunity to get to know other erasmus students.
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Personal comments
Usually, the housing is in flats with other erasmus students but that is quite more expensive than living on campus. Next time, I would firstly find out the location, readiness and details of the hostel. It was still not finished when I came there and the kitchen was built in 2 months after I arrived. Now, it is supposed to be ok.
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Jana S
Student life
Describe host city:
Students interact with the local community without much university involvement
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Travel, Activities, Nightlife: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Personal comments
Very nice question :) Well, nightlife in Riga was more expensive than I expected because the most of them is made for foreigners. The best place for drinking apple pie - vodka with apple juice - FRENCH BAR, but very small space. And then discos Kabata, Pulkvedim, Essential, Fashion bar.
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