Ivana in Rome
Table of Contents
Overall Thoughts & Feelings
The first word that comes into my mind when I think about Rome is magical. If you want to experience the true “dolce vita”, Rome is definitely your city. My Erasmus in Italy really gave me some perspective and taught me to enjoy the little moments in life (I know it sounds really cliché haha). Rome is a very vibrant city, there is always something going on, and the climate as well as the culinary experiences are incredible.
Expenses
- Rent: 600/ month (incl. gas/electricity)
- Food: Groceries are rather cheap if you buy them at Lidl or at local farmer stores (on a monthly basis maybe 300€ depending on your eating habits) but there are also more expensive supermarkets (Vienna level)
- Eating out: you can get a big plate of great pasta for 9€-12€, aperol spritz was my go drink with aperitivo and you often get it for 5-6€ and ofc highlight was the 1.30€ cappuccino
- Trips: you can take the Flixbus from Rome to pretty much every other Italian city (10-20€), or the regional trains (30-40€ depending on where you go and how early you book in advance).
- Public Transport: 35€ monthly ticket
Accommodation
I live at Piazza Bologna, a very vivid neighborhood, full of students, nice restaurants and (cheap) bars. From Thursday to Sunday the main street is full of local students, but there are also a lot of international students that live in this area. There is a beautiful park within walking distance (Villa Torlonia), where you can go for a run or just have a chill evening walk. There are many supermarkets in the area (including a Lidl) and my personal favorites being the local farmer stores. I would always get fresh vegetables, fruits, amazing cheeses/meats as well as wines for cheap prices.
I live in a so-called “WG” with two other guys I randomly met in Rome. Our flat is around 40 mins walking distance from the LUISS campus, and around 20-30 mins away if you take the public transport (if the buses are on time haha). As for the city center, I am around 30 mins away from “Centro Storico” and around 45 mins away from Trastevere, where most happenings are on the weekend. But don’t worry, 45 mins travel time is completely normal in Rome – you get used to it.
If I can give you a pro tip: start looking for flats early (April/May) – the housing market in Rome is quite messy if you start looking too late.
Studies
The LUISS campus is absolutely beautiful. The buildings match the Roman “historical vibe”, which makes the campus quite magical. As for the difficulty and workload of the courses, LUISS is definitely easier than WU, but the organization is a little messy. In some group projects, I was with 10-15 people, which made it difficult to find time slots for meetings (meaning some people did not contribute) and sometimes the expectations from the professors were not entirely clear. Despite this “chaos”, it was not difficult to get good grades, you just have to embrace the “go with the flow” mentality and it will all turn out fine.
I took 5 courses at LUISS: Neuromarketing, Luxury Management, Fashion Management, Language in Advertising and Artificial Intelligence in Marketing. All of them were very intriguing and the professors are very competent.
- Neuromarketing: this course really makes you think how marketing can influence consumer behavior, the professor is a professional in this field, very competent and intriguing discussions in class.
- Fashion and Luxury Management: very interesting courses! The entire teaching team works in high-level jobs in the luxury field (Bulgari, Dolce Gabanna, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Loro Piana) meaning they gave us first hand markets as well as brand insights.
- Language in Advertising: mainly watching ads and discussing them, during the project we had to create own ad campaigns for Coca Cola emerging into “brand activism”.
- Artificial Intelligence in Marketing: nice introduction into AI, the second part of the class was on Google Ads and we had to do two certificates, which you can add to your CV.
Every course has a final, which is quite typical in Italy, but I’ve studied around a week for 5 finals, which is pretty manageable.
Events
There is always something going on in Rome! You meet many Erasmus students in the first 10 days as there is a welcome week organized by the ESN people. You can then join all of their events if you just pay their 10€ yearly membership fee. I personally didn’t go to many ESN events, as I sometimes prefer to go to bars – but I heard there are fun, and a lot of students just organize their own night outs, which I personally prefer.
ESN also organizes trips and wine tastings/aperitivo to help you emerge into Italian culture.
Places to Visit
I went to Florence, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast and I can recommend going to all these locations, as they are all beautiful and unique in their own way (culturally and historically). If you end up going to Amalfi, make sure to check out Sorrento, Positano and Capri – especially in September/ October when it’s still really warm.
Country & City Vibes
- Lifestyle: experience the true dolce vita.
- People: very outgoing and open, very international network.
- Infrastructure: public transports are quite messy, rarely on time, but you get used to it.
- Activities: there is always something to do, cultural Sundays in museums, visit the beautiful churches, hang out in cafés, go have aperitivo, parties all the time.
- Safety: I consider Rome a very safe city, although there are many alleys that don’t have much street lighting, but if you avoid those you can go home from parties by public transport.
Visa
No visa needed if you’re from the EU. If you are non EU citizens, then I would recommend looking at the country specific visa requirements.