Summer Exchange with

University of Warsaw
Submitted by
Kshitij Thapar
PGDM
Choosing a partner institute as exchange
destination
 UOW accreditations :
1) EFMD
2) AACSB
3) AMBA
 Cost of Living
Practical arrangement before the
exchange period
 I booked my air tickets two months in advance.
 Visa applications takes time.
 All the documents that are required for a student are given on the
Poland’s Embassy website.
Academic learning

 The schedule of classes were not intensive.

 I used to have 3 hours of lecture in one day and classes were on 4 days
only.
 The teaching style was more of practical involving presentations and class
room discussions.
Living Experience during the exchange
period
 The living expenditure in Poland is same as India.
 Rent = Rs 9,000 / month
 Food = Rs 6000 / month
 Travelling = Rs 950 / month
 The city of Warsaw is a nice place to live. There is a bit of communication
problem as mostly youngsters understand English.
Enculturation in the foreign country

 It was a different and nice experience for me as I was living abroad for the
first time.
 I think this whole experience has made me a more confident and
independent person.
 During the free time I used to travel to neighboring countries and also
used to attend the various activities organized by Erasmus Student
Network of University of Warsaw. It was nice to make some international
friends and interacting with them and knowing their culture.
Intercultural encounter/incident during
the stay
 I learned that I can live on my own i.e. living independently in a new city
or a new country.
 If I talk in general the communication gap is there in most of the countries
throughout EU, but with the help of Google translator any one can survive.
Value of the exchange period to your
intercultural competence and learning
 I learned some polish and some Chinese as I had a Chinese roommate.
 Knowing about culture of china for me was important as my family does
business with China.
Tips to peers planning on going to the
same place
 Plan everything in advance and start applying for visa 3 months in advance
from the exchange date because booking visa slots takes time.
Strengths of the partner Institute

 The University of Warsaw has 21 faculties.

 You have to study 50% of the credits from host institute which is in my
case Institute of International Relations and the rest of the credits you can
choose from any other faculty.
Participation in student related
activities in the partner institute
 University of Warsaw has student union which is called Erasmus Student
Network.
 They are very active on social media and used to post all the fun events
and games.
 Some of them included going on short trips in Warsaw, visiting kids in
school and telling them about your country and culture, visits to museums,
parks, tour around the city, etc.