I decided to go to Chile because I wanted to improve my Spanish, which I hardly had before. I chose Chile itself because it was previously recommended to me as the safest country in South America, which is also true. In retrospect, I would make this decision again and again and I was very lucky to be able to experience such a great semester abroad. Communication with MicroEDU was flawless. You can ask anything and always get a very quick answer. Thank you again for this service. The only thing I had to wait a long time for was my registration confirmation, but that was the responsibility of the UDC and not MicroEDU.

Preparation:

If you choose your flight date, it is better to look for one that is before the start of the university. For example, I had already arrived a week in advance, which turned out to be an advantage because there was a little less pressure and competition when looking for an apartment. But even if you can only arrive at the beginning of the university (or even a little later) due to exams or other reasons, this is not a problem. The search may take a little longer, but sooner or later everyone will have found good accommodation. But you shouldn’t let your decision be influenced by the fact that the university only offers an airport transfer on two specific days, as it is very easy to get from the airport to the city center. The price of the flights is between 1000-1300 euros. With Air France you pay a little more than Iberia, but only has to change once in Paris and not in the USA, which is much more relaxed. Rebooking is still possible with Air France – albeit for a fee.

I personally did not apply for a visa and it never caused any problems. In contrast to other universities, the UDC does not require a student visa and is even advised against it. The disadvantages are that you don’t get a student discount on the metro, for example, or that you have to leave the country after three months at the latest. But since you will travel a lot anyway, that shouldn’t be a problem. And even if long trips are not in your budget, you can still get on the bus to Mendoza (Argentina), which is about 6 hours away. It costs about 50 euros there and back and the view is spectacular!

I can also recommend that you join the exchange students’ Facebook group and ask there if someone is booked on your machine. Especially if you fly with Air France, there is a good chance that a few of the French, who are numerous at the UDC, will fly with you, as there is only one flight from Paris to Santiago a day.

I wouldn’t rent an apartment from Germany yet, but everyone has different preferences. In my opinion, it is enough to look for something on site. The advantage is that you can then team up with other exchange students and search together.

The Universidad de Chile has several locations in Santiago. As a business student, you will study at the FEN, which is very centrally located in the Providencia district. The equipment is very modern and cannot be compared with German (state) universities. There is a cafeteria (which is very full at lunchtime) with reasonable prices (around 3 euros for a main course).
Since my knowledge of Spanish was very limited at the beginning, I chose my courses in English, as I absolutely had to pass them for my studies in Germany. In retrospect, I think that taking Spanish courses isn’t a problem for most of them either. You will learn and just passing the course is very easy in all cases. Chilinese professors are very friendly. I had four courses: International Management, International Business, Latin America in World’s Affairs and the Spanish Course (Level 2).

Be prepared for the fact that it will feel a lot more like school than university here. There is compulsory attendance, a lot (!) Of group work, oral exams, reading controls, etc. Personally, I found this to be very nice because I don’t have it at my home university.

• Learn more about Chile and South America, please check softwareleverage.

The International Office will help you with all matters. Kaia – the direct contact person for the exchange students – is a great help and always there for you. I had to go to her very often with forms for the student loan office and she always filled out and scanned everything for me as soon as I needed it.

If you want to take sports courses but don’t need the credits, you don’t have to officially take the courses and pay money for it. The Chileans get grades for the sports courses and therefore have to register. If you just want to take part in the sports courses for fun, you can do so without any problems. Just go there and let the trainer know.
The Spanish course itself is not really good. I hardly learned anything there and the teacher is, to put it mildly, a bit strange. Take a look at the course, but don’t feel bad if you drop the course. At the beginning you still have the feeling that you are learning a lot, but that becomes less and less. Above all, you have to be able to get credit for the course at your home university in order to get the money back from the Bafögamt – in contrast to all other courses, this is not necessary.

There is also the relatively new international student organization ISA FEN. This organizes numerous activities that you can participate in. These are not just parties, we also went to the stadium for the World Cup qualifier between Chile and Ecuador, for example.