Where to go on a university exchange in Europe?

Question

I'm 19, a second year University student from McMaster in Canada, and we have opportunities to go on exchanges for one semester or one year, and I am thinking it will take a year to fully enjoy it.

I only speak English but plan on learning another language.

The countries/cities that I am looking at are:

1. France - Lyon, Marseilles, Nice, Lille

2. Germany - Kiel, Freiberg, Heidelberg

3. Denmark - Aarhus, Copenhagen

4. Netherlands - Tilburg

5. Norway - Oslo

6. U.K. - Coventry(Warwick), Manchester

Information about any of the countries would help. Any insight/personal anecdotes about the city, pros/cons, people, language, culture, nightlife, and very importantly student life would be very much appreciated. Any personal experiences with exchanges would be helpful as well. I am thinking France, namely Lyon.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The first thing you should check is the language you will be studying in. Even though you plan on learning another language, you really need to master them for university classes. I mean even though my German level is considered advanced, I would not even consider taking a university course in German. (classes in Denmark, Netherlands, Norway will probably be in English, maybe Germany also, but I'm really not sure about France). Once you've taken that into account, then go for it, chose wherever you want to go. It's Europe, you'll probably get to travel a lot.

It's a lot of paperwork, but I really think it's worth the experience.