If you have the time to read just one line, read this: I would strongly encourage anyone going for semester exchange unless you have a real pressing money constraint. It’s almost never a bad idea!
Now, for those who have a decent attention span, I would just like to warn that this isn’t edited and proof-read multiple times (the infinite placement activities going on ;-;), so excuse any errors you find.
I am Abhilaksh, currently a 5th year IDDDP student (Electrical + CMInDS). I went on an exchange to EPFL, a Swiss University during my 7th semester, I.e. Aug’21-Jan’22. I always had a latent desire for ‘semex’ since my first year but it wasn’t so strong so as to act upon it. But, there’s always one friend who is a pushover and who convinces you to do stuff you wouldn’t do otherwise. Hell, I hadn’t even heard about EPFL or the fact it’s QS World Ranking is 14 before 25th March or so, but it was my friend, Devank who really encouraged me (my main concern being the financial aspect), and in hindsight, I am extremely grateful to him.
Elaborating on my personal experience, I stayed in Switzerland for roughly 4months (Sept-Jan). They say that “the person who boards the plane is never the same when he returns”, and that is quite true I would say. I hadn’t cooked a single meal in my life before 1st Sept. But not only did I cook daily I became rather good at it. I had never travelled in a metro or local by myself and yet I figured out the public transportation of different countries on my own. (Believe me, it's easier said than done especially when the natives don’t speak or understand English well.) Most of the time will be just you living the “instagram perfect” life. I travelled 5 European countries including an 11-day ZNMD in Spain where I skydived, yes, never in my 1000 lives I thought I would fancy it, to anxiety inducing solo trip in France. From that 10,000 INR sim card call to 8500 INR fine in the metro, those evening runs amidst the snowfall to trying out churros, tortilla, crepes and other bland af european dishes, the 5-euro flights, that crazy night in Ibiza, 15,000 INR RT-PCR test, there is just too much to write but you got the crux I feel. Some obvious positive changes that I observed (besides extreme punctuality) within me was that my verbal English improved quite significantly, and that I now have the confidence to talk to anyone. A lot of stereotypes are now overturned, my curiosity about experiencing the foreign education system, their thinking & way of living is now fulfilled. Overall, I feel it’s a solid holistic development surviving on your own. You’ll have a deep appreciation for your family and the things you never even thought about in India and took for granted, that’s for sure. (the food that your mother cooks will taste the best in years). Bonus tip(s): Never succumb to the peer pressure of trying something you don’t want to. (You are not there to live the life according to your batchmates, do what you feel is right for you!) Make sure to click some good photos, that’ll serve two purposes – a) you'll cherish them for the rest of your life, b) it’ll help you with those “online apps”
Practical Information: -
- I spent roughly 7.5lakh INR during the entire trip. Swiss is very costly actually, so that’s on a relatively lower side. (Maybe that would be a lot in France/Spain, Italy. Norwegian countries will also cost you quite a bit!) 3.5 were from my own pocket and roughly 4 were from the Heyning Roelli Scholarship. It is an external scholarship, valid for all Swiss Universities EPFL, UNIGE, ETH Zurich... Most of the people I know successfully got it. The amount is fixed more or less, 5000 CHF.
- CPI matters when it comes to being nominated from IITB’s side. For a single univ, the IR office tries to diversify as much as possible (in terms of the branches) and within a single branch (Electrical in my case), the preference order is based on CPI. Usually, just 1 person from a specific dept. goes to a specific univ.
- Also, the chronological order of deadlines is by default considered your preference. For e.g., in my case, I applied for both EPFL and ETH and I was the highest preference in the Electrical department for both the univs, plainly on the basis of CPI criteria. But, EPFL’s deadline was 1st April, and ETH’s was 7th April. Even though I wanted to go to ETH, I was by default nominated for EPFL because of its earlier deadline.
- Acads – I found acads aspect very similar to here. Unlike here you are not constantly evaluated there. Most courses won't have a midsem. You’ll usually end up taking 5-6 courses which could be handled during the sem. Sometimes, the endsems are a ‘bt’ as you most of semex guys don’t study at all during the semester. So, you cram a lot at the end. Contrary to the popular belief, the students there do put in quite an effort and are very sincere. (But ig that’s because I went to EPFL, and it’s a very high ranked univ).
- EPFL’s endsems were conducted in late January when I came back to India. So, how did I give the exams? You apply for something called “extramural exams”. The instructor needs to agree for it though, he/she is not obligated. So, ask apriori. The prof emails the question paper to Chandrika Ma’am, IR office and she invigilates as you write the exam in IR office in main building. HOWEVER, NOT ALL UNIVS AGREED FOR IT. UNIGE people had to stay in Switzerland till their exams were done.
- The course mapping you submit during the application is not full and final. You can add new courses later on once the semester at host univ starts and you get to know the slot clashes. You just get it verified by your facad (in case of electrical) or whatever procedure you had followed earlier for your dept.
- Carry rice cooker and ton of all-purpose masalas from here. Normal grocery stores there are pretty different from here and in places like Lausanne, for instance, you won't find a lot many Indian grocery stores.
- Take a flatshare instead of a studio, if possible. You’ll have infinitely more social interactions with the people around. Plus, it’s much cheaper than a studio.
Cheers,
Abhilaksh