Type of housing:
On campus

Arranged by:
Host university

If returning, I would choose:
Other
Why? I would choose to live in a different hall of residence (probably Klinikum Großhadern in south Munich) because it was hard to get in contact with other students where I lived (they were all a lot older and even some families were living in my hall).

Describe host city:
Students interact with the local community without much university involvement

Activities take/s place mostly within the university/student environment

Travel, Nightlife take/s place mostly outside the university/student environment

Course recommendations:
As the university is so large it is also very impersonnel. Lectures often have 300 students attending (although half of them tend to leave after 30 mins). Seminars can also be quite hard as some of the lecturers treat you as if you are a German student regardless of whether you understanding of German is good enough.

The language of instruction was:
German

My proficiency in the language of instruction:
before: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
after: At ease in most situations

Learning the language of instruction was a factor in choosing my host country

Main source of funding:
Family

Other sources of funding:
Personal savings
An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities
I didn't explore any work options.

Personal spending habits:
I used my English phone when I got there for a few months which was a huge mistake and got a huge bill (German mobile phones aren't very reliable but they are quite cheap so I now have one of those). My accomodation was about 100 pounds per month which was very cheap. Travel is also very inexpensive if you travel in groups (5 people can travel on a Bayern Ticket or Schönes Wockenende Ticket which costs 40DM). I also got a Bahnkarte which cost 135DM for students and makes all train fares half price (this is because I now travel mostly alone as I no longer live in Munich). The U-Bahn is also fairly cheap (about 20DM per month for the Innenstadt in Munich - this also includes busses and trams).

I wish I had known ...
That you have to pay to register for courses (not a lot - about 10-15DM per course) and you also have to pay for the photocopies from the lectures (which cost anything from 5 to 50 DM). This put me off some courses as I didn't think it was worth paying for the lectures.

In my opinion:
Most people loved it.