Students from Avans Hogeschool in the Netherlands talk about their exchange semester at BFH in autumn 2023. Avans and BFH are members of the university alliance PIONEER, which brings together 10 European higher education institutions in research, education and societal discourse.

Incoming exchange students Elisabeth Valkenhoff, 21, and Mikolaj Borowczyk, 22, are BSc International Business students in their 4th year at Avans, their home university. During the autumn semester 2023, they were enrolled in the BSc International Business Administration degree programme at BFH.

The application process and the trip to Bern went smoothly for the two students. “The communication with our BFH contact was easy and the instructions were clear. We felt very well taken care of, even before our arrival,” says Elisabeth. Both of them liked that they could choose their modules freely from a wide range of subjects. Elisabeth chose to take mainly project-based modules, whereas Mikolaj decided to challenge himself with subjects he had not studied at Avans. “I was impressed by the high-quality equipment made available to students and by the inspiring lecturers.” The teaching team and a large part of the students have international backgrounds, making it very easy for foreigners to blend in. “Everybody speaks perfect English,” stresses Mikolaj. “As a result, you don’t need to speak German to take part in an exchange in Bern.”

“Thanks to the Welcome Days, we knew each other on campus, stayed in contact throughout the semester and ended up doing a lot together. We even took a trip to Poland.” Elisabeth Valkenhoff Exchange student at BFH

“We were also surprised to find out that Swiss German sounds a bit like Dutch, but we don’t understand it.” Mikolaj Borowczyk Exchange student at BFH

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On the picture: Elisabeth and Mikolaj spent their autumn semester 2023 in the BSc International Business Administration degree programme at BFH.

Author: BFH