Hi all,
it´s time to describe my application process for Erasmus since it was not that easy as for the others due to poor communication from SRUC´s campus. I think it is important to mention how it was for me so that in case you decide to apply for exchange studies you know that it does not have to be always a smooth process.
I applied by the SLU´s deadline which was on 1st of December 2017 and got results by the end of January. This was everything simple and smooth. I could choose 3 universities where I would like to go and I was accepted for my first choice, which was SRUC, Edinburgh. After few weeks, I wanted to inquire more information about the courses that I can choose at the host university and I wrote an email in the middle of February to SRUC to a person who was in charge with dealing with coming students. After reminders, I got an answer in the middle of March but it was not any help. I still had not received answers for my questions and other fellow students going on an exchange somewhere else already got plenty of information on how to choose courses and what to do. By the end of May, I still did not know anything and I tried to ask SLU´s mobility team whether everything is alright and they reassured me that I will receive requisite information soon. I received information about the introduction meeting, courses and basically the first official email from SRUC on 17th of August and semester started on 13th of September. Until that time I was not sure if I was really going on exchange, if they count on me or not and I did not want to buy flight tickets and accommodation before I knew for sure that the university knows about me. So I quickly had to arrange everything but luckily it was not that time-consuming.
You can see that communication and provision of information were really poor and it was quite frustrating not knowing if I go somewhere or not.
After arrival at SRUC, everything was fine as SRUC´s Education office was open every day and in case we had to find out something they were very helpful there.
Another thing that I found really annoying was receiving the grant money from SLU. After my arrival to SRUC, I immediately let all documents confirming the start of the mobility singed and uploaded them online not to prolong the process of receiving grant. However, I had not received money for a long period and I asked SLU´s mobility team whether there was some problem but had to wait for an answer for two weeks. I wrote my first email on 30th of October and received grant money on 28h of November which I consider was really late because my semester ends on 14th December. I would assume that we should receive the grant as soon as possible because at the beginning you have to pay the most, so I do not know what was the problem, but luckily everything was solved in the end.
I hope that if you go on Erasmus you will not have to face any obstacles but I also wanted to mention some possible problems that may occur but it seems that everything has some kind of solution, just you have to wait a bit longer.
Despite some occurred problems, I really enjoyed my Erasmus and I am still glad I chose SRUC but to be honest, after experiencing this university I will appreciate our SLU even more.
Bye, Denisa