Field of study in Wageningen: Landscape Architecture and Planning
Study period exchange: 9/12/2018 until 21/1/2019
Country (exchange): Turkey
City (exchange): Istanbul
University (exchange): Istanbul Technical University
Faculty (exchange): Faculty of Architecture

2. Accessibility to reach destination

Do you have any tips to reach your exchange destination?

Book a flight to Attaturk airport, after that use metro or taxi.

3. University and studying

Could you provide some general information about the followed courses?

How is the study formalized?

The project studio is not very well organised (but that’s the same in Holland) because every studio is a different subject and the teachers simply decide what should be done along the way. This tends to give a very high suprising workload, while the academic level is still high. The exams are very strict and well-made. The lesson material differs between courses but ranges from easy to very hard.

What is the culture of the university?

The culture is very nice, I studied at a faculty of only architecture and landscape architecture so everyone is like-minded and very nice. The lecturers were very open and approachable and I’ve made a lot of Turkish friends in my classes. I had one buddy who helped me a lot to get all the stuff I need.

The course registration is a disaster. We got one week to attend courses and to pick the courses we wanted, and after that we had one week to change these courses. Because of that I’m still having trouble (after my mobility) to get classes approved by the WUR. The amount of paperwork and how bad this is organised is very lousy.

What does the university offer the student additionally?

At the campus we had full sport facilities. Every university had lunch for 50 cents (soup, meat, potatoes, pasta, fruit/candy/drink (all in one tray)). Also there were cafeteria where the food was significantly cheaper than outside of the university and very high quality.

4.Housing-travelling-living

 What are the possibilities for housing?

I had a private business who rented us an apartment. I lived with 5 in an apartment, in a building with 5 apartments in total. There were 25 erasmus students in the building and we became really close friends. The land lord was really after our money and tried to squeeze money out of us in every possible way.

What is the culture of the country like?

Very different, very open and social. Very well-mannered and hospitable. The cuisine is amazing and the people too.

Could you give a general price indication of the place of residence compared to living in Wageningen?

It is around 200 euro per month.

 

5. Free time

What are must-sees in the area? 

Bursa, Izmir, Antalya, Cappadocia, prince islands, belgrad forest etc. Turkey is beautiful and it’s easy to go everywhere.