Erasmus Recommendations

I decided to write this blog because I thought it would be useful to benefit from the Erasmus student exchange program. Well, September is coming. My recommendations are briefly as follows:

Open a currency account to use Turkish Lira in the bank and obtain an ATM card

For example, Yapı Kredi Bank has an agreement with UniCredit. So, you can withdraw money from Unicredit ATMs without paying any commission. 10% of the amount withdrawn by Garanti Bank and Vakıfbank ATM cards was taken as a commission by the foreign bank. I heard that Ziraat Bank has a 2% authorized stoppage, but foreign bank may also be receiving commission. So, the best way - according to me - is to open an account from Yapı Kredi Bank. But, most importantly, investigate different offices of Unicredit Bank.

Get an international phone line

In order to take an advantage of the Internet rate, it is beneficial to open your phone line internationally. There is no charge for incoming messages. There is an average charge of 2 TL per minute for incoming calls and an average of 5-6 TL per minute for outgoing calls. Of course, you already have your own line, but it is important to use correct Internet rates. Note, a friend of mine who used Avea and I, we could not use our lines for 5-6 weeks, but my friend who uses Turkcell did not have any problems. No idea for Vodafone. It is possible to use applications such as Skype, Viber when you need to talk with Turkey anyway.

Do not buy or sell foreign currencies when foreign exchange markets are closed in Turkey

If you buy or sell foreign currency during official holidays or on weekends, you may lose about 10% on your exchange rate. On weekdays, the exchange loss is on average up to 1%, 2%.

Have your travel health insurance for 6 months or 1 year, not 3 months

People who have the 3 months travel insurance receive a letter from a foreign office: "Your health insurance is running out of time, you need a health insurance that will cover your whole period of stay. " So, make sure you have travel insurance covering the period you will stay in the country you are going to, and pay attention to the English text in addition to Turkish and take this document with you.

Deliver documents in Turkey that you will need for a residence permit in your country of destination

It is beneficial for you to submit the documents required for residence permit in Turkey. It is very difficult to apply just for a visa and to apply for a visa again for a residence permit in your destination country. You will need to find a translator who will translate your documents from one language to another, and so on. Moreover, if you cannot manage to do so, you could be deported whether you are an Erasmus student or not. A friend of mine was deported. However, those who handed in the documents required for a residence permit while in Turkey had to only perform a simple application process. The necessary documents were already sent to the foreign police office by the Consulate in Turkey.

Give power of attorney to a relative

Give power of attorney to a relative for transactions in bank such as making transactions on your behalf.

If you buy tickets with Ryanair, WizzAir, EasyJet, be sure to print them out

I am sure everyone knows those. I bought tickets both for 4 and 10 euros. However, it is important to print them out with the bar code. You will also see that on the ticket already, but it's a small and important note: you can save some money if you travel only with a hand baggage. If you are going to check-in your luggage, it might end up being more expensive.

Source

It may be useful to make a reservation from sites like Erasmusu.com before leaving for a trip

Websites like 'Erasmusu.com' are very useful for finding a hostel/hotel in a country you are going to visit. It is useful not only to make reservations, but also to obtain the addresses of hostels, student houses. At the same time, 'CouchSurfing' is a very convenient website to find places to stay.

In the first week, attend all the classes lessons

Some tutors or mentors may have different ideas about the exchange. Some of them say "They are Erasmus students" and never force them to sit their exams, some of them can skip 40% of classes. In the first week, faculty members explain everything (exams, etc. ). At the same time, they can give tips about their classes and exams. Therefore, in the first week, it may be useful to attend all the classes, even those you are still not taking. Maybe you can decide to change some of them. For example, in the first lesson, I said "No, the class is very difficult in this course. " and I dropped a course and went to another one. Indeed, 40% of the class, the lecturer didn't distinguishing whether we were Erasmus students or not.

Tolerance is usually high on exams

This will definitely change according to universities, but I do not think it is necessary to say that the exams of Erasmus students are a bit different. (I re-write: It will definitely change according to universities. It is possible that you are in a university where the professors say “This is not Tourismus, this is Erasmus! "). However, there is the following detail: If you take the same lesson with the students in English in the country you are going to, you are unlikely to see tolerance in the exam. Apart from this, there was usually no one who would not benefit from smartphones, notes stuck between dictionaries during the exam, in the meantime, the lecturers smiled or read books.

Grants

This depends on the university. (If they are interested in you, you will receive an email saying "The contract has been made, your grants will be transferred to us tomorrow, and your grants will be in your account within the next 2 days. " and questions you have asked via e-mail to the International Relations Coordinator are already answered. ) For the university we went to, we had our grants in accounts more or less 12 - 13 days later - during the fall semester. However, some of my colleagues' grants arrived at their bank accounts after 25-30 days.

Good luck everyone! Enjoy it.

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