Universities in Budapest

Universities in Budapest:

The expat life in Budapest is incomparable to any other city I have ever been to. Budapest is by all means a student city and more. This is why many students choose Budapest as their study destination. If you’re reading this chances are you’re contemplating whether to move here or not. And I'm here to tell you that you probably should. This city has so much to offer and you should at least take the time to immerse yourself in all of its beauty.

Whether you’re looking to move here for the entire duration of your degree or just as a exchange student, this article aims to introduce you to all the different universities here in Budapest.

I wrote a post a while back about all the medical universities in Hungary. In this post I'm not going to mention all the medical universities but just the universities that are located in Budapest itself. So let’s get to it

1) Semmelweis University

Of course I'm going to write about Semmelweis the first! Semmelweis University is Hungary’s leading medical university and it happens to be where I'm studying in. so yes this part of the article is going to be a little biased since I study here.

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Here’s a little background story about Semmelweis before we go any further. Semmelweis University is actually the oldest medical university in all of Hungary. It was found in 1769. It has more than 10, 000 students enrolled. 2000 of which happen to be international students! I actually feel like this data is old because there is certainly more than 2000 of us in the university.

The empress of Austria assembled the university more than 250 years ago. the university is named after Ignac Semmelweis; he was a scientist that discovered that if doctors wash their hands before delivering a baby, the number of mothers dying during childbirth would drastically decrease. The name of the disease was puerperal fever.

After Hungarian, the university started to teach in German and at last the English program was added. There are various faculties within the university. We’ve got the faculty of medicine, faculty of dentistry, faculty of pharmacy and faculty of health sciences. The university has got different buildings and campuses all across town. As a student it's kinda difficult to constantly change buildings for different classes. A lot of the time we have to rush from class to class in the back breaking cold of Budapest.

Students need to pass an entrance examination if they wish to study in Semmelweis University. The entrance examination takes place every year in May/June and those accepted can complete their registration and join us in September.

There are a lot of students in the Medicine program, a little less in the dentistry program and a lot less in the pharmacy program. Of course as the years go by the number of students in each year reduce; some students fail, some realize that medical school isn’t for them, some transfer to other universities etc.

Studying in Semmelweis is full of challenges I'm not going to lie to you but it’s really really worth it. if you ever decide to choose his path, feel free to ask me as many questions as you’ve got. It is a really important decision and I could offer some good advice.

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Oh back to the entrance examination. Well majority of students attend pre medical colleges such as Mac Daniels College, Avicenna and Duna college. These colleges contain programs which prepare you for this entrance examination. The examination is on Chemistry, Biology and medical English. If you feel confident in your knowledge and possess a good level of English language, then you can probably take your chances and do the entrance exam.

The exam is held every year in various locations in both Europe and Asia. They announce the locations from months before and you are able to register for it. You can also contact the English secretariat in Semmelweis in regards to any questions you have.

2) ELTE University

Well that’s about the medical university in Budapest. Now let’s take a look at all the other fully accredited and reputable universities we’ve got here in Budapest.

ELTE University is one of the most popular universities here in Hungary. It actually has so many different faculties and campuses all across town. I even take some classes in one of their Buda campuses. We’ve got chemistry classes there and it's awesome. Okay they don’t have all the best labs but we still like the buildings.

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ElTE is certainly one of the largest and most prestigious universities in all of hungary. So basically ELTE started as a Christian university to teach philosophy but it later developed to much more with the support of Maria Theressa, the Austrian Empress which also helped Semmelweis.

There are a total of 8 faculties in this university.

The faculties are as such:

• Faculty of Law and Political Sciences (ÁJK)
• Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Education (BGGyK)
• Faculty of Humanities (BTK)
• Faculty of Informatics (IK)
• Faculty of Education and Psychology (PPK)
• Faculty of Social Sciences (TáTK)
• Faculty of Elementary and Nursery School Teachers' Training (TÓK)
• Faculty of Science (TTK)

ELTE has gotten various different rankings along the years but I would say that the average of all that would be around 400 to 500. That’s not the highest ranking but it's definitely better than regular.

ELTE offers various degrees such as psychology, business administration, mechanical engineering etc in English for a Bachelor’s degree. The number of courses in English increases when it's for a master’s degree.

The admissions deadlines vary from course to course, but it’s usually until mid-June or the end of june. You should contact the respective department for further information.

3) Corvinus University

This university is not be mistaken with the name of Corvin Plaza which is a shopping center. Before we go on any further just wanted to tell you guys that Corvinus University has one of the best libraries in the city and the great thing is that it's open to outside students. Aight hold your horses, I didn’t say you can just waltz in there. if you want to use the library, you will need to register there. if you are student of outside universities, you will need to register using your ID, proof of address in Hungary and student card.

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I've heard that the process is quite difficult for Non Europeans but I have tried myself so I wouldn’t know. The library is gorgeous though, it's very spacious and it’s located right in front of the Danube River.

During the examinations period, students line up as early as 7 am to secure a place in the library. It’s a whole “seat” war out there; but don’t worry this isn’t the only library in town. In fact, I will write an entire post dedicated to the libraries in Budapest later on.

Moving on from that, the Corvinus University is by far the most reputable Business School in Hungary. The main campus is in Fovam Ter, which incidentally where the library is as well.

There are certain degree programs in English, both in bachelor’s and master’s level. In addition to English and Hungarian, they also teach certain programs in German and French! I know, this university seems to be for everyone.

A lot of famous people and recognized people here in Hungary studied in Cornivus as well. Of course I don’t know any of them but that’s something the University is really proud of and so I thought to share it with you guys.

If you need further information on the university, consider checking out the website below: Corvinus University

4) Metropolitan University

As opposed to the rest of universities that I mentioned up to now, this university is actually a private one. It's a small little university offering degree programs in applied sciences.

The university is quite innovative and so they do offer quite different degree programs. They offer them on a Bachelor’s and Master’s level. Some of the cool and intriguing programs are bachelors of photography, film, visual arts, graphic design and commerce. Okay Commerce isn’t as intriguing but it’s an important field nonetheless.

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They of course also have the degrees such as business management, economic and accounting as well. The application is done online and it costs 120 Euros to apply. If you are EU student you will get an extended application deadline; you will also pay less tuition fees as opposed to non-European students. You can both apply for the fall and spring semester. That is a really good thing about Metropolitan because literally the universities here only offer Fall applications and if you miss the deadline you would have to wait until next year.

I've got a lot of friends studying in this university and that’s why I know so much about it. I practically have more friends here than I have in my own university. The staffs are really friendly and if you’ve got any questions, feel free to shoot them a message.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that Metropolitan offers a lot of scholarships and tuition fee discounts,; so don’t forget to shoot your shot for them.

5) IBS University

IBS University is called the International Business School of Budapest. The name is self-explanatory so I don’t need to explain what it is so much.

IBS is also a private university; it wasn’t founded so long ago. The history of the university goes back to 20 years or so. The university has a partnership with the University of Buckingham and the graduates of IBS will receive a degree from the University of Buckingham.

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They’ve got various Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in fields such as Business management, tourism, management with art and psychology. The degree programs aren’t that diverse but then again this is a business school.

I hope that you find this article useful. I tried to keep simple.

Cheers

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