Home -SALZBURG UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES AUSTRIA EXCHANGE Alexandra's Exchange to Salzburg University of Applied Sciences | Austria

Alexandra's Exchange to Salzburg University of Applied Sciences | Austria

April 28, 2020
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April 28, 2020


 Source: Salzburg University of Applied Sciences

 Who am I?

 My name is Alexandra Haynes and i'm completing a Bachelor of Arts, Major in Games Art and Design at Murdoch University. I studied abroad at Salzburg University in Australia in Semester 2, 2017.

 I chose to study at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences because...

  • One of the key factors in choosing an exchange university was the opportunity to expand my knowledge in my field of study.
  • Doing an exchange semester enabled me to learn new skills outside the scope of the Murdoch degree.
  • The University offered more advanced and specialized courses in areas I was interested in, that could replace general electives at Murdoch. 

My time studying abroad...

I took classes in Animation, 3D modelling, rigging, texturing, German language, and visual effects, and they were all offered completely in English, or with English support.One of the major differences was there were many more classes and fewer contact hours, making some classes more like workshops. For example, there were classes that ran only once or twice in the entire semester. The schedule for classes was different each week, so sometimes there were a lot of contact hours, and others were less busy. The classes were run by teachers who either had worked or were currently working in the industry. The teachers’ industry experience included titles such as the Avengers, Harry Potter and Beauty and the Beast. 


My time in Salzburg...

 I lived in Salzburg, in the city Centre, directly opposite the train station. Salzburg is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains and is famous for being the birthplace of Mozart, and also the location where Sound of Music was set. The city is accessible by foot, and so I spent a lot of time walking around the city, visiting all the attractions, and hiking up the Kapucineberg. To get to the university was about a 25 minute journey by train, and many of the other villages and cities were also easily to get to by public transport. I mostly cooked at home to save money, but I still tried a lot of Austrian foods. There is a famous Bosna store in the city which is definitely worth trying.



The best parts of my Exchange experience...

One of the best parts of my exchange experience was seeing snow for the first time. Waking up in the morning to suddenly see everything blanketed in snow was amazing. I also really enjoyed visiting Hallstatt, a village built on the side of a mountain which is famous for salt mines. We explored the mines and rode on wooden slides and trains to travel down the levels. Bringing in the new year watching the fireworks from the top of Kapucineberg with friends was an amazing experience I’ll never forget.



Some challenges I faced...

I did get extremely homesick towards the end when the weather started turning cold and dark and there were only a few hours of daylight. I was getting tired of being cold all the time and wanted to be back in the sun. I tried to focus on the positives and enjoy the festivities that came with the cold weather. The language barrier was something that didn’t bother me at first, but it did make a few situations pretty difficult.  It was a small relief coming home to be able to understand in most circumstances again.


Some information about accommodation...

 I rented a small apartment near the City Centre, which was cheaper to rent than the student housing, but had more privacy and its own bathroom and kitchen. I really appreciated the privacy and extra space in the apartment, and I would recommend considering places outside of student dormitories. The only downside was it was hard to get home from student events and parties held at the university because the last train left at midnight. 



How I funded my Exchange experience...

I used a combination of an OS help loan and personal savings to fund the exchange.


Places I traveled to while abroad...

During the exchange I mostly travelled within Austria but we did visit London for a long weekend which was really easy to organize. It was a short flight and we stayed in an Airbnb. We bought a card that let us use the buses and see all the main attractions, so we filled the days and nights with as much sightseeing as possible within the short time. I love art and 3D sculpting, so for me one of the highlights was seeing Madame Tussaud’s wax figurines.


    - Alexandra studied abroad at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences.

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