University: Riga Stradins University

City: Riga

Country: Latvia

Continent: Europe

Field of study: medicine

Study type: Other courses

Hello future students,

my name is Max, I’m 20 years old and I come from Essen (NRW).
I don’t want to tell much about myself, so I’ll just briefly I’ve been studying human medicine at the RSU for a semester and I’m currently in the exam phase. Check liuxers.com to see Cyprus higher education.

Like all of you, I was looking around for a way to escape the NC in Germany and then came across the MicroEdu site, which proved to be more than helpful. The employees are very friendly, work quickly, communicate with the university and allow you to apply with less stress.
In addition to Riga, I also looked at a university in Cluj (Romania) because a friend is studying there. In short: Riga ultimately appealed to me more.

Now to the real thing: the study. I’m perfectly happy here. You have to be aware that studying is very time-consuming and that you have little time for other things, especially during the exam phase, but you shouldn’t think that you’re just sitting at home and learning.
In the first semester you still have a lot of free time and can do other things alongside your studies. I can say that exactly because I live with two 4th semester students and one 2nd semester student.
You have the following courses in the first semester:

-Anatomy (the most time-consuming subject)
-Chemistry (no problem even as a chemistry newbie)
-Molecular biology (interesting and important)
-First Aid (this course is also compulsory for paramedics)
-Latvian (not my language, but still part of the curriculum)
-Latin (with Latinum easy)
-Philosophy
-History of Medicine
-Cell Biology

It is recommended to be present in all subjects, since personal contact between professors and students is very important becomes, that is to say, if one is missing, it will be noticed.
At the beginning of the semester you have lectures, i.e. lectures in which you learn theoretical things. In addition to the lectures, you have the classes, where you learn practical things in your study group.
At the end of the semester you gradually finish the courses. In some subjects there is a small test, in other colloquia and exams. Shortly before the exam phase you have finished the courses, the teachers have signed your grade books and you are preparing for the exams in chemistry, cell biology and anatomy.
It is very good that you write a test every week in anatomy about the content of the last lesson. This way you won’t be tempted to put everything off, but learn consistently and have hardly any problems preparing for colloquia and exams.

What will probably interest many as it looks with the language. First things first: don’t worry. If you have a reasonably good knowledge of English, you will quickly get used to studying in English here. In addition, the majority of the students are from Germany. What you also quickly notice is that most of the professors understand German. They don’t say that, but you can tell!

About life in Riga. Riga has two faces. In winter it is very cold, dark and the streets empty. The city blossoms in summer. The bars set up small platforms so that you can sit outside and the city gradually fills up with people. In addition, it gets incredibly warm. We had temperatures of 25 degrees in May. In addition, it gets “dark” very late, although somehow it never gets completely dark.
I would recommend staying in the Center or Old Town. The rental prices there are absolutely fine and you have great transport connections. I would advise against an apartment “Pardaugava”, i.e. on the other side of the Daugava (the river) where the university is located. This site is not recommended and you will see why.
You have a lot of possibilities to do something here. Lots of clubs, bars, gyms, cinemas, shopping malls etc. At the beginning of your semester you will spend a lot of time going out in the evenings and getting to know each other.

Regarding the prices: As far as the rent is concerned, you can be very lucky and live in a 170m2 apartment for around 300 euros a month. Groceries are a bit cheaper than in Germany, but I don’t know how that will change with the switch from Lats to Euros in January 2014.
Otherwise, clothes and electronics are not cheaper, so take everything you need with you.

In the end, I hope that my report was of some help to you. As a summary, I can only say that I am completely satisfied and can only say to anyone who is toying with the idea of ​​coming to Riga: Do it, dare and contact MicroEdu, then you are in the best hands.

I wish you success!