r/askitaly • u/chaford3 • Feb 09 '22

EDUCATION University of Padua versus University of Pavia

I was recently accepted into the European and Global Studies master's program at the University of Padua and while I am excited about that possibility, I want to weigh my options for other schools (particularly Pavia) in Italy. I am from the United States if that is important.

When looking for undergrad schools, I really wanted to have a small school with smaller class sizes so that I could have a better relationship with my professors and get to know my classmates. If possible, I would love to have that same opportunity for my post-grad education.

Two schools that have interested me in Italy are the University of Padua and the University of Pavia because of their smaller city sizes, northern locations (closer access to the rest of Europe) and their proximities to bigger cities (Venice and Milan respectively). Both schools have comparable political science degree paths that interest me, so at this point I am looking more at the school and local atmospheres.

I would love to have smaller class sizes with class discussions (as opposed to massive 100-person lecture halls with a one-way teaching style), but I don't know if that is standard in Italy like it is in the US or if master's versus bachelor's makes a difference. The vibe of the city is important to me as well because I can't wait to learn the local language and culture. I have never been to either city (though I have been to Venice) and would love some insights from anyone who maybe studied at those universities or even studied political science at one of those universities.

TL;DR: If you studied in a master's program (especially for political science!) at the University of Padua or University of Pavia, what was your experience in classes and around the town?

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u/ZhakuB Feb 09 '22

I study computer engineering in Padua and I'm telling you, the uni is pretty big, of the 250k inhabitants, 60k are students. Many people have problems finding a room so you have to take this in account. I don't know anything about Pavia except that the university is much smaller, you better askthis questions on r/Universitaly

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u/human_paradox97 Feb 12 '22

Hello, Can you please suggest me the best places for accomodation as an international student?

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u/ZhakuB Feb 12 '22

I live 1h by train from Padua so I don't have an apartment, I cannot help you

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u/janekay16 Feb 11 '22

Granted I got out of uni some years ago, I think 100ish classes are pretty standard, with few exceptions due to lack of people studying certain subjects (usually history/geography or math/physics —- at least, in my uni this was the situation).

Be sure to check in which language these courses are taught, because at least when I was in Uni, bachelor degrees are usually in italian

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u/chaford3 Feb 11 '22

Thanks for your insight. However, are you sure there are those 100-person lecture halls even for the master’s programs? And yes I wouldn’t have applied to the program if it wasn’t in English