American student in Pécs: unsatisfied with the university, became sick and lost 10 kg
An American student, Brendan, spent four months at the University of Pécs (PTE). He arrived in Pécs in September 2021 from the University of Denver. He shared his experience on his Facebook page, but since then the article has been removed for some reason. However, the piece has been also published in the journal of the Denver University with the title: ‘Study abroad: frustration, illness & disappointment in Hungary’. The university has responded, arguing that the student’s claims are not considered credible.
Problems
The American student shared his lifelong dream of studying abroad in Europe in his blog, but his expectations did not meet the reality.
Upon entering the dormitory, his first shock came when he saw the “old building” inside which he claimed did not have properly functioning plumbing and electricity. However, this sounds unrealistic. According to his description, the toilets could not be flushed properly, the lights were flashing, bugs were crawling on the ceiling, and the internet worked poorly as well.
There were two barely functioning washing machines in the dormitory for 800 people.
We are talking about a dormitory that was built 50 years ago and underwent a complete renovation about 10 years ago, says Telex.hu.
Language barrier?
He claimed that he had to wait in line for hours to reach an English-speaking staff member. He had to submit five different papers to apply for a student ID card, which otherwise seems realistic. These were probably papers related to his studies and his stay in the dormitory.
The American student also lists it as a complaint that the cleaning staff opened the rooms in the morning and spoke only Hungarian.
He was not satisfied with the English skills of the university staff either. Even though there are 4,500 foreign students at the University of Pécs, the staff’s English knowledge was inadequate. According to him, the professors did not speak English well, and sometimes they had a hard time finding the right words, writes bahir.hu.
He was sick for almost the entire time
However, the key point of the article is that the student was ill during almost the entire four months he spent in Hungary. He struggled with sinusitis for three months, had bronchitis, sore throat, and tonsillitis twice. He lay sick in bed for a month, claiming to have lost 9.5 kilograms and developed an eating disorder.
Although there were doctors at the university, he found that neither he nor the students, in general, had access to adequate medical care. He traveled to Budapest several times to see private doctors and to get prescriptions for antibiotics. The student also caught Covid in Hungary, which certainly did not make his days rosier. In his article, he also criticised the fact that online education was not introduced at the university in the fall of 2021, making the rooms “breeding grounds for pathogens, difficult to concentrate in the room with constant coughing, growling and sneezing”. Nobody knew Zoom there, he added.
The student did not find the city of Pécs safe enough either. According to his description,
a local gang attacked two groups of foreign students close to the college.
The American student wrote that he was unaware of the Roma culture in the area, which scared him off taking public transport or walking around the train station and, in general, outside of the city centre.
The University of Pécs replied
The University replied to the blog post of the American student, stating that the dorm has great Google reviews, and the survey of the international students shows a high satisfaction rate overall
Telex asked the University of Pécs about the matter. The university’s press office asked the portal to publish their response without any editing, so we translated this source into English without any alteration in the text.
“The management of the University of Pécs was sorry to hear about our foreign student’s negative feedback. We don’t react point by point, we just touch on a few important topics that paint our dormitory in a negative light.
The main illustration does not depict the Boszorkány-kollégium but another building independent of the PTE, at the train station.
The American contact person, who assists students to apply to the university, visited Pécs a couple of years ago. The contact person was invited by PTE to get clear pictures of the university and the city so that he would be able to accurately orient the interested students. Therefore, he knows the locations and endowments, which means that the students applying here should not be surprised given they received proper information before their arrival.
It tells a lot about the college in question that the majority-based Google rating (on a scale of 5) has currently 4.3 stars, including text ratings such as:
»The Boszorkány Kolégium is one of the best dormitories in Pécs. Multi-story building with dining area and restaurant. Refrigerators are almost everywhere. The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms are modernly equipped« or: »Well-equipped rooms, they look cultured, they have plenty of sockets and net access. Each block has a bathroom, toilet, and a fair refrigerator.«
Although the PPP design has made the development of dormitories significantly more difficult, the recent replacement of the design has also removed this hurdle, so that wireless internet will soon be available in addition to the existing high-bandwidth wired internet connection.
It is important to note that modern fire alarm equipment never goes off in the dormitory for no reason. If there is smoke in the building (for example, a student forgets the rules and lights a cigarette in the room), the alarm will go off, even at night, which is important and can be life-saving.
Cleaning and insect control occur regularly, there can be little complaint about hygiene – no one has really reported such cases. However, the cleaning staff always comes on weekdays, never on weekends, so the Saturday morning wake-up call mentioned in the description is, to put it mildly, unrealistic.
It is also worth mentioning that the PTE Clinical Center is the central patient care unit in the region, so of course, they provide medical care of the highest possible quality to everyone. At the same time, if foreign students had standard integrated health insurance it would certainly speed things up and make the process less complicated, which initiative would be also encouraged by PTE.
To conclude, there are areas that need upgrades and improvements are planned to be implemented shortly, but the situation is by no means as dire as it’s set out in the article.
Every year, our university conducts a satisfaction survey with international students, in which they can indicate on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, how much they would recommend PTE to their friends and acquaintances. In the most recent survey, conducted last summer, more than two-thirds of nearly a thousand respondents gave 4 or 5 ratings. Based on the surveys of recent years, it can also be stated that the students are more and more satisfied with Hungary, the city of Pécs and the University of Pécs.”
Source: bahir.hu, telex.hu
Sounds like Brendan should have brought his mommie along to hold his hand for him. If he thinks he had a bad time in Pecs, what is he going to do when he gets out in the real world? I doubt that Pecs was anywhere near as bad as he claimed. I know for a fact that there are Universities in America that have deplorable dorm blocks and terrible campus facilities because I have been at a few of them in North Carolina. They were outdated, poorly maintained and looked like they were built before 1930 and had not been updated in more than 40 years. Grow up Brendan, life is going to be much tougher on you in the future. Your mommie won’t be there to wipe your nose and hold your hand.
Beware of US college students- most schools are left wing hell holes and you would be a fool to send your children to them-as beautiful as Colorado is – it’s one of the worst!
As a foreign student studying in pécs I can say that the university is not even half as bad as he claims, I never met a university staff member or a professor who did not speak English, it’s literally two papers for the student card, one paper you get from the university and another you have to fill, and thank God nobody attacked me and I never heard of anyone got attacked in Pécs because they were foreign.
As a foreign international student I somewhat agree with Brendan. The university of Pécs is not foreign students friendly. The administration staff hardly speak English at all. Some of the professor’s try but are hardly audible. I would not recommend the university to my friends or colleagues. A lot of my class mates feel the same.Pécs as a city is beautiful and safe.
Just read this with interest. My only comment is the amount of paperwork, form filling and visits to different offices that one has to, which is very reasonable in this the computer age, but I don’t believe a word of what he has to moan about. I love Hungary and have generally found a country I choose to live in very welcoming and Hungarians very friendly. I speak tiny Hungarian but I cope with a smile and a mime or two. The roma issue is an issue BUT its no worse than the problems with gangs in the UK. Just be careful out and about, be kind in your approach and have good manners.
Part of the problem for staff not speaking English well is that in early grades they had teachers who were from various countries of origin where the English is not American English or Canadian English. The other is that the Magyar language has not developed along traditional lines for the creation of proper terms for the many new inventions. So then when someone tries to translate that poorly created word into English or any other language, the meaning is lost in translation. THAT makes it very difficult for everyone. I remember being in Miskolc & seeing a huge sign above a business which read as MINITH SHOE REPAIRE. I asked inside what that meant (in Magyar) & was told that it meant very fast work. I told the elderly man that ‘minith’ was not a word in English but he argued that his cousin had visited America for several months as a cash day laborer & speaks English really well. I told him that I had lived in N. A. for 30 years, was a professional & the word was incorrect. He said I obviously did not speak the language well then. I thought “A-hole”. The ‘electric policeman’ (street lights) and ‘farmers’ (denim jeans) were the funniest to me. But traveling is all about learning cultural differences & embracing even the discomforts. Sad for the student that he was not well prepared for his year at school and could not adjust. However, I will say that when 1 of my daughters was an RA (Residential Advisor)at her university she was socked at how many Canadians could not budget, shop properly to ensure that they bought food within their allowance of $, could not cook (and idiots who said “i don’t like leftovers”). Some had not been doing their own laundry or housework at home despite their late teens ages & many had no concept of how to share out their assignments over evenings & weekends to ensure that they had them done for next class. No time management skills, eating anytime & anywhere, never drinking beverages right to the bottom, leaving things randomly that attract flies or rodents…just deplorable lifestyle habits. So I will discount many of this students’ complaints.
Not so easy for a foreigner alone in Hungary. 20 years ago I was traveling alone without knowing much Hungarian and found conditions difficult due simply to the isolation.
The University of Pecs doesn’t care about any international students more precisely the MIK institute. I heard a lot of times from professors at the university that international students are stupid and will never be at the level of Hungarians. They never answer our emails, and they always say that we are not important. They do not care about the student’s religion, they moved our graduation day to the same day as the EID celebration which muslins students can not attend, and look like they did this in propose for the students do not attend. They changed the graduation day 9 days before the date annunciated since September 2021, and we sent a lot of emails to the Dean but she does not even care to answer, parents bought tickets for the graduation old day and they can not attend anymore because they are leaving before the new date, they do not respect us, we are nothing for PTE MIK. The university should make better interviews with the heads of the institute. Otherwise, make the university just for Hungarians
hygiene:)) I have being sexually abused soooo many times , I was thinking of suicide every day . Transfer was the best decision of my life.