Studying Engineering in Italy: The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected
I'm currently doing my Master's in Engineering in Italy, and there was definitely an academic culture shock.
One thing that genuinely surprised me was how common cheating seemed to be. I did my studies in the MManila area in the Philippines, where academic integrity was taken much more seriously in my experience. I wasn't expecting to see it as openly as I did here, especially considering this is a master's program. Of course, cheating exists in the Philippines too! I'm not saying it doesn't. But I was genuinely surprised by how common it seemed here, especially at the master's level. I honestly expected graduate students to place more emphasis on academic integrity, so that was one of the biggest culture shocks for me. And of course, this is only my personal experience at my university and may not reflect every institution in Italy or Europe.
I also want to give credit to my university and professors back in the Philippines. Speaking from the engineering side, I felt we had a very good balance of theory and practice. We had plenty of laboratory work, hands-on activities, and practical applications that made it much easier to understand the concepts. Here, at least in my program, there's much more emphasis on theory, and laboratory sessions are relatively limited.
I also noticed that many students simply reuse the exact same final project from previous years. Since the project is the final exam, that really surprised me. Maybe that's just how things are done here, or maybe we're simply more competitive back home...I honestly don't know. It's just something I observed.
Another adjustment was the language. Even when courses are taught in English, not all professors are equally comfortable teaching in it. In engineering, being technical and precise is important, so I really appreciate professors who explain concepts directly instead of using unnecessary words.
To be honest, I've had to do a lot of self-study because I personally found several professors difficult to learn from. When I say that, it's not just my opinion, even many of my Italian classmates say the same about some of our professors hahaha. Imagine sitting through a two-hour engineering lecture where the professor mostly talks without writing on the board, solving examples, or interacting with students. That teaching style was very different from what I was used to in the Philippines haha.
That said, I do appreciate the theoretical depth here. Some courses go into much greater detail than what I experienced during my bachelor's degree. The downside is that you need to be much more independent in filling the gaps yourself.
One thing I really like, though, is the flexibility with exams. If you're not satisfied with your grade, you usually have multiple opportunities to retake the exam and improve your score. That takes away some of the pressure of having only one chance. I also found the overall academic culture to be much more relaxed compared to what I experienced in PH. There is still pressure to perform, but people generally don't seem to stress over grades as much.
Of course, this reflects my experience in one engineering master's program in Italy. Other universities, professors, and countries may be very different.
P.S. I still love the Philippines, and if anything, living here has made me appreciate it even more. Even though I'm planning to stay here for good, my experience abroad has only deepened my appreciation for the education and experiences I had back home.
