The guidances have been written by AZSAB members and it covers all necessary information and tips for incoming students
Rotterdam
By: BAYRAM ORUJOV
This guide is meant to help you settle into life in Rotterdam, as well as life at Erasmus University Rotterdam. It is designed mostly with links to cover the most important aspects of student life from general tips over organizational necessities every student must go through when coming to Rotterdam.
As the Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb said “Rotterdam is the place to let your talents blossom. It offers endless opportunities to take your career to great heights. There are many extraordinary and interesting employers and there is a wide range of opportunities for entrepreneurship.”
Registration
First of all, after applying for the Erasmus University Rotterdam, then arriving in Rotterdam and finding an accommodation, you will need to register yourself in the City Hall.
Bank account
As you already may know, in order to get admission from the university and apply for a visa, you must transfer your living fee to the University’s bank account. Therefore, right after your arrival here, one of the first things is to open a Dutch bank account and get this fee transferred back to your Dutch account. There are so many banks here. However, our university recommends ING Bank which does not require any fee and you can simply approach there with mere admission letter.
Note: In the Netherlands, most of the places do not accept a Visa/Visa Electron/Master (Credit) cards. Among the supermarket chains, Dirk, Jumbo and Lidl accept abovementioned cards (On a brighter note, they are the cheapest supermarkets as compared to others). 
On the other hands, every Saturday and Tuesday, you can find “Flea Market” in Blaak and other parts of the city that the Dutch as well as the city’s expat population head towards the market for their weekly shopping. With more than 450 stalls to choose from, the market offers almost everything which are so much cheaper.
Public transport

In Rotterdam, you will almost always be able to reach your destination by bicycle. It is better to buy second hand bikes through Facebook groups from previous year students which are so much cheaper than used bikes in shops.

 

Facebook Pages for used bikes:
Facebook Groups for second-hand goods:
If you want to travel by bus, tram, metro or train, It is better to acquire an OV-chip card.
  1. The OV card can be purchased anonymously at all the metro stations which costs only €7.50 and can be used across the Netherlands. Therefore, you will need to load it with money to use for travel.
  2. Or you can buy a personalised card (with photo) online making it possible to claim different discounts like a 40% discount on train travel. This discount is available upon a yearly payment of 50 Euros, and only applies to using the train between 9:00 and 16:00 and 18:30 – 6:30 the next morning (“off peak hours”), and on the weekend. (It makes sense to get this discount if you use the train at least once or twice a month).
When using the train, you need to have a minimum balance of €10 on your “personal” OV-Chipkaart (€20 for “anonymous” OV-Chipkaart).
As for the public transport within Rotterdam, do not forget to check in and check out when you enter and leave whichever means of transportation you use. When you check in €4 is automatically taken off and when you check out the correct amount according to distance is deducted, however if you do not check out the full amount of €4 will be deducted.
Make sure your card is loaded before entering a tram or you will have to buy a paper ticket from the conductor for €3 for an hour of unlimited travel.
Although public transport does not operate after 00:30 AM, you can also find a night bus service called the BOB-bus which runs on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, travelling between popular nightlife locations and residential areas. The night bus tickets cost €5.00 for a one-way trip. 
For more information visit – www.bob-bus.nl
Note: It is also possible to take Metro all the way to The Hague with line E that costs around €4.50.
Accomodation
In the Netherlands, students usually do not live on campus but have their own room. Finding good, affordable accommodation can be a problem here. Make sure you start looking for a room as soon as you are officially enrolled. 
An average room in Rotterdam costs somewhere between € 400 to € 550 a month. Prices vary as there are public and private housing providers. Before you accept a room, please check which bills (e.g. gas, electricity, internet, TV) are included in your rent.  
There are various options for accommodation such as Campus; Private dorms in the city; Studios; Shared apartments with other flatmates and so forth.
If you want to look for accommodation yourself, the websites and facebook groups at the bottom of the page might be useful.
Place to study
There are 2 very big libraries on campus and small libraries in almost each building. Apart from these, you can use the Central Library Rotterdam in Blaak and the library of Erasmus School of Medicine where is a bit far, but it has way too big library.
Useful applications
  1. EUR Study Rooms: Find all sorts of study spaces including available classrooms and PC rooms;
  2. Ricoh myPrint‏‏: Brings online printing functionality to your phone;
  3. Buienradar: Check our rain radar and graph before you leave;
  4. 9292 or NS Reisplanner Xtra: Travel planners for all public transports;
  5. GoEuro Train Bus Flight: Find and book your ideal train, bus or flight across Europe;
  6. ING Bankieren: Manage your banking affairs;
  7. Microsoft Outlook: Check your university emails in one convenient spot.
  8. MyLebara Top-up: If you use Lebara sim card) Manage your account any time, anywhere.
Note: In case you are using an iPhone that does not recognise the above stated apps, then create a new Apple ID and choose the Netherlands among countries.
Do not forget to legalize your diploma!
It’s necessary to prove the legal status of your diploma for use outside the Netherlands. The legalisation is done in 2 steps – Education Executive Agency (DUO) and Court. Bear in mind that first step can only be done in Groningen. For further information:
After your education in the netherlands, you shall follow the certain rules
In case you plan to work the guides below might be interesting for you
Take a look at the following websites and search for rent there!
Facebook pages