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As I arrived in Copenhagen, one of the things that I was most nervous about was the housing situation. After all, the place you live shapes a large part of the study abroad experience! Nimbus Kollegium I had listed a kollegium as my first choice because I hoped to live with some local roommates, and I was indeed granted my wish. Through the semester, I lived in a single room within an apartment of 5 people at Nimbus Kollegium. The kollegium's location in Frederiksberg meant t

I did know about the strong presence of Scandinavian design in Copenhagen prior to coming, but I didn't know specifically how that would translate into such amazing museums. While I visited a couple of museums with classes, I saw many of them for fun. Here are the standouts. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art Though it does require a trip outside the city (about 45 minutes north via train), the extra effort to get to Louisiana is well worth it. I went with my mom and grandma when

As the semester wraps up, we are faced with the inevitable: finals. So, what does that look like at DIS? I can only give insight into my specific classes, in which I had all final projects, with no exams. Here are some details of what that's looked like: Urban Design Studio (Core Course) As a studio course, my Urban Design core course counts for double the credits as a typical class (and we meet twice as often). Accordingly, my biggest final project came from Urban Design Stu

When I chose my housing type, I decided to rank the kollegium option as my top choice. I'd done a homestay in the past and had a great experience, but I was hoping to spend time with students and get the chance to meet other people all around the same age. Even though I was confident with that choice, I was a little disappointed to miss out on the deep local connection that a homestay can provide. So, when I heard about DIS's visiting host program, I jumped at the chance to a

Even though some people might not think that class time itself would be the highlight of study abroad, my classes at DIS are incredibly fun! The instructors take full advantage of the city as a tool for learning, and our various excursions add color to the topics we cover in lectures and discussions inside the classroom. Here are some highlights from the second half of the semester. Visiting Carlsberg with Adaptive Reuse This visit occurred on a field study with Professor Mia

My long study tour took place during Travel Week #2 — with my core class, Urban Design Studio, I went to Brussels in Belgium as well as Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Day 1: April 20 Copenhagen → Brussels We started the day bright and early, meeting at the Copenhagen airport at 6:05am. After landing in Brussels, we headed to the hotel to drop off our luggage and then went straight out into the city for a lot of walking around. Here are some of the things we saw:

Especially as the weather has been getting warmer and I’ve wanted to spend more time outdoors, I’ve been really enjoying the chance for some hyper-local exploration around my neighborhood. I live in Frederiksberg, which is technically a separate municipality from Copenhagen. One fun fact about Frederiksberg that I learned in class is that they have a law that everyone living in the municipality must be able to see a tree from their window; if you can’t see a tree from your wi

One of the things I'd heard about Copenhagen even before arriving was that it has an amazing culinary scene. Two of the main aspects of this culinary scene are bakeries and new nordic cuisine (a modern version of Scandinavian food that prioritizes local and sustainable ingredients). As somewhat of a foodie myself, I was excited to try some of these things that Copenhagen had to offer. Along the way, I've figured out a couple ways to enjoy food in Copenhagen in a more affordab

As an architecture student, one of the main reasons that I wanted to study in Copenhagen was that Scandinavia is so well-known for design. My first impression of Scandinavian design (and cuisine) while growing up was most likely through IKEA. So, when I discovered that there is an IKEA museum in Sweden, I knew that I had to go. When one of my friends studying abroad elsewhere in Europe began planning a visit to see me over her spring break, we began scheming. She was interest

Everyday Class DIS talks about the idea that the entire city of Copenhagen serves as a classroom, and so far I have found that to be true. Aside from the obvious field studies and study tours when we go out to explore, we get to experience the city during everyday classes too. For instance, my class about Transportation in Urban Europe often has us go out to explore different modes of transportation depending on what we are studying that week. For Transportation in Urban Euro

One of the aspects of study abroad that I was most unsure about was the budget. How much would I need to spend, and where could I save some money? In order to receive financial aid from my home school, I needed to research what I estimated spending in a variety of different categories, which ended up being very helpful. Over the course of the first month, I was able to compare my actual spending with those predictions, adjusting either my spending or my estimations accordingl

For my short study tour, my core course (Urban Design Studio) spent two days doing walking tours around Copenhagen, then headed on a three-day trip to Aarhus, Herning, and Odense. We used our sketchbooks to document what we saw, so here is a peek into my sketchbook, along with some extra commentary about the travel experience: Day 1: Copenhagen (Amager) We started out on Monday by seeing several sites on Amager island. First, we stopped at Øresundskollegiet, a kollegium for w

One of my biggest anxieties about studying abroad in Copenhagen was what my roommate situation would be like, and how I would get to know entirely new people. I was assigned to live in a kollegium, which is student housing with both DIS study abroad students as well as local students. That was my first choice, so I was thrilled! However, I wasn’t sure how many roommates I’d have or who they’d be, so I was hoping that they’d be nice. From the very first moment I arrived at the

Now that 2026 has officially begun, my departure for Copenhagen feels a lot more real. I've finished all of the logistical hurdles — filling out the forms, moving out of my college dorm room, buying the right adapters — which has given me more time to reflect on what I'm hoping to get out of the study abroad experience. This will not be my first time studying abroad, but I know that it will certainly be an entirely new experience. So far, I've participated in Princeton's Novo