Budapest University of Technology and Economics - BME
speciality: Computer Science

Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) offers a strong academic environment with a solid reputation in engineering, technology, and applied sciences. The teaching is rigorous and well-structured, combining strong theoretical foundations with practical, real-world applications. The university’s international atmosphere, supportive academic staff, and well-organized programs make it an excellent place for motivated students who want to develop both technically and professionally.

When I was admitted to BME, I had high expectations. Coming from a successful high school background with strong foundations in algebra, informatics, and physics, I was confident and motivated to thrive in a top European engineering university.

Unfortunately, my experience at BME has not lived up to my expectations—especially as an international student.

1. Administrative and Structural Discrimination

One of the biggest disappointments has been the clear separation between Hungarian, Erasmus, and international students. Almost every event is divided by nationality, creating silos instead of an inclusive academic community. Even basic facilities like dormitories are unequally allocated—Hungarian students are placed near the campus, while many international students, including myself, are forced to live in dormitories located in entirely different cities. This makes commuting to university both time-consuming and costly.

Administrative support is also extremely lacking for non-Hungarians. The bureaucracy is slow, confusing, and often indifferent toward international students’ concerns. It often feels like we are not valued or even acknowledged unless we are fluent in Hungarian.

2. Unequal Treatment and Favoritism

Although BME promotes itself as an international institution, there is clear favoritism in student selection and treatment—particularly towards Arabic students. While the university’s rector is of Arabic origin, it seems that this has led to an overwhelming admission of students from the same background (up to 80% in some departments), and unfortunately, favoritism in how rules are applied. There are PhD students, also from similar backgrounds, who act as teaching assistants and display bias based on religion or ethnicity.

I personally faced hostility after expressing differing views in a discussion, and it escalated to verbal and physical aggression from fellow students. Even worse, some instructors allow academic dishonesty to take place openly, turning a blind eye when favored students cheat during exams.

3. Quality of Teaching

Academically, the quality of instruction has also been underwhelming. Many professors are very senior, but unfortunately, many are disconnected from modern technological developments. They are often unapproachable, angry, and do not welcome questions. Some professors struggle with basic English, which makes lectures difficult to follow, especially in technical subjects. This severely affects the learning experience for international students.

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Final Thoughts

If you’re considering studying at BME as an international student, especially if you’re seeking a collaborative, forward-thinking academic environment and fair treatment, I urge you to do thorough research and consider your options carefully. My personal experience has been marked by exclusion, inequality, and a lack of academic and personal support.

Higher education should be a space for growth, innovation, and inclusion,but sadly, that has not been my experience at BME.

I really like Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The vibe there is super inspiring, and the courses are challenging but rewarding. They focus a lot on both theory and practical skills, which is great if you want to be ready for real-world work. Plus, it has a long history and a cool international community, so you get to meet people from all over. Overall, it’s a great place if you’re into engineering, tech, or economics.

Friendly teachers, many student clubs, many events to bring students closer every month, and so on. Overall I really like this university. My study curriculum is also well structured, one thing I am missing thought is more project work. I would love it if my univerisity encourages me to do more practical work with real-life applications.

Very good community life, high-quality education. If I could do it over again, I would apply for BME again. Community life is similarly mature as in America, we have an endless circle of people who provide a wide range of knowledge to those who want to deepen their knowledge in all areas.

I was a student of this university for 5 years and if I ever had to decide again I would come here again. It was a great experience both the social life and classes were great. I would recommend for anybody.

BME is a great school but then there is so much workload that’s why I’m giving it 3 stars otherwise I love it here, anyone who wants to come to BME should really do cuz it’s very diverse and we have a lot of internationals. You’ll love it!

The subjects are very different, we learn IT from the laws of physics to the high overview of complex systems. There are many great subjects with excellent notes but unfortunately all of them are acceptable. The student community maintains a knowledge base where missing notes are collected.

I’ve attended this university for Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Computer Science. As Hungary’s leading engineering university it lived up to my expectations. Mostly great teachers, busy student communities.
During my BSc studies I felt we had a bit too wide range of subjects, without much specialization. I had to go to classes which didn’t really interested me, but I guess it’s like that everywhere, Bachelor’s degree are supposed to give us a wide range of knowledge and a good foundation for going further. And even i the certain classes didn’t interest me, the degree as a whole gave me a good engineering mindset.
I liked my Master’s much better, with the possibility to specialize more. I could study and research what interested me. The teacher’s are u to date with current technologies, most of them had industrial experience. All of them who I spoke to were open to questions, and was happy to discuss and even debate different opinions. I even got help in looking for a job after I finished.
Very big part of the university experience is the community. We had a really great one, with good opportunities to step out from the classroom and our comfort zones. There were several student competitions with different technologies, where people could try out their ideas and work on much more fascinating things than the usual class exercises. For example I got to modify an RC car to be able to follow a line on its own and do different task and compete with other similar cars on a racetrack. Beside engineering opportunities I joined ESN which gave me a lot of experience in teamwork, in leading people, and a great deal of social skills. So basically the university gave me everything I was looking for both in the professional field and in social life. And I haven’t mentioned sports yet, which also plays a big part o the student life.