A Blog about Education Abroad

Tag: Germany

  • Engineering Gap Year in Germany

    Engineering Gap Year in Germany

    Carike and Peter are enrolled for an undergraduate mechanical engineering degree at Stellenbosch University. (Currently the Gap Year programme is only limited to students from the Mechanical Engineering Department. We also only send students to countries that are part of the Washington Accord: https://www.washingtonaccord.org/washington-accord/signatories/ )

    In 2017, Carike and Peter decided to undertake an Engineering Gap Year in 2018, which includes the following two components: A semester exchange at a partner university followed by an internship at a German company. The semester exchange entails taking courses at a partner university in their field of study. This is a great opportunity for students to be exposed to a new academic environment and to see how engineering courses in their field of study is presented at partner universities. The internship placements are mostly organized by the students themselves, but with some support from the partner universities. The internships can be paid or non-paid and is a great way to acquire work experience and strengthen a student’s employability. (We also currently have three other students taking part in a semester exchange at North Carolina State University. Their exchange is starting in August and will only be for one semester.)

    (more…)

  • Lourens at the Bayreuth International Summer School, Germany

    Lourens at the Bayreuth International Summer School, Germany

    “There is meaning in every journey unknown to the traveller” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    If you ever have the chance to apply for a summer school or even a semester exchange I would highly encourage you to take this opportunity with both hands. I learned so much in Germany and would like to share some of the experiences I had:

    Pre-departure:

    Pre-departure is certainly the most tedious part of your traveling experience. It is basically a bunch of paper work, but if it’s done thoroughly it can make your stay at your exchange university easy and smooth.

    (more…)

  • Thaakir at TU Munich, Germany

    Thaakir at TU Munich, Germany

    Hi there, I’m Thaakir Aricum and I recently went on exchange to TUM Germany. If you’re reading this, it means you have made (or are about to make) one of the best decisions of your life!

    Pre-departure:

    The three words that best describe this: admin, paperwork and a solid headache… But honestly, it’s worth every bit of effort you have to put in. The application process is quite lengthy and requires a lot of documentation, a video CV, recommendation letters and much more. Luckily the staff at SU International are extremely helpful. Ultimately though, the prep work and running around is your responsibility so make sure you get started ASAP. The visa application in itself is relatively simple, but getting everything that’s needed for the application can be nightmarish. The first thing to consider is time: Your visa takes a minimum two weeks to process and you usually only get confirmation from the university a month before the exchange starts, so the visa application window is pretty narrow. Before you apply for your German visa make sure that you have a recent police clearance, medical aid and proof of funds. If you receive a stipend / scholarship from the University you’ll be visiting, then there won’t be a visa cost (which usually costs around R1000).

    (more…)