Tag: Germany

Pre-departure experiences

I found my summer school the same way I find all other things, using Google. If you are interested in a summer school or exchange program, make a list of good universities, ask your study leader if they can contribute to the list and then let Google do the hard work for you.

My preparations for the time abroad had to be made quite fast. Not only did I have only three months from conception to departure, I was also away from the University, as well as a proper internet connection, for a month and a half. The PGIO helped a lot in realizing this time frame, if you are unsure about something ASK!! Our experience with the German consulate were good. They had a website that explained the whole visa application process step-by-step, as well a checklist that you can run through to ensure there are no problems with your application. In German tradition, it took one and a half days to complete our applications and let us know that we could collect our visas. This being said, we had all our papers and no curveballs, some of the other clients at the consulate said they had to come back after some issues. This is not really such a big deal, as long as you have a week or so planned as contingency time.
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Pre- departure

We were two students from the Civil Engineering department (Construction and Engineering Management) applying for a course in Forecast Engineering. This course was presented by the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. At first we just applied to see whether we will be accepted or not as it was still in the far future. As soon as we got accepted the next step was to gain funding. We applied for a travel bursaries from our own department as well as the international office. When we got informed that we will receive funding from both departments the possibility of going on the exchange program got a reality. Also, thanks to a healthy relationship between Stellenbosch University and other international universities our study fees were covered by the Bauhaus University where we intended to study. This really put us in a situation where we realised that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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