A Blog about Education Abroad

Tag: Germany

  • Jacqueline at TU Munich, Germany

    Jacqueline at TU Munich, Germany

    Pre-departure:

    I have been interested in going on exchange since my first year at university, but did not have the opportunity to go until I started my postgraduate studies, so I had plenty of time to familiarize myself with the various options. The international office at my home university and their website were very helpful in this regard.

    I eventually decided to choose a university which offered courses in machine learning, which I was very interested in, but which was not part of my curriculum in the past.

    I had visited the Technical University of Munich (TUM) once before with my school and was intrigued by the campus and by Munich as a city. The TUM  also ranks as the top university in Germany, and especially well for informatics. Fortunately, I also have a European passport, so the fact that I would not need a visa also made the continent more attractive.

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  • Dumisile at the University of Tübingen, Germany

    Dumisile at the University of Tübingen, Germany

    Pre-departure:

    When I received the news that I have been accepted for the exchange programme, I was overjoyed. I directly began to gather all the documents I required for the study visa application. Since I have been through a visa process before, I knew more or less what was needed and what the time it would take to get all my document. A document of particular importance is your proof of health insurance. As such, I applied for the German insurance, the Techniker Kransenkasse (TK), but unfortunately, this insurance only covers students once the semester commences. I had no choice but to apply for a second insurance since the summer semester starts in April and my research was going to start in March. I applied for Mawista Science, which turned out to be very good for researchers and it is affordable. I would advise this insurance for students/researchers if you are looking to save money and still have an insurance that is accepted by the German authorities.

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  • Ruusa at Humboldt University, Berlin

    Ruusa at Humboldt University, Berlin

    Applying for the summer school:

    I heard about the opportunity to attend the summer school through a presentation in our department by the International Office and started my application process immediately. I would advise to find out when application dates open and start applying as soon as possible. This gives your referee sufficient time to write a reference letter and it also gives you enough time to make the video that accompanies the application. I made sure to specifically choose summer schools which 1) offered housing in order to reduce costs and 2) would take place during the June/July holidays because I did not want to miss out on any classes. I officially received confirmation that I had been accepted to the summer school about a month after submitting my application. A week later I received confirmation that I had been awarded a travel bursary.

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