When I was planning to leave for exchange, there were the normal ‘admin’ tasks that I knew all about. However, some of the most burdensome tasks popped up that I hadn’t even considered before, and these are the ones I would like to point out to anyone who may be leaving on exchange sometime soon!
Category: Semester Exchange Postings
Blog Postings by Returning Stellenbosch University Students
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Kim at the EBS Law School
Pre Departure:
My exchange programme took me to a small town 50 minutes away from Frankfurt, namely Wiesbaden in Germany. Given that my course was focused on Transnational Commercial Law, it was apt that we were a group of 40 students from different parts around the world. My exchange experience, thus, does not only leave me a bit more clued up on commercial law in a cross-border context, but also with amazing memories and cultural insights. With too much to share, I guess it would be best for me to start at the beginning – that is preparation! Hopefully some of what I mention here will be of help to you!
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Rebecca at the University of Amsterdam
Pre-departure:
As I am lucky enough to have a British passport, I cannot give much advice regarding the visa application and so forth but I can definitely provide tips regarding other pre-departure planning.
Create a budget for yourself:
Creating a budget for yourself and doing the relevant investigation on the cost of living is important. There are a lot of websites that give an accurate idea on how much you may need a month on living expenses, but you need to decide for yourself whether you are also going to want to do some traveling. Ask students that previously went on exchange (such as myself) and I will be happy to explain to you how I sorted out my finances. You just do not want to be in a situation where you underestimated the cost of living and now your experience is constricted because of finances (which can easily happen).