A Blog about Education Abroad

Category: Winter / Summer School Postings

  • Melanie at the VU Amsterdam Summer School, the Netherlands

    Melanie at the VU Amsterdam Summer School, the Netherlands

    Pre-departure:

    I applied for a Schengen visa through VFS Global agency. I had the choice of applying online or in person at their offices in Cape Town. I opted for the latter, as the sequence of the application and required documents were clearly explained on their website. Unfortunately, when I arrived for my appointment, I was told one of my documents still required certification. This meant an extra drive through to Cape Town again. Moral of the story: make doubly sure you have everything before handing in your document during your appointment. The application itself was processed and delivered to me in a remarkable 3 working days!

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  • Nicola at the Radboud Summer School, The Netherlands

    Nicola at the Radboud Summer School, The Netherlands

    The application process:

    Heading into my third degree I knew it was time I take the opportunity to travel abroad as part of an exchange program. I had been toying with the idea throughout my time at Stellenbosch University and as I look to finishing my MA soon – I knew that the time was now. Selecting a Summer School location was the easy part. I had decided a while ago that I wanted to travel to the Netherlands. My mother spent a few years of her childhood in Amsterdam, and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to see where she had grown up. Additionally – most of my MA research deals with gender studies, and with the Netherlands being regarded as progressive in this field – I thought it would be fitting to travel to the heart of it all.

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  • 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.

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