Planning a Study Abroad Period

When you decide you actually want to go to a foreign country to study there, you should think carefully about where you want to go and why. Read my article on what to take care of when deciding your abroad university to find out more about this. 

Once you have decided, you are super excited and actually want to start packing right away. However, there is a huge amount of things that need to be done, organized, checked and applied for in advance.

First thing to start with is actually making sure you have a place at the university you want to go to. And this is not quite as easy as you might think. You usually need to register with the university abroad, sometimes even apply for it. Then you have to make sure your home university has all the data from the institution abroad and the other way round. Maybe your uni has some kind of an international office that can assist you, especially if there are any language barriers.

It is also a benefit to take a look around and ask some people in higher semesters you might find somebody who has been at the university you want to go to so that he or she can give you some valuable tips and support. They have got detailed first hand information, so make sure you listen carefully. 

Once you know you are in, you need to take a look at the courses. It is in your interest to check the course list to see if you can attend programmes abroad that are similar to the ones in your home university to make sure you don`t loose any credit points. Worst case scenario would be you having to study one semester longer because all the courses you did abroad could not be transferred.

One of the main cost factors for you semester abroad, similar to at home actually, is your accomodation. Make sure you start looking for it early enough. You can usually choose between living on campus in a university owned and often serviced home, some home stay options or a totally independent apartment/room. 

When comparing prices, make sure you do not only pay attention to area, public transport connections, size and furniture, but also look at the services included, length of the period the price is shown for as well as the currency it is displayed in. 

Also take a look at things like is wifi included, is there the possibility to do laundry or might there even be meals included.

Studying abroad usually involves a little higher expenses than in your home country as you also want to travel and see the country or city, you do not know all the cheapest shops right from the beginning and things like visa, etc. simply cost a little bit. This is why you should start looking around for financial support early enough. And no, it is not only for those with the most amazing grades on earth.

Often there are scholarships from your home university or the institution abroad, especially for those doing a semester in a different country, which means the number of people that actually can apply is much smaller and you have a better chance to get one of them. Also external organisations, e.g. for special country relationships, for your subject or from charities often have scholarships for the students "that facilitate the cultural exchange between our two countries" and so on.

Sometimes universities abroad have some kind of office representing them in your country and organizing all the administrative things regarding the application and so on. If so, you probably already had contact with them by now. In many cases, these offer scholarships that are independent form those of the actual university abroad. So make sure to check their website or simply ask about it in an email. They might, for example, cover your housing costs if you live on campus or similar.

Once you have applied at the university and made sure you do not mis any of the scholarships` deadlines, you can apply for yous visa, look for flights (don`t do that too late), check all your documents are valid long enough, start looking for possible phone plans and bank accounts. 

Concerning the flights, it might be worth checking if there is a special student and young traveller travel office in your city. They can offer specific deals that you cannot get anywhere online. If you have to go online though, don`t be frustrated. It is going to take quite a while to check all the several websites (I recommend going on both the flight companies` websites itself as well as sites like skyscanner) and try out all the different airports and dates. But in the end your effort will be paid off: You will have the most amazing deal. 

Make sure you take a closer look at the luggage allowances before you book. As you can imagine, one needs a little bit more when going abroad for several months and nor only 2 weeks. So if possible have 30kg for your check in allowance. This is what most people need. Otherwise, you can still simply send a parcel to where you are going to study a few days before you leave your home country and it will be at your destination almost with you.

Well, now you have taken care of all the official and most important things that have deadlines and should be done correctly and on time. From now on you can concentrate on your personal things. Which clothes do I need to bring? How about make up, stationery, etc.; do I want to bring it or buy it? Is there anything at home that I need to organize (quit my phone plan, etc.)

But first, have a little break and relax yourself. Be proud of all the things you have already managed. It brought you a huge step closer to your big adventure!