Planning your trip

When you plan and prepare for a study trip abroad, you should ask the following questions:

• When should I go abroad and for how long?
• How will studying abroad affect my studies? (recognition of academic credit)?
• Do I have to improve my foreign language skills ahead of time?
• Where should I study and how do I get accepted by the foreign university?
• How can I finance my visit abroad?

When and how long?

Deciding when to study abroad is important due to the duration of the degree programmes. Students in bachelor's degree programmes should apply no later than their fifth semester, and students in master's degree programmes, no later than their third semester.  

When determining how long you wish to study at the foreign university, you should take the following into account:  

• How is the academic year organised at the foreign university?
• What goals do I hope to achieve during my study visit abroad?
• How long can I (or do I want to) remain separated from my familiar surroundings and the people I care about most?          

Please note: The duration of student exchange programmes is fixed and generally cannot be exceeded.

Try to assess how well you will adapt to the social, cultural and academic life in the foreign country. Then gather information about the country and the university that you are interested in attending.

It is extremely important you find out whether the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will award credit for the academic work you complete abroad. You should obtain a course prospectus from the foreign university and find out which requirements your faculty has set for transferring credit for course work completed abroad.  

Language proficiency plays an important role. Are you willing to learn a new language or improve your foreign language skills so that you can meet the basic requirements of academic life and the "normal" demands of daily life? If you're planning for the long term, you should definitely take a course to learn the language of the foreign country before travelling abroad.  

Although English skills are a basic requirement nowadays, knowledge of other foreign languages will surely benefit your academic and professional future.

There are some countries, e.g. China, Greece, Japan, Korea and Russia, where English won't get you very far once you leave the university campus. You must acquire some knowledge of these foreign languages before you commence your studies abroad.

Financing your study visit is another very important factor. In order to make a financial plan, you will need to obtain reliable information regarding the tuition fees at the foreign university, as well as the living expenses in the foreign country.