Going International

A stay abroad is an invaluable opportunity to enhance your language skills, expand your professional knowledge, and grow personally. Employers highly value international experience, and for many larger companies, it is even an expectation.

A stay abroad is recommended after the first four semesters. By then, you will have a solid foundation in your studies and enough time to plan your experience effectively.

Key steps for successful planning:

• Start early: Begin planning at least one year in advance.
• Integrate it into your study plan: Ensure a smooth transition by aligning your subjects accordingly.
• Clarify financing: Look into scholarships and financial aid options in advance.
• Check language requirements: Ensure you meet the necessary language proficiency for your host university.
• Organize necessary documents: Admission, visa, insurance, and scholarship applications all require early preparation.

When planning a theoretical study semester abroad, we recommend that you:

• Consider early (about 1 year in advance) whether you would like to spend a semester abroad, to which region you would like to go, what linguistic, economic, and cultural conditions you will find there, and whether this fits in with your study plans.
• Check the timing of the planned semester (winter or summer semester) at the respective partner university to avoid overlaps with the semester dates at Hochschule Mannheim. Due to the often earlier start of the summer semester at foreign universities (sometimes at the beginning of January), a stay abroad in the winter semester is usually easier to realize.
• Take as many language courses as possible in the respective national language as early as possible so that your language level corresponds at least to level B2 - C1 of the European Framework of Reference. The better your language skills are BEFORE you start your semester abroad, the more you will be able to benefit personally, in terms of content, and professionally from your stay abroad. All of our partner programs have a formal requirement regarding your language skills!
• Take care of the application deadlines for a scholarship abroad and other funding opportunities (e.g. Baden-Württemberg scholarship, ERASMUS funding) in good time: these are often only once a year on a certain deadline.
• Find out early about the application deadlines of the university for the semester you are considering if you plan to go as a free mover, i.e. plan and manage your stay on your own.
• Start planning your studies abroad as early as possible with regard to the equivalence of the module in coordination with your curriculum and the study offers of the partner university (use the curriculum and the module descriptions on the homepage of the partner university).
• It is essential that you have the equivalence of your planned examination achievements at the foreign partner university checked by your faculty WELL BEFORE starting your semester abroad. This way, you can be sure that your planned examinations will be recognized after your return.

1. Study Abroad
Complete a semester at a university of your choice or one of our partner universities. Examination achievements abroad can be recognized if they match our curriculum.

2. Internship Abroad
Gain practical experience by completing an internship abroad, either during the lecture-free period or as your mandatory practical study semester (5th semester).

3. Thesis Abroad
Write your Bachelor's or Master's thesis in a company abroad, following the same regulations as for a thesis in Germany.

For more details and support, contact the International Office of Faculty W.