Experience has shown that planning and organizing the semester abroad involves numerous questions on a variety of topics that students ask themselves and can be clarified in personal discussions with the IS:link consulting team. For adequate counseling and continuous support on a basis of trust, it is necessary that students seek personal contact with the IS:link team. Therefore, the interview for the initial counseling is considered an important step on the way abroad.

(Note: Late applicants will be given the opportunity for a counseling interview after the application deadline.)

Consultation hours have been set up for counselling interviews, which you can find on the portal. On contact you can find our contact details and our location. Usually, the consultations take place in person at the IS:link office. In order to be able to arrange the consultations as individually and efficiently as possible, students are encouraged to bring their notes on the guiding questions to the obligatory first consultation.

Please also note the current notes on the consultation hours that can be found on the portal!

To ensure a smooth planning and organisation process, the first counselling interview should take place 1 year before the semester abroad. Due to application deadlines (e.g. Erasmus) the first interview with the IS:link consulting team should take place in November at the latest. Time buffers are of central importance, especially in bureaucratic matters, and are the prerequisite for a stress-free organization and planning process.

Here is an example to illustrate the timing of the planning and organization process:

You plan to go abroad in the winter semester 2022. To do this, you need to think about the potential foreign university in the summer of 2021 with the help of the guiding question and begin research (course offerings, etc.) in order to decide which university is suitable for you. You will then come to the counselling interview, which must take place in November 2021 at the latest.

The focus of the respective counselling interview depends on the individual student.

Experience shows that this pool of topics is discussed in depth:

• Possibilities of financing the stay abroad (including funding through Erasmus and the associated conditions)
• the organisation of the study programme (in particular with regard to the choice of courses and subjects for the semester abroad in order to be able to obtain the necessary CP for the recognition of the semester abroad)
• the application and nomination procedure (e.g. explanation of required documents and references to deadlines etc.)
• the partner universities (experiences of alumni)
• the choice of course and the recognition procedure (including the preparation of a Learning Agreement)
• individual questions and challenges