Travel Arrangements

As I applied for a place at a partner university, the application process took place via my home university, so during the initial period I had no personal contact to the UoG. By the end of the application period I was nominated by the University of Bremen (UoB) for one of the two exchange places at the UoG. In the next step my documents were transmitted to the UoG, eventually the decision whether a student gets the place or not is up to the partner university. But concerning to the contact person at my home university, it has never happened that a student who was nominated wasn't accepted by the partner university and thus I got the acceptance letter soon.

Since this moment I could directly contact the Education Abroad Advisor at the UoG. She is great, very friendly and helpful! (I even asked her for advice which residence would be right for me and how I can convert the Canadian Credit Points into our European Credit Points (ECTS) as my professors were overstrained with this question once again, and she answered very detailed and kindly.)

Since the day I got the commitment to study abroad, there were a whole lot of things to organize. Here you can find a checklist of stuff I had to take care of (no guarantee of completeness):

- upload the declaration of acceptance for study place/ scholarship on time

- update your certificate of enrolment

- course selection (inform yourself about how many courses you should take, select a larger amount of courses and rank them as it

can happen that you cannot take part in your first choice courses)

- decide to live on-campus or off-campus --> residence application

- take care of a temporary home in case you plan to arrive early (the student residences in Canada are leased as summer hostles

during the semester break)

- clarify your health insurance (UHIP (university health insurance plan), obligatory at UoG)

- meet the deadlines for paying fees (residence deposit (500 C $), health insurance (204 C $/ semester), residence fees (3459 C $/

semester),...)

- upload a passport photo for the UoG student ID

- make a learning agreement and let it sign by both your home institution and the partner institution

- look for a subtenant for your apartment in Germany and gather written consent of your renter

- register for the start international program (orientation week)

- register for the link program (getting a UoG study buddy)

- apply for a passport if you don't have one (59 €)

- apply for a credit card if you don't have one

- ask your bank where you can withdraw cash free of charge

- organize some cash in local currency

- apply for an international driver license (16 €)

- apply for an international student identity card (ISIC) in case you arrive early (15 €)

- book outbound AND return flight, otherwise your entry may be refused (maybe additional luggage)

- plan the transfer from airport to place of study

- inform if you need a visum (for Germans who stay for a maximum of 6 months it's not necessary)

- inform if you need an eTA for Canada (for German students it's not necessary, study permit is enough)

- apply for an ESTA for trips to the US (only when travelling by air)

- looking forward to your semester abroad!! :)

#arrangements