Study Abroad at a Partner University Outside of Europe

Bachelor students are able to study abroad for one semester during their 2nd year of their degree program (3rd or 4th semester). Depending on the agreement with our partner universities, SRH students may have the option to stay for two semesters. Be aware that, in order to stay for two semesters, you must start your studies abroad in the winter semester since your stay must be completed within the same academic year. If you begin your studies at the partner university in the summer semester, you will not be able to extend.

So what would you need to do if you started your stay abroad in the winter semester and would now like to extend your stay through the summer semester?

1.       Contact the International Office at SRH to find out if this is even a possibility (whether or not the bilateral agreement between SRH Berlin and the host university allows extensions).

2.       Contact the International Office at your host university to check with them and ask if they need additional documents from you.

3.       Contact the SRH Bachelor Office in regards to your class choices for the extended semester and prepare a new application for the Examination Board.

If you plan to study at one of our partner universities outside of Europe during the upcoming academic year, you must submit all application documents by the end of March of the previous academic year. It does not matter whether you apply for the winter semester or the summer semester.

The application deadline for the academic year 2012/2013 (winter semester 2012/2013 or summer semester 2013) is Friday, March 30, 2012. [See *Note below]

To apply, please prepare the following application documents and submit the original documents to the SRH International Office by the deadline:

• Copy of the picture page of your passport
• Copy of German residence permit (non-EU citizens only)
• Current SRH transcript in English
• CV in English
• Letter of motivation (in English, ca. 1 page)
• One photo
• Proof of valid health insurance (must be valid in the country you will study in for the entire period of your stay)
• Application to the Examination Board
• Complete application documents for your host university (consists of an application form and possibly other documents such as proof of language skills, proof of health, additional photos or other such documents)

All documents must be submitted in their original version. Application documents that are sent by fax or as email attachments cannot be accepted. Make sure that you make copies of all application documents for your own records before you submit them to the SRH International Office.

As soon as we receive your complete application documents, we will reserve a place at the partner university for you. Should we receive more applications than spaces are available at one particular partner university, a selection procedure will take place. The following selection criteria will be considered in the following order:

1. Timely submission of application documents

2. Completeness of application documents

3. “Return to home country” priority (applications of students who plan to study abroad in their home country will be given lower priority)

4.  Academic performance (grades)

5.  Letter of motivation

6.  Social commitment

Once selected, you will receive an official Nomination Letter from the SRH International Office and your application will be forwarded to the partner university. The partner universities will then review the documents to confirm the selection. Once the student has been accepted by the host university, an acceptance letter will be issued and sent to the SRH International Office who will then forward it to the student.

*Note: Should there still be spaces left at our partner universities even after the application deadline has passed, you may still apply within a timely manner. In this case, please con

• spaces at the university of your choice may no longer be available
• the university of your choice may no longer accept applications
• you may not be able to receive a visa in time for the start of the semester
• the deadlines to apply for addition funding (such as Auslands-BAföG or scholarships from foundations) may have already passed

These documents are available in the International Office folder in Moodle. Please note that most of the information that is available in Moodle was provided by our partner universities. SRH Hochschule Berlin is not responsible for the content. Information provided by our partner universities is subject to change without notice.  Please be aware that insufficient information in Moodle does NOT justify a late and/or incomplete submission of your application. Should any of the partner university information be insufficient, you are advised to contact the contact person from the partner university which is listed in the Info Sheet of the respective partner university. The Info Sheets are available in Moodle.

In general, the courses which you will take at the university abroad must match the classes that you would take during that same semester at SRH. This applies to the content of the courses as well as the credit points which you will earn. Compare the curriculum of the host university to the curriculum of SRH to identify eligible classes. Contact the SRH Bachelor Office several weeks prior to the beginning of your semester abroad for assistance with your class choices.

You must have your class choices approved by the SRH Bachelor Office and the SRH Examination Board before your departure for your semester abroad. Only then can we guarantee that the courses you plan to take at the host university will be recognized by SRH University Berlin. Keep in mind that credit points are only awarded for those courses that were successfully completed.

Within 4 weeks of your return, you are required to contact the SRH International Office to submit the following documents:

o         Official transcript with the classes you took and the credit points and grades you received at the university abroad. Your transcript will then be forwarded to the SRH Examination Office for the conversion of your grades.

o         A written report about your study abroad experience, including information about your preparations, finding a place to stay, courses at your host university, life in the country you stayed in as well as general feedback about your experiences (in German or English, ca. 2-4 pages, photos may be included)

o       A letter of completion signed by your host university including the semester dates which confirms that you successfully completed your semester at the host university.

o       You should also be willing to share your experiences with other SRH students after your return.