Semester or internship abroad?

During their studies, many students have the opportunity to spend a semester abroad.

The question often arises: semester abroad or internship abroad? To decide this, the meaning of these two terms should first be clarified.

→ The semester abroad

Here you study for half a year at a university abroad. Courses are attended, lectures are prepared with fellow students and exams are written.

Normally, these courses are in English, so that the language of the country is primarily learned during joint leisure activities. Otherwise, the lectures would be very difficult unless you have a solid knowledge of the language.

Most German universities and colleges have partner universities abroad, where the student exchange is solved unproblematically and effectively.

If the foreign university of your choice is not a partner university of your educational institution, you are responsible for applications yourself. However, this is also feasible, provided that the documents are complete, sent in on time and attention is paid to other requirements (e.g. language test, visa, tuition fees, compatible study program) during the application.

→ The internship abroad

During an internship abroad, you will also spend (approximately) 6 months abroad, but you will complete an internship there. For this option, too, universities and colleges often have a pool of possible, proven partner companies. Sometimes there are even recommendations and evaluations from other students.

However, you can also look for internships on your own if you already know exactly which country you want to go to or have concrete desired companies. Depending on the type of internship and the selected company, however, it may be important here to have a good command of the language of your target country.

→ Funding opportunities

If you are lucky or specifically looking for it, you will receive remuneration during the internship. Those who are basically entitled to BAföG will continue to receive their contribution during a semester abroad. In the case of an internship abroad, the contribution will continue to be paid, provided that it is a necessary compulsory internship.

Other funding opportunities can be claimed through ERASMUS or Leonardo funding (for European countries). Usually, colleges and universities also offer information sessions on studying abroad, where your most important questions can be answered.

→ What should I choose?

If you are unsure and have the freedom to choose whether to intern or study abroad, there are some questions that can help you make a decision.

Do you want to earn money? Do you want to gain practical experience because you haven't worked that often? Can you imagine emigrating? Do you want to learn the language quickly and practice in an everyday environment? Is it important to you to network with companies in your future industry?

If you answered "yes" to these questions, then you should consider an internship abroad.

Do you still have open exams that you can make up abroad? Do you want to have a lot of contact with your peers and make new friends? Do you want to have a lot of free time and primarily get to know the country and its people? Do you want to go abroad on an exchange program? Do you want to stay abroad for a fixed period of time?

If these factors are more important to you, then you should choose a semester abroad. Naturally, you are free to choose the duration of your stay, but for an internship it is possible to stay a few weeks longer.

Of course, these are only a few questions to help you decide and not a complete list. It is also possible that there is no partner university in the country you want to travel to or that you want to work but cannot find an internship. So there are many reasons that can influence your decision. Different factors are also important to everyone and the weighting is of course determined individually.

→ Disadvantages

The questions listed above have primarily highlighted the advantages of the two options, which is why some disadvantages can be found here. This list is also to be evaluated individually, of course, because not all of the aspects mentioned have to represent a disadvantage for everyone.

The disadvantages also refer to the comparison of the two alternatives (so with "less free time" is meant "less free time than at a semester abroad").

Disadvantages of an internship abroad:

• possibly no pay and higher costs (food, accommodation, activities)
• less free time
• many duties
• high personal responsibility (punctuality, compulsory attendance, etc)
• possibly more difficult to find contacts and make friends
• you start alone

Disadvantages of a semester abroad:

• usually no salary
• still studying (no variety)
• no practical experience abroad (for the CV) + no work certificate
• mainly contact with other exchange students (less possibilities to learn the language)

Hopefully this article could help you to decide between an internship abroad and a semester abroad. As already mentioned, this is by no means a complete comparison and the factors mentioned can be interpreted very individually. Maybe consider this text more as a kind of inventory, whether you have already thought through and considered all these things.