HEALTH INSURANCE FOR STUDYING ABROAD
Regardless of whether you are completing a language course, a summer session, a semester abroad or an entire bachelor’s or master’s degree abroad, you need health insurance for studying abroad.
In other European countries, statutory health insurance only provides limited benefits; repatriation transport and the like, for example, are not insured. Private health insurances are often more extensive abroad, but mostly only for a short period.
Requirements of foreign universities
The foreign universities require all international applicants to take out health insurance. This must cover all, i.e. 100% of all possible costs. How much the coverage is in concrete terms can be found in the regulations of the foreign university at which you want to enroll.
Even if the universities themselves offer health insurance abroad, it is usually possible and cheaper to take out health insurance for studying abroad from Germany. However, since the benefits of the German health insurance policies abroad often do not come close to the benefits of the internal university insurances, coverage amounts have to be adjusted or the foreign health insurance of the respective university has to be used.
By the way: Although the foreign health insurance is the most important insurance in the semester abroad, it is not necessarily the only one. Students should find out in advance whether further insurance cover makes sense (further information on versicherungsriese.de or auslandskrankenversicherungen.net).
Health insurance coverage from € 32 / month
If the policy of a private foreign health insurance taken out in Germany covers the services required by the foreign university, there is good protection from around € 32 / month. The monthly premiums for countries like the USA are usually higher due to significantly higher (2-3x) treatment costs.
Tariff differences are mainly due to the duration of the journey: shorter journeys usually mean cheaper tariffs, but then tariffs can usually not be extended on site. So you should take out a generous foreign health insurance policy for the entire duration of your trip.
Criteria for choosing health insurance
- Comprehensive achievements that are accepted by most universities
- Good reimbursement practice
- English language insurance confirmations
- Fair pricing
PREPARATION FOR STUDYING ABROAD
Have you decided on a study country and a university, your application has been sent and you have received confirmation from the foreign university? Then you can now continue with the concrete preparation for your studies abroad ! There is actually a lot to do here, because in addition to practical and linguistic preparation, cultural preparation should not be neglected. But don’t worry: so that you don’t lose track of things, you will find all the information you need to prepare for studying abroad on the following pages.
Practical preparation for studying abroad
In the practical preparation of study abroad a little organizational skills and research time is needed. Finding a suitable international health insurance, finding a cheap flight and organizing a credit card – all of this takes a certain amount of time, especially if you want to pay attention to prices and special student offers. The following points are part of the practical preparation:
- Foreign health insurance
- accommodation
- International student ID
- Credit cards
- Transfers
- To phone
- Postage
Linguistic preparation for studying abroad
Linguistic preparation is very important for studying abroad. As a rule, good foreign language skills are also a prerequisite for being accepted at a foreign university. The classic medium to learn a language or to train one’s language skills is of course the textbook. Also, language courses, in a group or in individual lessons are a good method. Languages can be learned particularly well at a language school abroad. The third option is language software. It is available as an app, online or on DVD / CD-ROM.
Cultural preparation for studying abroad
The cultural preparation for studying abroad is also important. After all, you will be confronted with more or less large cultural differences during your studies abroad. Understanding these differences and dealing with them appropriately is not always easy and of course this can lead to one or the other misunderstanding. If the misunderstandings accumulate, you can experience a culture shock while studying abroad. But don’t panic: this is something completely normal and there are ways and means you can overcome it and gain intercultural competence in the process.
