Academy of Technologies and Business

Good advice

Housing/accommodation during the exchange

If you go on a study abroad exchange then the host university/institution in many cases can help you finding housing on campus. If the host university can not help you there are several possibilities.

You can either depart for the exchange ahead of time and stay in a cheap hostel while finding a more permanent housing opportunity. Or you may explore some of the recommendations which your host university refer you to. Most university websites give students input on how and where to find possible housing.

It can be very different from person to person, how you want to stay during your exchange. Some think that living on campus will be great, and others would rather live in a shared apartment or an apartment by themselves. No matter what – it is important to be flexible and adjustable to whatever standards and traditions you find in the country of your host institution.

Zealand students who go abroad for either a study abroad or internship abroad should consider the possibility to rent their room to a fellow incoming student from abroad joining for a study abroad or internship in Denmark.

Zealand is a partner of HousingAnywhere.com which is an international student-to-student housing platform. Before leaving for your study abroad, exchange, Erasmus or internship program you can safely rent out your room to an incoming exchange student. In this way you can avoid paying double rent and ensure that you have your room available at your return. Housing Anywhere is free of charge by using your student e-mail address. Before renting out a room via the platform, make sure you have informed your landlord.

Academic outcome from an exchange

Study abroad and work experience from abroad should provide a different and perhaps greater academic achievement than if you had stayed back home on your campus. You should prepare and choose the exchange based on your professional interests and goals.

We recommend that you look for advice from both your student counsellor and your teachers or even fellow students who already have been on an exchange. And remember – most Zealand students study on campuses where you can find an international group of fellow students – use them for inspiration and advise. We can also recommend that you early on attend one of the seminars held at your campus. The aim of these seminars is to promote possibilities and make the process and choice a bit easier for you.

Will the learning outcome of your exchange become rewarding and a success, there is also a greater chance of social and cultural learning outcome from your exchange.

Linguistic preparation

It is a good idea to go ahead with the linguistic preparation early on in the process. Of course it may be that you decide to do an exchange to improve your language skills, but if all the energy initially is being used to try to understand what is being said, then the academic learning might suffer from not being able to follow classes.

At most universities in English speaking countries as well as some universities that offer programs in English, you need an English language test score for admission. You must investigate if any such requirements apply in your case and if so, start preparing and join for such test.

The most common tests are TOEFL or IELTS. Ask your student counsellor for advise on your nearest test center.

Choosing the country and institution

You can choose an exchange within Europe and in countries outside Europe. On this site you can find a list of our different partners.

However, not all programs are represented in all locations/countries and it might easily also be that we do not have a partner where you want to go.

It is therefore important that you contact your local international campus coordinator or student counsellor for advise – if we aren’t represented where you want to go. For reasons of quality assurance of both study abroads and internships, we always recommend that you join one of our existing partners.

Credit Transfer

Before you go an exchange, either as a study abroad semester or as an internship abroad, it must be clarified how many credits (ECTS) that are transferred for your exchange. This issues is addressed by you before you leave together with your student counsellor, local international/Erasmus campus coordinator, and/or programme coordinator and internship coordinator.

The content of a study abroad or internship abroad and the duration of the exchange must be agreed with the foreign host organization / institution and entered into a “Learning Agreement” (if study abroad) or “Training Agreement” (for internship).

If study abroad outside EU, you must be aware of the credits issue – especially for countries where they do not necessarily work with ECTS points as we do. This could mean that an equal number of credit points not necessarily correspond to one another. In such cases the merit is addressed in the “Learning Agreement” in terms of local credit points and the corresponding ECTS which can be recognized and transferred. Since it can be difficult for individual students to “convert” credits to ECTS please consult with your programme coordinator or counsellor about the specific conversion of local credits to ECTS – which by the way also must be approve by signature in the final learning agreement.

Examinations abroad follow the foreign institution’s examination rules and is later merited into the Danish system. Exam grades are not transferred directly into Danish grades, but the Danish diploma will include an accreditation of the foreign diploma/transcript..

Remember to get a Transcript of Records from your host institution when you return back home so that your programme in Denmark can be transferred the credits. It is your own responsibility to get the transcript!

Reverse culture shock

You can experience a “Reverse culture shock” when return back home after a long stay abroad, due to what you have experienced and seen – especially if very different from your own cultural background and familiar living conditions.

You will probably want to talk about your experiences for hours, but often one’s social circle will become tired of listening to the stories – this applies both to family, friends, as fellow students. Therefore it is advisable to get together in a network with other fellow students who also have been abroad for an exchange to share and speak about your experiences.

Zealand

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