Tips and tricks from your Student Council

In this article, we would like to show you how it is possible to finish your Bachelor after six semesters, even when going on exchange. We will take a look at the most common case: Using your fifth semester (winter term) to study in a different country. In the most optimal case, you will be able to finish your fourth semester at TUM, including all exams.

Getting courses acknowledged at TUM

Thanks to the mobility window you can take courses worth of 18 ECTS and get them acknowledged as an elective in management and technology. You, however, have to consider, that it is not possible to take courses which you have already taken at TUM a second time. Furthermore, the courses you take abroad must be related to management or technology. If you are unsure about that, simply ask somebody at the student counselling of our faculty. If you are planning on doing a language course, you can also think about using this course as “communication skills”. When also taking the credits for international experience into account, you have already accumulated 24 credits which you can easily get during this semester. Additionally, the winter term in most countries ends earlier than in Germany, which is why you could write additional exams at TUM after coming back as well.

This is the situation for the different technical specializations in semester 5:

  • Electrical engineering: “Nachrichtentechnik I” is getting recorded and therefore possible. Additionally, you are provided extensive lecture notes.
  • Informatics: “Datenbanken” is theoretically feasible. However, you can achieve a grade bonus when participating in exercise and tutorial. You then won’t have a chance to receive this bonus. When it comes to “Betriebssysteme”, writing the exam after coming back from the exchange is more difficult. The previously mentioned problem of losing your grade bonus also applies to this subject. You could also think about already doing this subject in your third semester.
  • Mechanical Engineering: One subject which is meant to be is meant to be in your fifth semester is “Maschinenelemente”. Since a large part is consisting out of exercises and tutorials and the subject is not known to be the easiest, we do not recommend to do this remotely. You can think about choosing your elective within your technical specialization. Several lectures are getting recorded and you can therefore easily write an exam after coming back.
  • Chemistry: The situation for chemistry looks a bit more difficult. Looking at lectures, “Biologie für Chemiker” is feasible in your fifth semester, even after having been on exchange. It gets more problematic when planning your “chemisches Praktikum” since it is only offered in August / September. Theoretically, you could also try to already do this after your second semester, however, this is not recommended since you will need basic knowledge from courses which you will take in your third and fourth semester. As a result, you might need to think about doing this “Praktikum” after your sixth semester.

Leave of absence during your exchange semester

If you decide to take a leave of absence during your exchange semester, you need to decide in advance, whether you want to take any exams at TUM after coming back. It is not possible to register for new exams in the semester you are on leave of absence. Followingly, you need to register for the respective exam in the semester before you leave (in summer term if you leave in winter term), then not take the exam and in the end take the repetition exam when coming back. You can only take exams which you have failed before when being on a leave of absence.

Project studies and exchange semester

If you do not want to take any exams at TUM despite coming back earlier, this is the perfect precondition for doing your project studies. It might be necessary to already look for a company and a chair at Tum while you are on exchange. For this purpose, you can use our TUM SOM Jobboard or also take a look at the various groups on Facebook or the websites of TUM-SOM-chairs. It then might be possible for you, to do 2 months full-time and switch to part-time when the lecture period in summer term begins.

To conclude you can say, that integrating your exchange semester into your studies can mean quite a lot of effort to you. However, when investing your time it is possible to go on exchange and study for six semesters only.

If you have any more questions, feel free to contact us via fachschaft@tum-som.com!