General questions about a semester abroad
The problem is usually not that there is too little info on the subject, but on the contrary almost too much, which can be confusing at the beginning. But don't worry - it's not that hard. If you read this FAQ, you have already found the websites with the relevant information for business students!
It is very important that you distinguish the different ways to go abroad, because depending on the organization of the stay abroad, different contacts/application formalities/deadlines may apply. If we disregard self-organized stays, there remain the partner universities of the faculty and such partner universities at LMU level, where inter-faculty exchange places are also open to BWL students.
At the faculty, there are European partner universities (usually followed by "Erasmus") and non-European partner universities (automatically followed by a type of contract called "LMU-Exchange"). Your contact person here is the IRC (our International Office at faculty level). Relevant for the application to partner universities of the faculty is only the information on the IRC websites.
In principle, there are no inter-faculty Erasmus exchanges, but there are further inter-faculty non-European places. Some of these are also open to BWL students. The contact person for an application for such places is the "big" International Office at university level and relevant is only the information provided by the colleagues for the application.
Of course! All we ask is that you openly state the "dual application" in each of your applications and include an overall list of your priorities. Only then can we see where your overall priorities really lie and take this into account as much as possible when allocating places. In the end, each person will only receive one study place and this should be the best possible one.
No, if there are faculty places, there are no additional inter-faculty places available.
In principle, yes. However, semester times are so different around the world that it is difficult to find something that corresponds to our summer semester! It is usually easier to organize a study abroad program in the fall/winter. That's why the faculty only has one application deadline per year for exchange places.
As a rule, studies abroad begin in the fall (winter semester). Taking into account the different division of academic years into semesters worldwide, the LMU course of studies and the application deadlines, the 5th semester in the Bachelor’s and the 3rd semester in the Master’s is ideally suited for studying abroad. The time required to organize a semester abroad is approximately 6 - 12 months.
Decision to study abroad and, if necessary, take care of relevant language certificate in time
Winter term 24/25: Decision on the targeted host university(ies)
Compiling the application documents
January 25: Submission of application documents
March 25: Approval ☺
Spring/Summer 25: Nomination at partner universities and submission of application documents by the students
Summer 25: Choice of courses for the semester abroad and evaluation of the chosen courses
Fall 25: Start study abroad
After return: Credit transfer
In principle, yes. However, the more advanced you are in your studies, the more difficult it becomes to transfer credits (and thus an integrative stay abroad). For this reason, such applications can only be given secondary consideration in the allocation of exchange places by the faculty.
Unfortunately, there is no general answer to this question. Please refer to the websites of the respective universities to find out whether a university accepts such applications at all, what the procedure may be and what tuition fees you have to expect.
A leave of absence is only an option, but it is by no means mandatory. Keep in mind that if you take a leave of absence, you will not be allowed to obtain any credits at LMU except for repeat exams. However, this can be quite useful in view of the shifted semester times. If necessary, you can apply for a leave of absence at the Student Office. Please refer to the information provided by the LMU Student Office for deadlines and procedures.
The bachelor or master thesis must be supervised at LMU.
Specific questions about applying to faculty exchange places
Academic performance (grades and credits earned) and letter of motivation.
No, a letter of recommendation is only part of an application with LMU's International Office for inter-faculty exchange places.
Normally, it takes about 8 weeks to process applications. The results of the selection process are communicated by email.
If you are in principle eligible for a faculty exchange place, experience has shown that in this situation you will receive a remainder offer (places that were not requested in the regular allocation round). If you are not eligible for or interested in any of the remaining places, we are unfortunately not able to offer you an exchange semester at one of our partner universities.
Please note that the remaining places will be allocated on the basis of the application documents submitted. In some cases, it may be useful to submit additional documents with your application (e.g. a globally recognised language test, CV and letter of motivation in another language, etc.).
As the demand for places varies from year to year I am afraid I cannot predict this. In general, there is more demand for places at renowned universities in larger and well-known cities where the language of instruction is English than there is for places at lesser-known institutions in smaller cities where you need to know a language other than English. This should give you an idea of which universities are more competitive than others.
In principle, yes, but you must assume that your application can then unfortunately only be considered with lower priority.
Unfortunately this is not possible, but a simple copy/screenprint of the (unofficial) score is sufficient to meet the deadline.
For the application for the exchange places such an "old" language test certificate (e.g., TOEFL, IELTS) is absolutely okay initially. In the worst case (rarely happens) your future host university will not accept this language test certificate anymore, but then you would have enough time to take a new test.
For the application to the exchange places it is absolutely okay initially. In the worst case (rarely happens) your future host university will not accept a CAE (CPE), but then you would still have enough time to take an IELTS or TOEFL.
No, unfortunately we cannot accept a Duolingo certificate.
No, please take the TOEFL iBT.
Not necessarily - if you want to take courses in only one of the two languages, one language certificate is sufficient. However, if you speak both languages, it is of course nice if this is also evident from your application.
Yes, the application requirements for an exchange place at the School of Management are always minimum requirements.