I would recommend everyone, especially international business students, to start planning their stay as early as possible. In order to legally travel to the USA and work there, you need a work permit, which in the case of an internship abroad is the J visa. In order to obtain this visa, I contacted an external partner organization – the GACC – which I can highly recommend in retrospect. However, there are numerous alternatives that also offer such services.

Important: It is generally said that it takes around three months to obtain a visa. However, it may well be that the whole process takes considerably longer, as you have to prepare numerous documents and take out international insurance, for example. I would therefore advise everyone to start as early as possible (5 to 6 months in advance) in order to avoid the additional 500 dollars for any express service that may be required.

It was my first trip to the United States. In my case, there was no need to look for accommodation or anything similar, as a work colleague agreed to let me stay with him. Ultimately, I can only advise anyone to take advantage of such an opportunity if it exists. Thanks to this and the openness and helpfulness of my colleagues, I made friends straight away and was also able to do a few things in my free time (e.g. go to a baseball game). Apart from that, it is very important to have a car, especially if you live alone. The distances are much longer and it is often not possible to use public transport in more rural areas. I would therefore find out in advance about a company car or rental car and the costs.

As an “Intern Sales & Marketing”, I was given the opportunity to visit various customers and take a look at their facilities. I also spent four days in Chicago to visit a trade fair and one week at another location on the East Coast. In general, I would recommend everyone to travel as much as possible (for business or pleasure).

I was also able to learn a lot on a professional level. As my work focused on analyzing the US market, I had to work a lot with colleagues from Sales. As well as improving my English, I was also able to improve my knowledge of the market and especially of customers and competitors.

You should consider the visa costs, flight costs and accommodation costs in advance. The costs for the visa – with the help of a partner organization – are roughly 1,200 dollars (+ 500 dollar express service fee if applicable). The cost of flights can vary greatly depending on when you book them, which is why I would advise you to book as early as possible. In my case, these were covered by my partner company, so I only had to pay for food etc. personally.

However, food is significantly more expensive in the USA than in Germany. It is worth comparing the prices of individual supermarkets. For example, “Publix” is often more expensive than “Kroger” or “Aldi”. If, like me, you are not a gifted and passionate cook, you can always fall back on various restaurants. For example, there are lunch or dinner specials that only cost 5-10 dollars.

The PROMOS scholarship helped me a lot with the funding. I only had to provide a few documents in advance (including a letter of motivation, CV, etc.). I then quickly received an acceptance letter, which I was of course very pleased about.

Finally, it is advisable to get a credit card if necessary. In the USA, payment is mainly made by credit/debit card. Some stores and restaurants no longer accept cash or bills over 50 dollars.