Major: Mechatronic Engineering Minor: Business Analytics (English taught Minor) University: Hochschule der Medien Location: Stuttgart Period: Winter semester 2017/2018
Who are you and why did you want to go study abroad? I am an Engineering bachelor student from Avans University, Breda, The Netherlands. Currently I am at my seventh semester of university. The seventh semester is a free of choice semester in my education program, this means that we can choose a Minor program freely even if it’s not linked to our Major program. This was in my opinion the best option to go for a semester abroad.
I really wanted to challenge myself in meeting new people, living on my own and deal with another language.
Why Germany and why Stuttgart? I choose to go to Germany mainly to improve my German language skills. I think it is the easiest and best way to just go to the country and be confronted with the language every day, so you will have to start learning the basics. And since Germany is a neighbour country it is very easily accessible from the Netherlands without huge cultural differences. And on the question why Stuttgart, Stuttgart is the home of Daimler/Mercedes, Porsche, Bosch and a whole lot of other well-established companies, which are the dream of a starting engineer.
Was It difficult to get accepted at the University? It was actually very easy, because my home university Avans Hogeschool is a partner university with Hochschule der Medien. Of course your grades must be in order and you have to have the right motivation to start studying one of the minors, if you have all of that clear you will have no problem at all.
What does it cost to study in Germany? There are, of course, some costs involved in studying abroad. You will have to pay your monthly rent, about 300 euro a month for a Stuttgart student WG and an upfront deposit. You will have living costs on food, drinks, gym membership etc. You will also need a public transport card for one semester. But, almost all of this is covered if you receive a scholarship. This can be with the Erasmus + student program or in my case the Baden-Württemberg Stipendium. You will even have some pocket money to visit some of the amazing places around Stuttgart.
What did you like and what did you dislike about the school? I liked the school a lot! It is very modern, and the teachers really know what they are talking about. What they also did very well was the buddy program, every international student got their own German buddy assigned, this is a German student which helps you find the way trough the German bureaucracy. They also made a lot of events to participate on, like visiting the places around Stuttgart. We visited for example Heidelberg and Hohenzollern castle, which are very pretty. This is also a really good way to get to know everyone.
What I also really liked was the intensive German course in September. This was a whole month of learning German language, which was tough, but everyone really improved with their language skills.
What I disliked about the school Is actually only one thing, we had a lot of projects to work on, but it was always a struggle to find a room or place to sit to work on group projects.
What are your thoughts about the winter semester? The winter semester was an amazing experience for me. We started in September when the weather still was nice and warm. And one of the best periods start in September, the Cannstatter Volksfest! This is the Stuttgart version of the Oktoberfest. Everywhere you go in Stuttgart you will see people wearing lederhosen and dirndl.
What also is well known in Germany during the winter semester are the huge Christmas markets. You will really get into the Christmas spirit by visiting those. With Glühwein and Bratwurst stands on every corner and German Christmas music sounding around you. We visited the one in Ludwigsburg, Stuttgart and Nürnberg, we even had snow!
Overall thoughts, As life goes on, I must go on to and finish my bachelors program back home. But I wish this could have lasted longer, the semester went by way too fast. I am definitely going to miss the amazing people I have met during my stay here. I have learned a lot and I am sure I will come back to this place. With that said I can say for the last time,
