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Showing posts from November, 2016

Should you study in U.S or Germany?

Well to start with, I am currently at the end of my studies in Germany with a decent GPA. According to me coming to Germany was one of the best decisions in my life. It has been little over 2 years since I landed in Germany. Even I was confused to choose between US or Germany, but due to economical reasons I had to choose Germany and never turned back again. If you are also in a confused state of mind, please allow me to explain the pros and cons of studying/living in Germany. I do not have a better picture about US, since I haven’t been there, which is why I will tell only about Germany. To be more frank, let me start with the cons first. Language: This is considered to be one of the major drawbacks of studying in Germany. By this time, you should have heard from almost everyone regarding the importance of learning German language before coming to Germany. Actually most of the universities and courses have made A2 level as Mandatory for Admission requirements, some even...

Worst case scenario | Your first travel to Germany | What will you do?

My last article was about the Best case scenario of what could happen, when you land in Germany. If you had missed it then, here is a link ( Best case scenario ).Let me simulate the worst case scenario of what could happen and it is just a word of caution to prepare yourself for the worst. Disclaimer: Nothing of this sort will happen to you, but the below scenario is an excerpt from my observations and experiences Worst case scenario: Assumptions: Your semester intake: Winter | Your destination city in Germany : Dresden | Your landing airport: Frankfurt | You have got Rail&Fly offer along with your flight ticket | Your student buddy has agreed to pick you up from the railway station. You started to apply for the winter intake only in the month of March, hence most of the top courses are already way past their deadline. So you settle for some mediocre course and start with all the process of blocked account, VISA, etc., The D-day has come for you to leave to Germ...

What can happen in your first journey to Germany | A simulation | Best case scenario

Everyone likes to hear positive things and are least concerned about the negative things that can/may happen, until and unless it happens. This will be a two part article, in which I am trying to prepare you for what might happen when you arrive in Germany for the first time. There are two possibilites when you arrive in Germany, either you can get a warm welcome or get really pissed off. Let me simulate the best case scenario in this article, of what may happen during your first few days in Germany. My next article will simulate the worst case scenario (link), that can happen to anyone. LIKE our facebook page for the updates: Unofficial Studying in Germany DISCLAIMER: The following scenario is just a excerpt from my experiences and it doesn't mean that, the same will happen to you. But I suggest the reader to take it up as a possibility. BEST-CASE SCENARIO: Assumptions: Your semester intake: Winter | Your destination city in Germany : Dresden | Your landing airport: Frankfurt ...

German VISA experience | Mumbai consulate | Guest post | Summer 2018

Name: Seles Abraham VI Date: 4th January 2018 Consulate: Mumbai Visa approval mail received on: 29th January 2018 University: SRH Heidelberg Course: Master’s in Applied Computer Science (SAP Module) EXPERIENCE Initial Step is to book an appointment through VFS (by call or by mail). No online booking provision is available for Mumbai Consulate. I got the visa interview date for 4th of January 2018 at 9 AM. I reached the Mumbai German consulate at 8:00 AM (Nariman Point). At around 8:15 AM the security guard asked all the applicants to stand in a line and proceed one by one from the main gate for security check. Once you enter the main gate, they ask you to carry only your files and documents and ask you to switch off your mobile. Then they ask you to keep your bag in a locker and a token is given (to be precise locker token). The guard then gave me a checklist page and asked me to arrange DD and two DD form with a photograph separately. And the two s...

How to write a Statement of Purpose / Motivation Letter for German Universities | Sample SOP

How to write a SOP for German Universities Writing an excellent SOP is an art. Statement of Purpose or Motivation letter is one of the most important documents in your application to the Universities. It can ''make" or "break" your application. This is the document where you explain the admission committee about your motivation towards the course and the reason why you want to study this particular course in this particular university. Related: How to get an ADMIT in German Universities? Let us go through a scenario from the Admission committee's point of view. When you application documents arrive at their table, they will open your application with all the supporting documents and start going through your application. First and foremost, any normal person will verify whether your profile matches all the admission requirements listed in the course website. After that, they will check your grades, experiences, etc., So till now, they know ...

Track your applications to universities - The best tool I found on Internet (Not sponsored | Genuinely useful)

When you start applying for higher education, you will be very confused at first as on where to start, what to do and how to proceed. If you are considering about Germany, then DAAD is the best site to start your quest for higher education. Related: Step by step tutorial on How to use DAAD website You may need some more tools, in order to keep your applications on track, also to qualify and quantify them. Here is a tool, that I found out which seems to be very useful for every student who is applying for higher studies, irrespective of the country. uQualify What is this tool about? It is a spread-sheet tool, created to help the prospective students applying to higher education. This tool will help you to structure your applications by enabling you to easily shorlist universities based on various parameters. You can compare the courses across a wide range of criteria and we believe that, this will help you find the best course for your profile. Who cr...

SOP for German universities | What to do and what not to do? | Advice from seniors | GermanyUnofficial

Over the past years, there have been many candidates whom we have helped with respect to studying in Germany. One common thing where most of the applicants go wrong is their application documents. This post is to emphasize on the importance of the application documents and especially why Statement of Purpose is the most important document in the application. Before we go into the article, could you please LIKE our Facebook page It is totally understandable that, since the application process for Germany is not similar to that of U.S or other countries, also it is relatively new to most of the candidates and therefore one can expect to make mistakes. But from German university point of view, it is not acceptable at any case. Amazing | Informative | FREE newsletter : SIGNUP To start with, culturally German are "perfectionists" and they expect things to work as per the procedure/rules in their regular life. The candidate needs to understand this first. Mak...

9 steps to choose the right course at an International University in Germany

One of the biggest challenges in getting an admit to an international university in Germany is to choose the right course for your profile and also the one which matches your career aspirations. This is the first step in chasing your study abroad dream and it is always recommended to start searching for the right course at least one year prior. These steps are created by people who have already gone through the same process and reached their goals. Types of universities: Germany has both public and private universities. Again there are "Universities" and "University of applied sciences". About 60% of the universities are funded and collect very minimal tution fees. The private universities might also be recognised but will ask for huge amount of money as semester fees. Visit www.daad.de website for see the list of courses available. This will be the first step in getting to know the study culture in Germany. Types of courses: There are a...

Everything you need to know about working part-time in Germany

Students from the EU countries are treated as equivalent to the German students. But, the international students who intend to work on part-time to support their living and studies are allowed only for 120 full days or 240 half days per calendar year. There is an exception that, you can get an exemption to work more than 120 days, but that needs approval from the Federal employment agency and the foreigner's office. It is an un-told fact that, it will be very tough to get such an exemption to work more than 120 days per year. The good thing about the 120 days is that, if you are working as an research assistant then it is not included in those 120 days. In addition, the international students are not allowed to work as self-employed or as a freelancer. How to find a part-time job? There are plenty of ways to find the right part-time job (link) , which matches your needs and also goes well with your study period. There are more opportunities available during summer, chris...

Got many admits? How to choose the best university? | Advice from Seniors | Studying in Germany

Hello! We have started this series of articles - Advice from Seniors, in order to enlighten the aspirants to choose the best thing for their career. The first article will focus on ' choosing the right university' and find the tips and advice from our side below: Please note that, whatever advice/opinion presented in this article is solely the opinion of the author from his own experiences and observations. If the reader has a difference in opinion, the author of this article duely respects it By the time you read this article, if you have got one or more admits in the German universities and are worried about choosing the best one for your career, then this article will be of great help for you. Let us see some scenarios and let me give you an reality check. Scenario - 1 You got an admit in a Hochschule/FachHochschule( FH ) at a remote town in Germany and you choose to pursue that course, because of the subjects and job prospects for that field. You ne...

Job prospects in Germany | Studying in Germany

Pursuing Masters in a new country, where there are so many new things like language, culture, work, etc., can be daunting to a lot of aspirants. Apart from all these things, there is one thing which most of the aspirants are worried about: JOB after Masters. Why is everyone concerned about getting a job? During the VISA interview, the officer will ask, "Will you return back after you studies?" and almost all of them will say "YES", but deep in their hearts they know that they won't and would like to work for 5 years and then come back to settle down ( Yes, I know that I have told it out loud :P ) The reason why most of them are worried about getting a Job is that, after spending so much money on moving to a new country, struggling with the lanugage, climate, culture and then not getting a job in their desired field is heart-breaking. Moreover, the pay in Germany is comparatively good and there is no need to say about the work-culture, envir...

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