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. 

1. 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. 
   
   
2. Types of courses:
   There are about 18000 courses available in Germany, you need to short-list at least 10-15 courses for your profile. There are many criterias that needs to be considered before short-listing the courses. This is a major step towards finding your right course, you need to first know the different types of courses and gather knowledge about the requirements, prospects, job opportunitties, etc.,
   
   
3. Semester intake:
   When it comes to international universities, they accept students according to Winter and Summer intakes. Most of the courses are open for Winter intakes, while very few courses are open for summer intakes. So this will be the right point for you to plan according to the intakes.
   
   
4. Requirements:
   Most of the courses will have similar requirements like CV, Motivation letter, etc., But you need to note the important requirements like required German skills, GRE/GATE score, IELTS score, etc., These minimal points shouldn't be neglected, which might cost your admit. It is always better to jot down these requirements in a Excel sheet, which makes it easier to manage.
   
   
5. Prospects:
   Once the requirements are noted down, then we need to check for the prospects of the course. Look out for the course structure, subjects, syllabus and departments. This is an important step because, most of the courses will have research project or Internship along with 6 month Master Thesis to be completed by the student to obtain a degree. You need to be sure about this and choose the course accordingly, because if you do an research project you have more chance to do an Thesis in the same topic and then proceed for PhD. In case, if the course offers you an internship, then you have an open door to enter into industry which might make way for job in the later stages.
   
   
6. Job opportunities:
   Let it be part-time or full-time job opportunities, if you are staying in a big city like Munich then you need not worry about the part-time opportunites. But, if your university is located in a remote village then you have less chance of getting a part-time job and the same applies during your job search. It is allowed for you to travel anywhere within Europe, but if you are in a bigger city it becomes easy for you to move.
   
   

   Related: Educational differences
7. Financing:
   As I had mentioned earlier, there are private and public universities. According to your financial plan, you might opt for the private universities also. At this point of time, you need to make that decision and choose the courses that matches your financial plan. Also, you need to start looking out for possible funding opportunities with which you can support your stay in Germany. This funding will be a major issue during your VISA process in the later stages.
   
   
8. Segregate your universities:
   Germany doesn't have a ranking system unlike universities in US. But, there are still some top universities which are difficult to get an admit. If you are planning to apply for 10 universities for coming Winter intake, then an ideal strategy would be to choose 3 courses from the top universities, 3 from the mediocre universities and 3 from sure-shot universities. The later one university can be substituted with any one of the categories.
   
   
   
9. Deadlines:
   By the time you have come to this step, most of the top universities would have opened their admissions and you need to be careful with the deadlines. The German universities are very strict with their deadlines and your application must reach them before the deadline. They will not care about the date you had sent, but it should reach them within the deadline. This becomes one IMPORTANT step, where you need to gather the deadlines for all the courses you intend to apply. 

Stop wasting time on applying for wrong courses that doesn't fit your profile and take control of your career with these 9 steps that will help you in chasing your study abroad dream.

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