Germany vs Austria for studies 📚

[kindred portal]

Hi
I’m in 12th grade in high school and I’m right now debating between Austria and Germany as possible study destinations. Which one do you recommend? I plan studying civil engineering.

I heard Germany has more opportunities but I don’t know how good it is to move to Germany nowadays due to everything that happens there rn.

Do you have some cities you recommend me to look up for studying engineering in Austria or Germany?

Thanks

[kindred portal]

anyone?

[normal breach]

Talking about the "things happening rn" (I assume you mean the political shift, eg 30% of people voting far right) the exact same is happening in Austria, 30% voting for FPÖ which is pretty similar

Germany surely does have more opportunities since the country is bigger, but after studying in A or B you can still move and find a new job in the other country, if you happen to dislike it for whatever reason.

I'm also having a hard time suggesting you a city. Do you have any preferences? Big cities? What counts as BIG for you? How much is your budget? Do you want to study in German? Fachhochschule or Universität?
Ill definitely recommend a public uni. You can see all engineering courses available here
https://www.studycheck.de/studium/allgemeine-ingenieurwissenschaft/studiengaenge?d=1&c=&is=1

[kindred portal]

I want to study civil engineering at an Universität. I preffer a mid-size city. I would avoid the big cities like Frankfurt, Berlin, München, but at the same time I wouldn't go to a really small town. Something mid-size, that has international students, has opportunities etc

Budget: as cheap as possible :)) would be good <=1k euro / monthly on all expenses

[normal breach]

Then I guess u can already limit the list I sent you by kicking out the major cities and merging down which of those 80 are CIVIL engineering, bc I have no clue what the difference between normal and civil eng is

And then I guess you'll end up with a list of 10 or so of which you fulfill the requirements and can see urself in, and then we can give some input on the cities

I can't give input for Austria bc I don't know stuff in Austria, but you can do the same basically. Studycheck also has ratings and reviews from former students u can check

[kindred portal]

If I choose Austria I will go either in Wien or im Graz, but most likely Wien

in Germany it's harder to pick a city/ uni because there are soo many options 😂

[normal breach]

In Wien you'll pay 500+ euro for a room alone

[kindred portal]

I read online that it's cheaper than big cities in Germany

[kindred portal]

and isn't that decent ?

[normal breach]

Cheaper than Stuttgart, Munich, Hamburg, yes. I live in Jena which is 130k citizens, it's in top 50 biggest cities in Germany, has a massive international scene and is known worldwide for pharmacy and photonics and physics

I used to pay 200 euro for a 18sqm room

The flat only had 3 people

Now i have a flat of 65sqm, with balcony, two bedrooms, living room.... For less than 500 euro

[normal breach]

Decent if you keep in mind you'll also need 100 eur for health insurance, 200 for food, 100 for student fees and transport etc.... And your 1000 are gone

To me personally it's important to have my own space. Living in a shared accommodation is not for me and I hated it. So I'll rather live here where for 500 I can get a big space all for myself, compared to a 10sqm room in a shared flat in Munich

[kindred portal]

yeah, I'd rather stay alone as well. Can I ask how you picked that city? I mean I personally never heard of it but would be interested to go to such cities as well. Like small to mid-size cities, full of students, that's what I search

I heard that in Germany, uni ranking isn't as important as it is in the US or so for example and it's almost irrelevant if you studied at TUM or at a random uni. The advantages almost don't exist ( besides the networking part) and the "reward" isn't worth it. The stress is too big and everything is too competitive at such unis

correct me if I'm wrong

[normal breach]

If you want to stay alone, forget Wien and many many other student cities like Heidelberg as well. Even my flat was a lucky find

I picked Jena based on what I wanted to study + where it is affordable. I studied German as foreign language (so I'm a German teacher now), and back then only 5 cities in whole Germany offered it as a bachelors. Munich, Hamburg, Jena... And whatever else I don't remember

And then my second requirement was housing, and a student dorm room was available for 200, so I took that. I also made sure general housing wasn't too expensive, so I won't be doomed if I leave the dorm

[kindred portal]

I heard though that there are also private Studentenwohnheims and you have private bathroom/ kitchen but they are very very small and they cost like ~750 euro/ montly ( had a friend who lived in such a dorm in Berlin)

[normal breach]

In Jena they exist as well, for around 300 euro

Studio dorm rooms

[kindred portal]

300 euros .-.

wow

[kindred portal]

yes

anyways, for the beginning, I wouldn't go to such a small city like 100k people. I don't wanna underestimate the culture shock and everything :)))

so I how I've stated earlier, I'm looking for a city ( probably ~300-500k population) where there are many international students. Where do you recommend me to go?

and yeah, I will choose a TU but not a TU9. Like I want to have free time :)))

I heard good things about Bremen for example, idk how it is

or Stuttgart

[normal breach]

Stuttgart is very expensive

[kindred portal]

(I'm ok to live in a shared flat or so. yeah, would preffer alone, but at least in the beginning, I'm ok with that)

[normal breach]

Germany only has like three cities that have more than a million citizens. Stuttgart has like 600k citizens and it is the 5th biggest city

If you limit urself to 300k+ you're left with 20 cities, all in all

[kindred portal]

Initially I wanted to go in Hamburg, that city looks awesome there in the north of the country, but after I saw the prices, I forgot about it instantly :))

[normal breach]

So if you apply that to the list i sent you... Probably like 5 potential cities left

[kindred portal]

wdym exactly to apply to it?

how do I choose civil engineering on that website

or bauingenieurwissenschaft

[normal breach]

The website can only filter for general engineering

[kindred portal]

but what's the website for exactly?like it shows all the unis where u can study engineering?

[normal breach]

Wait I'll see a different website

[normal breach]

Yes

[kindred portal]

and how do I sort the cities based on population and so? Or what do I need to do exactly there? 😂 I don't understand

It's just a website with 80 Studiengänge

that's it

nothing to sort or so

[normal breach]

But you can Google the individual cities... And unis. Since you want CIVIL engineering, I assume "Umweltschutztechnik" is none of your interest?

So you don't have to look up thst one.

It seems like

CIVIL engineering is usually just a "specialization" in regular engineering

There are only three unis in whole Germany offering a completely civil engineering bachelors

Actually just two, Bremen and Ingolstadt

[normal breach]

Population is absolutely not a criteria for literally anyone I've ever met deciding on an university

Qhether a city has 100k or 800k citizens says nothing about the uni, the international scene etc

[kindred portal]

all those are fachhochschulen and there are more than the ones on that website. I've found one last days randomly a FH in Stuttgart, that combines business with civil engineering and it isn't on that website.

But anyways, I wanna study at an Uni and there are a loot of unis in Germany just with civil engineering/ bauingenieurwissenschaft

[kindred portal]

how is the international scene in Bremen?

like can you please recommend me some cities ( cities that fit my requirements, like not too big but not too small) where there are many international students and so

student cities

[normal breach]

Then it's definitely in the first link I've sent

[normal breach]

No I can not, because I don't know which cities offer civil engineering

I can send you the list of the 15 cities between 300k to 1 million citizens and you can check if they offer civil engineering

Münster is the "smallest" with 305k citizens

[normal breach]

Exactly, pick a few cities and use the search function here / ask again in particular about those cities

[kindred portal]

I can check if they offer civil engineering or not. Just some recommendations. Would help since you‘re a german but you probably have a better experience than me

Like cities where you think it‘s good to live as an international student.

[normal breach]

Leipzig, Bremen, Dresden, Mannheim, Karlsruhe

[kindred portal]

Thanks

I see Aachen is beautiful as well but there’s no way I will go and study at rwth aachen 😐

That type of city looks good to me. Or why not, Munster but I don’t know anything about that.

Anyways thank you!

[molten garnet]

@normal breach sorry for the ping. But does the average pay change from city to city? assuming same job and everything. Because if not how do students in the expensive cities survive when they can only work Teilzeit during their studies.

[normal breach]

By saving a lot of money before studying

Savings of 3 600 eur already give you 100 extra euro per month for your whole bachelors. Many people also get financial support from their families

[kindred portal]

these reddit posts scare me

[normal breach]

Well yeah you'll spend a looot of time studying, many people get overwhelmed, Germans and internstionals

But i can't... judge on how it'll be for you

[kindred portal]

I wonder how Austria is. Can't find much about this topic there

[fierce musk]

Just a small comment as I totally agree with everything already said, I hope I'm not repeating anything! I lived in a fairly small university city in Germany and also for a while in Graz. Not only is rent more expensive in Austria (especially in Wien and Graz, my room in a student WG was 500 a month and that was the absolute cheapest I could find after months of searching), but average cost of living is a bit higher, so things like groceries, etc. were more expensive. The difference isn't enormous (and a smaller city in Austria might have a somewhat lower costs) but if you are on a tight budget it is important to know. Unfortunately I can't give any insight into the programs there as I studied Geisteswissenschaften, so not related at all 😅

[kindred portal]

@normal breach I began to do a list of possible cities to study in Germany

how do you find Wuppertal?

I mean this is my list at the moment for Germany and I'm planning to trim it a little:

• Hamburg (pretty expensive; will see if I can afford to live there)
• Stuttgart (same)
• Dortmund
• Essen
• Dresden
• Hannover (?)
• Bochum
• Wuppertal
• Karlsruhe
• Braunschweig
• Rostock
• Kassel
• Darmstadt

which one would you keep/ eliminate. If it helps, I'm an international student from Romania

[kindred portal]

🙂

[normal breach]

I can't say anything about most of the cities

[kindred portal]

@normal breach is it true that in Germany, students don't really have a summer holiday?

[normal breach]

Depends on the subject. I have exams in whole July (last one this year on 22. July) and then I have 3 Essays of each 15 pages to hand in until 30. August, and the next semester already starts again on second September week

[kindred portal]

wow

[normal breach]

I never have "nothing to do". I probably could squeeze in my papers during exam period, but not worth it, most of us start the Essays after exams to concentrstr on those