Master in a German University - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#13923801
Greetings, I am planning on doing a master degree in Germany in the area of electrical engineering. There are four universities that have caught my attention, and I'd be grateful if someone familiarized could give his/her opinion on these universities, they are:
University of Kaiserslautern
RWTH Aachen
TU Dortmund
FH Darmstadt
Thank you.
#13924583
RWTH Aachen hands down. It's ranked first place in Germany in the fields of engineering and computer science. Having studied there as well, I can reinforce that reputation.

Since Aachen is a relatively small city, it's heavily dominated by the university and students, meaning there are more than enough things to do/places to go when you're not studying. :D
#13924711
Thank you for your answer.
Yes, I have heard RWTH Aachen is a pretty good University, but do you know anything about the other ones? I have no reference about them, TU Dortmund seems like a good one too.
#13924721
If you want the best location there is nothing out there except the RWTH or maybe Dresden. Dresden has a good reputation as well, check Wikipedia for more information. It doesn't beat Aachen in my opinion though.
There are a lot of cities with good universities in Germany, of course, but since you're a foreigner, I would still say that Aachen is the best.

I wouldn't judge a location simply because the university is good, the amount of foreign students in Aachen is very high in comparison, which might be good for you if you want to have contact with other foreigners at first. It's directly at the border to the Netherlands and Belgium, so it's a very 'international' place.

I can't say much about the other universities though, sorry. You should look at Karlsruhe and Dresden, but Aachen seems to be better.
#13937754
University of Kaiserslautern


Can't give you any information on this uni, sorry. :/

RWTH Aachen


One of Germany's best universities. My brother studies there. Aachen isn't that small, my uni town is way smaller.

TU Dortmund


Sounds good.

FH Darmstadt


Achtung! "FH" means that it is NOT a university.
#13940976
If the german-speaking part of switzerland is an option for you I can recommend the ETH Zürich. Its usually ranked among the 10 best universities worldwide in Engineering and IT and the best in continental europe in general. If that is important for you.

However the swiss have an awkward dialect which makes it a bit harder for foreigners to learn german. Swiss mentality is also somewhat different from german mentality.
#13943837
Having just talked to a friend in ETH, she says that their academia is all done in high German. Media/TV News is also done in high German and that vast majority of the people also speak some English.
#13943851
It's also worth pointing out that many Master degree programmes are taught in English at the ETH Zuerich. As far as I know, this is also true for (some) German universities.

For Engineering:
ETH wrote:Engineering Sciences

Biomedical Engineering EN (SpM)
Majors: Bioimaging; Bioelectronics; Biomechanics; Molecular Bioengineering

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics EN (SpM - offered jointly with the University of Zurich)

Computer Science EN
Tracks: Software Engineering; Information Systems; Theoretical Computer Science; Distributed Systems; Information Security; Visual Computing; Computational Science; General Computer Science

Electrical Engineering and Information Technology EN
Specializations: Communication; Computers and Networks; Micro- and Optoelectronics; Electric Power Systems and Mechatronics; Systems and Control

Energy Science and Technology EN (SpM)
Materials Science EN
Mechanical Engineering EN
Micro and Nanosystems EN (SpM)
Nuclear Engineering EN (SpM - offered jointly with EPF Lausanne)
Process Engineering EN
Robotics, Systems and Control EN (SpM)


@Rugoz
Did you study at the ETH if you don't mind me asking?
#13949018
Having just talked to a friend in ETH, she says that their academia is all done in high German. Media/TV News is also done in high German and that vast majority of the people also speak some English.


Sure, the official language is high german, but in private people talk swiss german. There are many foreigners studying in zurich, so it hardly matters. I was guessing Marauder wants to experience some german culture though.

It's also worth pointing out that many Master degree programmes are taught in English at the ETH Zuerich. As far as I know, this is also true for (some) German universities.


Master degrees are always in english, everywhere, I guess.

Did you study at the ETH if you don't mind me asking?


I did, its certainly good value for money. It has a research budget in general only surpassed by anglo-saxon universities at (almost) no price for the students. However if you don't care about the ETH label and don't plan an academic career I doubt there is much difference to other german speaking universities.
#13958987
Thanks for your answer and sorry for the late reply, I did consider ETH Zurich as they have a very good looking electrical engineering master but the price of living there is really high. Also on the FH deal, what is exactly the difference between FH and Universität in Germany?
#13959195
Fachhochschule is usually translated to University of Applied Science (and Arts). They do no/less research and focus more on teaching and professional qualifications. They also cannot award PhDs.
#13959367
So I guess it would be easier to find a job like field or project engineer (non research oriented jobs) with a FH degree, right?. I'm planning on doing an English master in Germany so that's why my choices are so narrow.
#13959373
Marauder wrote:So I guess it would be easier to find a job like field or project engineer (non research oriented jobs) with a FH degree, right?. I'm planning on doing an English master in Germany so that's why my choices are so narrow.

I don't think there is a big difference between an reputable FH and a TU (technical university) like Aachen in terms of job prospects in Germany, but I'm not sure how the reputations of FH and TU compare internationally. If you are planning to work outside Germany it might be safer to choose a TU.

This document might be useful.
#13995017
Traditionally a FH (Fachhochschule, university of Applied Sciences) is less scientifically orientated. Unis and TUs, THs are more research active and much more cooperating with post-gradual academic institutes while FHs are often closer connected to regional industries. Even a very good FH has significantly less academic prestige. Since Germany has introduced bachelors and masters it is no longer so much a difference for normal students, there are still differences anyway. Some few universities still refuse to use bachelors and masters as their degrees, they also use the bachelor and master system but they call their graduates Diplom-Ingenieur which is a worldwide accepted brand.

First league in electronics is TU Dresden (microelectronics) and generally

RWTH Aachen. KIT Karlsruhe, TU Munich, TU Darmstadt, Uni Stuttgart, TU Illmenau, TU Kaiserslautern, TU Braunschweig, TU Berlin

Image

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Uni ... Initiative
#14041147
Let me mention, if you have a particular focus within electrical engineering, other universities might be more appropriate. Getting a job wont be a problem at all if you finished your master if your German is at an acceptable level. If not, you might only get a few offers before finishing your studies.
#14101711
I got my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering in Germany, so I'll probably continue there for my post-graduate studies. Germany is definitely one of the best countries to study and also work, especially if you're in the heavier fields like Engineering or Science.

The government is very open to fund student projects and experiments, which is really great. Also around 75% of all universities are tuition free. And the law also allows you to work on a student visa so that it's much easier to live and study there comparing to other countries.

I highly recommend that you try and apply for a scholarship as that will make your life so much easier. Here are two sites to get information https://daad.org/ and http://www.mawista.com/en/study-in-germany/
I hope I helped a bit.

If you ever decide to go, please tell me where you're staying, maybe our paths will cross! ;)

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