How Should I Research Universities: A step-by-step guide

Hello,

I’m Saad; currently a student at TUM. One of the most common question I get is:

How do I choose a university?

Here’s how I would advise you do it, especially if you’re applying to Germany:

  1. Search the “top 30 universities in Germany”
  2. Filter the ones that were in/close to major cities: Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, etc.
    1. This should give you a list of 15-20 universities
    2. Why are we filtering by major cities? Because:
      1. Major cities have more working student opportunities
      2. If you don’t know German that well, your “luck surface area” of finding friends and opportunities is higher.
  3. Visit each university’s website
    1. And find the program you are most interested in
    2. Open the webpage of the program, and find the admission requirements
    3. Rank these universities in order of your interest and where you think you fulfill the requirements
      1. Why are we doing this? Because, by and large, German universities are very particular about what you should’ve studied in your undergraduate (if, for instance, you are applying for your Master’s).
  4. Reach out to people in these universities to understand their experience
    1. If, for instance, you’d like to understand my experience of studying at TUM, you can reach out in the contact form below.

And there you have it: this should give you list of universities you should focus on, and we did it in a targeted way.

 

Now, as we always say, BOTAE (But of course, there are exceptions), and you might deviate from this — for instance, if you find a great university in a smaller city. I did too — when I applied to the University of Muenster.

 

But having a step-wise, structured approach helps. If you find this helpful, share it with your friends, or if you have specific questions, feel free to reach out below:

Learn more from our experiences at: 

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