Admission to the magistracy in Germany

Foto: HPI / Kay Herschelmann

I want to share my experience of enrolling in Germany and more fully reveal its advantages and peculiarities. The article is not about differences in education systems and why it is worth going there, but how everything can be organized.

I graduated from Yaroslavl State University . P.G. Demidov , specializing in computer security in 2011, I have about 2 years of experience as a programmer, successfully participated in GSoC in my third year in one of the Gnome projects. In 2012, I received a DAAD scholarship and enrolled at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut magistracy in Potsdam, which will be discussed below.

Tongue

The first time it may seem strange, but most of the master's programs at universities in Germany provide only English. Lectures, seminars, writing works - everything happens in English and no knowledge of German is required. You can also communicate in supermarkets, restaurants and on the street in large cities in English, almost everyone knows him (except, as a rule, the older generation). Since my main foreign language is German, my task was to find a magistracy in German, where English, if there is, is second. Such programs also exist, but in the field of computer science they are significantly less.
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Issue price

A distinctive feature of education in Germany is its gratuity, with the exception of the semester collection in parts of the land, called Studiengebühren. That is, this is a real chance for everyone to get a good education without having significant money. The size of the semester fee is different in each land, but usually does not exceed 500 €. For example, in Brandenburg and Hessen it does not exist at all, and in Bavaria it amounts to 500 €.
In addition, you will need more money to stay, pay for health insurance, purchase textbooks and food. All this takes an average of about € 600 per month. The amount varies slightly from land, for example, in Bavaria it will be larger, and in the north or east of the country may be less. For this money, a student will be able to live in a dormitory or WG (a room in an apartment for several people), eat tasty food, dress, and especially do not refuse anything to themselves, except for traveling to neighboring countries on weekends - transportation is expensive. In general, prices are not very different from what we are used to, and the food in public places will also surprise with large portions and cheapness.

University Choice

I will not dwell on this point in detail, since I do not know which recommendations can be given. There is a fairly popular rating of universities in Germany, you can use it. Each university has its own specifics, it has its pros and cons. HPI-Potsdam occupies one of the leading positions in the IT field in Germany. For me, HPI is interesting primarily because of how it is being trained (each master has his own mentor professor, just like at GSoC), good business relations of the university (Hasso Plattner is a co-founder of SAP) and the opportunity to study exactly what I want.

Scholarship

Scholarships in Germany are very different from ours. This is something like a grant for which there are few good grades. But his size is different from ours, the average scholarship exceeds 700 €. I will tell you a little more about the scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Any newly-graduated Russian university specialist (master / bachelor) can receive a scholarship for a graduate program . All you need is to submit a motivational letter before November, in which it must be reasonable, why you deserve this scholarship. It would seem that everything is very simple, but in fact it turns out to be completely wrong. I was lucky, perhaps more than the rest - I had some experience writing motivations, for example for GSoC. The main thing you need to have when writing such works is a clear plan for the future. It is necessary to describe in detail who you see yourself as, say, in 5 years, to clearly express your goals, to show how you will go to them. It doesn’t matter that all this can fail, the main thing is to have a goal. In Yaroslavl, as in many other cities, there is a DAAD lecturer who can tell you that it is better not to write in your motivation. By the way, from the original three-page version in the end, I used only one sentence. The work took me a total of more than a year (however, I didn’t really hurry and was in the army most of the time, and there was rarely an opportunity to do this :). But this is only the first part of the test. Those who passed it, are invited in the spring for an interview with a German professor in Moscow. Approximately 80 people of different specialties from all over Russia are invited to the second round (a separate competition only for economists) in small groups of 10-12 people, and only half receive a scholarship. The professor asks various questions, this is somewhat similar to an interview when applying for a job. They check both the general adequacy, and technical knowledge, and the ability to solve logical problems (a la how to move Mount Fuji ¹ ). My personal impression of the last interview - I have no chance to get a scholarship. I argued with the professor, not all of my answers were correct, I was very nervous, although I answered some of them correctly. I was also shaved bald, as I was only agreed to let go of my dismissal on Saturday in the army, so I hardly made a good impression.

A few months later I was very surprised that they decided to give me the scholarship. This was great news and greatly facilitated the entire further entry process.

Arrival

The scholarship is received, and the documents to the university are not even accepted yet. For Russia, it is also a bit unusual. What to do if you do not act? This option is unlikely - getting a scholarship is usually more difficult than enrolling. But just in case you should choose 2 spare options, if you are not taken to the main university. If these universities fail, the scholarship will not be paid.

The admission process is also very different from what we are used to. All specialties are divided into 2 groups: competitive (marked NC) and non-competitive. There are usually no entrance exams for either. Applicants either simply send the necessary documents or undergo additional telephone interviews. The deadline for submission of documents at all universities is different. Some take a few years in advance, HPI-Potsdam, where I entered - received the documents from May until July 15. The package of documents is more or less standard:

• certified translation of school certificate and diploma
• proof of knowledge of the language (in my case it is German and TestDaF, TOEFL and IELTS are suitable for English)
• CV
• motivation letter

Along with the average score in the certificate, it is motivation that is the decisive factor for admission. I have already written it in advance, it only took a few corrections. I did not have an interview, the decision to admit to school came to me in early August.

Visa and accommodation

You already have an invitation from the university, now is the time to get a visa. If you have not received a scholarship and are rarely in Europe, then you will be unpleasantly surprised by the time you sign up for an interview, the wait can be more than a month. Therefore, it makes sense to register in advance so as not to risk later. For DAAD scholarships, there are no special rules for obtaining visas - there is no interview, visa is done for free, documents are issued directly to DAAD. My visa was issued in 3 days. But it works only for those who belong to the Moscow consular district.

Now the last thing to do before leaving is to find accommodation. The first where I turned immediately after receipt - Studentenwerk. The organization provides hostels and WG for students. Unfortunately, in August there was not a single place and I had to look for housing myself. Strangely enough, this process turned out to be much more complicated than I could have imagined; finding a room before the beginning of the semester is very difficult. In the end, I was still lucky and I found accommodation in Studentenwerk.

Pro cash and mail

The admission process cannot be called completely free. You will definitely have to send documents to Germany, and if you use DHL, it will be very expensive. Below are approximate prices and delivery times of documents to Germany from Yaroslavl (1-5 sheets of A4):

DHL	up to 7 days	~ 2800 ₽
Pony Express *	up to 7 days	~ 1400 ₽
EMS Russian post	10-12 days	~ 1200 ₽
Post of Russia	more than 14 days	~ 150 ₽

* I did not use the Pony Express services, but they speak well of them.
Almost all the documents I sent via EMS Russian post. Interestingly, the tracking of these 12 days and 8 days, the sheet goes from Yaroslavl to Moscow, the day is sorted, the day passes two customs and for the remaining time is delivered in Germany. Thus, delivery from larger cities can be much faster. In total, over the summer, I sent about 7-8 packages of documents.
We also need money to transfer a diploma and notarized translation. Moreover, it may not be possible to translate it yourself - in a company whose services I used, the notary certified only the translations made by their translator. It took about another 7000 ₽. Also, some universities charge for checking your document package. HPI-Potsdam did it for free, the rest ask from 20 € to 50 €.

Conclusion

I hope that you were interested in reading, and you learned something new for yourself. After a while, I can write about my first impressions of student life in Germany and the study itself.
I will be glad to answer your questions!

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¹ books.google.com/books/about/How_Would_You_Move_Mount_Fuji.html?id=hojAaIwFn9YC&redir_esc=y