[Seraphicalist]

I wish to pursue master in electrical power engineering in Germany ? I'm thinking of applying at rwth Aachen and tu Munich . But I feel it's difficult to get into those two universities . Can anyone suggest me other universities in Germany for the course I wanna pursue !! Thanks !!

[A.sniper]

(Original post by Seraphicalist)
I wish to pursue master in electrical power engineering in Germany ? I'm thinking of applying at rwth Aachen and tu Munich . But I feel it's difficult to get into those two universities . Can anyone suggest me other universities in Germany for the course I wanna pursue !! Thanks !!

Im also very interested in this, what are tuition fees like? and do I need to be able to speak german? Im a UK student by the way....

[Sir Fox]

The internet tells me that the TU Darmstadt offers this degree as well. Your chosen subject is quite special, therefore I doubt that many universities offer it - I've only found the two you mentioned and Darmstadt.

[Sir Fox]

(Original post by A.sniper)
Im also very interested in this, what are tuition fees like? and do I need to be able to speak german? Im a UK student by the way....

There are no general tuition fees in Germany - years ago most states (similar to the US Germany is composed of 16 states) introduced tuition fees only to abolish them later. Today only the states of Bayern (where the TU München is located) and Niedersachsen charge tuition fees of around 550€ per Semester in Bavaria and between 600 and 800€ in Niedersachsen (though the Semesterticket which covers the cost of public transport in the city and its surroundings is included).

Generally in Germany the language of teaching is German but there are very few undergraduate degrees and many postgraduate degrees which are taught in English. If you find the right degree you can study in English but whilst most young Germans speak English on quite a good level (Germany is the country with the highest IELTS scores among all nations where English is not an official language) I'd recommend to learn some German before you go and continue while you are there - it makes life and making friends much easier.

[A.sniper]

(Original post by Sir Fox)
There are no general tuition fees in Germany - years ago most states (similar to the US Germany is composed of 16 states) introduced tuition fees only to abolish them later. Today only the states of Bayern (where the TU München is located) and Niedersachsen charge tuition fees of around 550€ per Semester in Bavaria and between 600 and 800€ in Niedersachsen (though the Semesterticket which covers the cost of public transport in the city and its surroundings is included).

Generally in Germany the language of teaching is German but there are very few undergraduate degrees and many postgraduate degrees which are taught in English. If you find the right degree you can study in English but whilst most young Germans speak English on quite a good level (Germany is the country with the highest IELTS scores among all nations where English is not an official language) I'd recommend to learn some German before you go and continue while you are there - it makes life and making friends much easier.

Danke Schon

[Germany]

It is not that difficult to get in, it's not Harvard, needless to say not an Indian IIT or an elite school in France.

I have had a good highschool "diploma" (not overwhelming, no extra activity worth telling, bachelor good till very good) and could have studied everywhere in Germany. I decided for TU Dresden. Which applies the most patents in Germany and is connected to a singular non-university scientifc environment. Just recently it became "university of excellence", in German media these 11 are called elite universities (which is not quite correct though, it's a bit much) and it's member of the TU9 universities as also KIT Karlsruhe and TU Darmstadt for example.

If you want to go into microelectronics (as it still is called), chemical or organic electronics then I would recommend Dresden, if you wanna apply for big enterprises in western Germany the I would recommend Aachen, for some fields of research Munich, if you wanna go back home in your country it should not matter.

http://ranking.zeit.de/che2012/en/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_...nce_Initiative

Specially in electrical power engineering Aachen and Hannover (most underestimated because less visible in popular media and no big general research actvity) could be the best for a master. Dresden and Munich are close behind, both "good till very good" in power engineering (as sub-field of electrical engineering) according to a recent survey. Having a look of the faculties' homepages might eventually help, too.

1,500 companies of the entire value creation chain with more than 48,000 employees constitute Europe's largest microelectronics location in Dresden. Cool. Cool Saxony.

[Seraphicalist]

(Original post by Germany)
It is not that difficult to get in, it's not Harvard, needless to say not an Indian IIT or an elite school in France.

I have had a good highschool "diploma" (not overwhelming, no extra activity worth telling, bachelor good till very good) and could have studied everywhere in Germany. I decided for TU Dresden. Which applies the most patents in Germany and is connected to a singular non-university scientifc environment. Just recently it became "university of excellence", in German media these 11 are called elite universities (which is not quite correct though, it's a bit much) and it's member of the TU9 universities as also KIT Karlsruhe and TU Darmstadt for example.

If you want to go into microelectronics (as it still is called), chemical or organic electronics then I would recommend Dresden, if you wanna apply for big enterprises in western Germany the I would recommend Aachen, for some fields of research Munich, if you wanna go back home in your country it should not matter.

http://ranking.zeit.de/che2012/en/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_...nce_Initiative

Specially in electrical power engineering Aachen and Hannover (most underestimated because less visible in popular media and no big general research actvity) could be the best for a master. Dresden and Munich are close behind, both "good till very good" in power engineering (as sub-field of electrical engineering) according to a recent survey. Having a look of the faculties' homepages might eventually help, too.

1,500 companies of the entire value creation chain with more than 48,000 employees constitute Europe's largest microelectronics location in Dresden. Cool. Cool Saxony.

so what u trying to say is hannover is good ? n what about job prospects after graduating from there??
i checked out the microelectronics program at dresden.. but i dont know much about that course .all i remember reading was that the course includes subjects like microcontrollers n stuff n i sucked big time in it.(mostly cos my teacher made it seem so horrible..) If u know bou it, please tell me a bit in detail.
btw, m background is electrical and electronics.

[Seraphicalist]

(Original post by Sir Fox)
The internet tells me that the TU Darmstadt offers this degree as well. Your chosen subject is quite special, therefore I doubt that many universities offer it - I've only found the two you mentioned and Darmstadt.

thanks for the info , Sir Fox..

[Germany]

It's not true, there are very many universities offering electrical power engineering as specialization (not necessarily a faculty or master of its own), around 40, I guess. (including universities of applied sciences; most of them not with research activity which has international impact, also most will insist on German language skills, but "applied" sometimes is good and German language is learnable and highly demanded for example in England)

[Germany]

(Original post by Seraphicalist)
so what u trying to say is hannover is good ? n what about job prospects after graduating from there??
i checked out the microelectronics program at dresden.. but i dont know much about that course .all i remember reading was that the course includes subjects like microcontrollers n stuff n i sucked big time in it.(mostly cos my teacher made it seem so horrible..) If u know bou it, please tell me a bit in detail.
btw, m background is electrical and electronics.

Hannover is not known internationally but in Germany (among the employers) is has very good reputation in that field. (up to outstanding besides Aachen)

Well, microelectronics is not power-engineering, I just mentioned it because this is the most striking strong point of that university (Dresden). It has no weak points in electronics (which are in their whole also the strong fields of the university besides biophysics and some aspects of automotive and materials), but of course it is not the best in all fields of electronics. As said, I see Aachen and Hannover slightly ahead in power engineering. The good thing about (micro-)electronis in Dresden is that it is in fact theoretic but there is also a huge lot of institutes and firms which actually apply it for business, for example Heliatek, Global Foundries or Infineon Technologies or 13 Fraunhofer institutes within Dresden. In power engineering their strong points should be High Voltage but I dunno exactly. I am not an electrical engineer and don't know anything about the others, only a list where experts have judged, at the moment looking for it.

The linked CHE ranking is based on interview surveys but very reliable. You can really find those details in reality.

Not exactly electric power engineering but related, a smaller university in a small town (next to a bigger): http://tu-freiberg.de/index.en.html

TU Darmstadt has a long tradition with very excellent reputation in general. Recently they lost ground against the most dynamic direct competitors in front and behind them.
I guess they are in a phase of reorganization, or just finished it. They didn't take part in the judging of special fields, as only well known university, for whatever reason. I just guess they didn't see themselves touched at the ideal moment.

Generally there is no strong hierarchy between the almost 70 scientific universities in Germany and almost 200 universities of applied sciences. In long for international top scientits (team leaders from Cambridge, Harvard, needless to say also from "normal" international universities) there are 11 universities of excellence and young people with high bourgeoisie background, no matter what they study themselves, much tend to choose these 11 plus someting like 9 others for special subjects. In most countries the differences between universities is big or huge, but in Germany very small, some have a more international outlook: the 11 universities of excellence, the TU9 and most international is FH Mittweida (applied sciences) in the very boondocks but loved for its familiarity in not only eastern Europe and China.

This year most freshmen came from China, USA, France and Spain. Still the Chinese drive internalization most in Germany. They are the biggest group in front of Russians, Bulgarians, Polish (felt almost German) and Austrians (felt Germans).

Germany has no really significant elite universities as for example France, UK or the USA have. It has strong enterprises, strong supply chains, a good mix of education and academic elite non-university institutions. Max Planck would be number 2 after Harvard if it would be a university. Helmholtz Society is our little NASA and Leibniz Society are the special elite forces. Students just study but they all get their job, low entrance income (official statistics say 40k gr. but often it's less) but high increase over the years.

[Seraphicalist]

(Original post by Germany)
Hannover is not known internationally but in Germany (among the employers) is has very good reputation in that field. (up to outstanding besides Aachen)

Well, microelectronics is not power-engineering, I just mentioned it because this is the most striking strong point of that university (Dresden). It has no weak points in electronics (which are in their whole also the strong fields of the university besides biophysics and some aspects of automotive and materials), but of course it is not the best in all fields of electronics. As said, I see Aachen and Hannover slightly ahead in power engineering. The good thing about (micro-)electronis in Dresden is that it is in fact theoretic but there is also a huge lot of institutes and firms which actually apply it for business, for example Heliatek, Global Foundries or Infineon Technologies or 13 Fraunhofer institutes within Dresden. In power engineering their strong points should be High Voltage but I dunno exactly. I am not an electrical engineer and don't know anything about the others, only a list where experts have judged, at the moment looking for it.

The linked CHE ranking is based on interview surveys but very reliable. You can really find those details in reality.

Not exactly electric power engineering but related, a smaller university in a small town (next to a bigger): http://tu-freiberg.de/index.en.html

Thanks for the info. are you from india by any chance ?? i wanted to know the cutoff percentage for getting into these universitas. they always ask in terms of GPA which is like so greek to me.

[Germany]

I am from Germany and spent some time in France. (18 months mass university, 6 months Grande École)

As I have understood it, you need to be among a % group among "similar people" (for example applicants from your country).
They are networked and have experience with foreign applicants, so if marks are different in different regions or schools of your country, they are likely to know that.

There is no fix cut off percentage and I do not know if it is official after happening. What does it mean ? Sorbonne has a huge cut-off percentage but not the best applicants according to French employers, Harvard has 90%, CalTech less, but more Nobel Prizes per 1,000 students, Sorbonne as the best European party school has the rate of Harvard or higher, IIT Delhi even more, university of Peking maybe 99 or more %. In general: Maybe they are just too stupid for you ? Many ways lead to Rome. Just really go one.

For more off-topic to strengthen my regional (federal state) bias, http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/en/ also offers Energy and high voltage engineering but their strongest cluster is light weight automotive supply engineering. (it was awarded as excellence cluster which has some meaning, from Volkswagen to Bentley, all their employers). Not a top 10 research institution as a whole but literally every graduate of all subjects gets a (good) job (within Germany), it has research university status but is rather applied. The city of Chemnitz is not really the height of fashion, but offers everything from theatre to art nouveau living, just second or third league but priceworthy and there is a train to bigger or more fashionable cities. Porsche and BMW have major fabs around the corner. Audi was founded next door. Many people think there is no German textiles industry in Germany anymore because Chemnitz is so utterly secret.

[Seraphicalist]

(Original post by Germany)
I am from Germany and spent some time in France. (18 months mass university, 6 months Grande École)

As I have understood it, you need to be among a % group among "similar people" (for example applicants from your country).
They are networked and have experience with foreign applicants, so if marks are different in different regions or schools of your country, they are likely to know that.

There is no fix cut off percentage and I do not know if it is official after happening. What does it mean ? Sorbonne has a huge cut-off percentage but not the best applicants according to French employers, Harvard has 90%, CalTech less, but more Nobel Prizes per 1,000 students, Sorbonne as the best European party school has the rate of Harvard or higher, IIT Delhi even more, university of Peking maybe 99 or more %. In general: Maybe they are just too stupid for you ? Many ways lead to Rome. Just really go one.

For more off-topic to strengthen my regional (federal state) bias, http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/en/ also offers Energy and high voltage engineering but their strongest cluster is light weight automotive supply engineering. (it was awarded as excellence cluster which has some meaning, from Volkswagen to Bentley, all their employers). Not a top 10 research institution as a whole but literally every graduate of all subjects gets a (good) job (within Germany), it has research university status but is rather applied. The city of Chemnitz is not really the height of fashion, but offers everything from theatre to art nouveau living, just second or third league but priceworthy and there is a train to bigger or more fashionable cities. Porsche and BMW have major fabs around the corner. Audi was founded next door. Many people think there is no German textiles industry in Germany anymore because Chemnitz is so utterly secret.

i think automative supply engineering must be more suitable for mechanical background. how's the scholarship scene at hannover??

[Germany]

Not necessarily, mechanical engineering in the very meaning does not really exist widely any more in mass production industries, every form is saved in a computer in automotives, so it's also much 3D informatics and such stuff. Many folks study mechatronics and end up later in mechanical engineering.

Where are you from by the way ?

I don't know of any special scholarships in Hannover, just the normal Bafoeg for the living, I guess DAAD could help you best with these questions.

[Seraphicalist]

I am from India.. Bafoeg is for eu students, i guess.. hows the field mechatronics?? heard its quite in demand at present.

[Germany]

Yes, it is in some higher demand (not extremely though).

Modern Electrical Engineering often turns into Informatics, Physics, Chemistry and mechanical engineering meets electronics a lot, so somebody with mixed studies finds new fields of specialization which is needed in enterprises.

None of the accepted students famishes, but you need to contact DAAD.de for more professional info than I can give you.

I am the ultimate layman in this and I don't like to tell bull****.

We have some Indian people here who are very motivated and good and learn German quickly but for most studies you need to know German before you begin to study.

DAAD can point you better than me to special English programs.

I also think there is selection, better than 70%, in some programs harder or much harder. Hannover's homepage didn't look as if they had a very international outlook, the only university website known to me with only German language. I saw some English courses though.

Don't over-estimate the rankings !

They say nothing more than how much scientific research power an institution has accumulated. As long as you are not a scientist, this is of few importance, and even then it is not saying much, as non-university institutions play the academic elite part. (Max Planck Society, Helmholtz Society, Leibniz, Fraunhofer)

The strength of German education is mixed corporate/academic education. Institutions without any academic prestige can be best choice.

These 11 "universities of excellence" basically aim to establish really competitive clusters which can discuss at same eye level with those famous American universities with higher budget and offer attractive programs for scientists which are demanded worldwide, but they are NOT elite institutions which can guarantee success for all of their graduates.

In Germany it is not much impressing when somebody studies engineering in Aachen or Munich, they are both mass universities in the beginning and they accept literally every girl and boy who finished high-school, in many subjects, no matter the marks. In contrast an inhuman mark-average of 1.0 is needed to study International Relations in Dresden, though this is not even an excellence cluster. For some reason which is not known to me it became the most demanded International Relations course. As if politicians would be smart.

DAAD is there for match-making. Of course, when you have really strong arguments to apply for a special scientific uiversity (those 11, TU9 or Uni Mannheim in economics for example), you can apply directly there.

[Seraphicalist]

Gosh!! You got me all confused now.. i just wanna know which german univs will get me a good degree with more than good job prospects and yea, which doesn't burn a hole in my pocket. I could have applied in US univs like all my other friends but somehow, Germany is just so fascinating that it's always been my first choice. Anyway, so what do i do now??

i checked DAAD but they got so many communications,etc etc courses which doesnt really appeal.. and then i dont have much idea bou the reputation as well.. so i end wiki-ing the universities almost all the time..

i graduated in 2010, then worked for barely a year, after that i have been assisting my dad in his work which has nothing to do with engineering.. will this have a negative effect on my CV??

[Sir Fox]

(Original post by Seraphicalist)
Gosh!! You got me all confused now.. i just wanna know which german univs will get me a good degree with more than good job prospects and yea, which doesn't burn a hole in my pocket. I could have applied in US univs like all my other friends but somehow, Germany is just so fascinating that it's always been my first choice. Anyway, so what do i do now??

i checked DAAD but they got so many communications,etc etc courses which doesnt really appeal.. and then i dont have much idea bou the reputation as well.. so i end wiki-ing the universities almost all the time..

i graduated in 2010, then worked for barely a year, after that i have been assisting my dad in his work which has nothing to do with engineering.. will this have a negative effect on my CV??

As most German universities don't charge fees and those who do are still less than a tenth as expensive as the UK (we're not going to start talking about the US ) none will burn a hole into your pocket

The question is whether you want to work in Germany or internationally - it's not a secret that in contrast to British or American universities many German unit are not that known internationally. There are of cause sparkling examples like Heidelberg, Munich, Göttingen, Freiburg, Tübingen, Berlin etc.

Something about the German education system which makes it fundamentally different from countries like the US, UK, France or China is the fact that reputation is not that important. While British school leavers spend weeks scanning league tables and researching reputation German school leavers mostly don't care about this and are more concerned about where their friends go, which location they like etc. I know some bright people studying at universities no Briton would have heard of and they still like it - in Germany it's the grades and experience which count (for employers). Sure, reputation is not unimportant either but it's not nearly such an issue.

When it comes to reputation, only some German universities (like those I listed) are very reputable overall - many universities (like Mannheim for Politics and Economics, RWTH Aachen for Engineering and Medicine etc.) have strengths in distinctive fields and German employers know that.

Therefore it's important to know how you intend to progress further in life after graduating - if you stay in Germany adopt to the German way of thinking about this issue and choose a university tailored for your needs and interests. If you want to work internationally employers might not be aware of the German system and underestimate you if you did not choose Aachen or Dresden.

If you really need a reliable advice don't ask people on TSR - we might be German but that doesn't mean we have a profound knowledge about your subject. Enter a German forum (Uni Protokolle is supposed to be good) and ask your question there (can do it in English, they'll understand it ).

[Seraphicalist]

(Original post by Sir Fox)
As most German universities don't charge fees and those who do are still less than a tenth as expensive as the UK (we're not going to start talking about the US ) none will burn a hole into your pocket

The question is whether you want to work in Germany or internationally - it's not a secret that in contrast to British or American universities many German unit are not that known internationally. There are of cause sparkling examples like Heidelberg, Munich, Göttingen, Freiburg, Tübingen, Berlin etc.

Something about the German education system which makes it fundamentally different from countries like the US, UK, France or China is the fact that reputation is not that important. While British school leavers spend weeks scanning league tables and researching reputation German school leavers mostly don't care about this and are more concerned about where their friends go, which location they like etc. I know some bright people studying at universities no Briton would have heard of and they still like it - in Germany it's the grades and experience which count (for employers). Sure, reputation is not unimportant either but it's not nearly such an issue.

When it comes to reputation, only some German universities (like those I listed) are very reputable overall - many universities (like Mannheim for Politics and Economics, RWTH Aachen for Engineering and Medicine etc.) have strengths in distinctive fields and German employers know that.

Therefore it's important to know how you intend to progress further in life after graduating - if you stay in Germany adopt to the German way of thinking about this issue and choose a university tailored for your needs and interests. If you want to work internationally employers might not be aware of the German system and underestimate you if you did not choose Aachen or Dresden.

If you really need a reliable advice don't ask people on TSR - we might be German but that doesn't mean we have a profound knowledge about your subject. Enter a German forum (Uni Protokolle is supposed to be good) and ask your question there (can do it in English, they'll understand it ).

Alright !! That was a perfectly sound advice . So if I wanna work in Germany I'll have to maintain top level grades. . And if I want international exposure I'll have to choose my college wisely . Well, I guess I have decided my future plan..
Th
an
ks for the advice ..

[Sir Fox]

(Original post by Seraphicalist)
Alright !! That was a perfectly sound advice . So if I wanna work in Germany I'll have to maintain top level grades. . And if I want international exposure I'll have to choose my college wisely . Well, I guess I have decided my future plan..
Th
an
ks for the advice ..

Well, it's not thaaat simple. It's not Grades for Germany vs. Reputation for International, it's just a tendency. Even in Germany it's an advantage to choose the better university (there are reasons why some are regarded as better like the teaching quality, research etc.).

But don't worry, both RWTH Aachen as well as TU Munich are very reputable institutions.