Fascinating - great detail on Germany. I went to Freiburg Univ in the 1960s and had help from the DAAD, Deutscher Akademischer AustauschDienst. I see they still exist, but do not see them mentioned in your description. Possibly your being plugged into Germany made them less important. Thank-you
Hi Alfred, Thanks for bringing this up. You are correct that we did not consider it, but that is a good point. As a German citizen we could also be applying for Kindergeld, the monthly child stipend that parents get who are still supporting their children after the age of 18 while they study, but we did not. I have an American friend who teaches for the DOD and she is getting Kindergeld for all 4 of their children. They attend regular German preschool and primary schools, and are not attending a DOD school, so that they will be able to go to University in Germany. With 4 children under the age of 5, when they left the US two years ago, they figured they could not afford to send them all to US university, so they moved to Germany even though she and her husband do not speak German.
We are currently financing our daughter by paying her rent, which is all inclusive in Berlin and is 1100€ a month which is known as warm rent because it includes her utilities. For that she has 2 rooms furnished including kitchen and washer and dryer. Her health and long term disability insurance cost another 125€ a month, and she is covered under our personal liability insurance which everyone has to have here too. She gets an allowance for food and other sundries. She probably needs less than 200€ for food because food is much cheaper in Germany. She can eat at the Mensa at least 5-10 meals a week, and they generally cost between 1 and 3 € for all you can eat. She has to pay her share of the Deutschland ticket out of her allowance as well, and I believe her share which is subsidized by the semester fee is around 14€ but it might go up in January.
My daughter has an online used clothing business as well, and at some point perhaps she will not need an allowance. I don't believe any of her friends who are from other countries have jobs but some may have financial support from the university, particularly if they are from countries like Ukraine from which they have had to flee. Living in Berlin is very expensive. When she started Munich was more expensive as was Hamburg, Berlin is more expensive for rent this year, but since rents don't go up the way they do in the US, her rent is looking good to us now.
Before she went I did look at videos of costs. There is a student from India who does videos in English where he is getting around to Universities in many cities through a network of other Indians, all of whom seem to be in Computer science or Engineering Masters programs. He does a great job of touring the campus, and interviews the people to show where they study, whether or not they get work, and detailing what their monthly costs are in each of the cities he goes to. They also show where you go from the train station or airport to the campus and where you register yourself. There are other people who do videos on getting housing, but since they are experts it is easier for them than it will be for most other people.
That’s the main building of Graz University of Technology if I’m not totally wrong. 😊 I studied Mechanical Engineering and later worked there in the 80s and 90s.
You are correct that it is in Austria. It is the front of the main Campus building in Vienna. My daughter did an exchange there and I went to visit and we went to look at the University. None of the Open Source photos appealed to me, so I used one of my own, avoiding having anyone in it without their permission. All my German university pictures have people I know in them.
They k.u.k. bureaucrats must have had a quantity contract with their architects because the main buildings of Vienna University and Graz University of Technology absolutely look the same, even up to the cupolas in the corners. I just checked because first I couldn’t believe it. Graz is probably downgraded a bit but apart from that they seem exchangeable. 😄 Funny that I never noticed that before.
I attended the University of Vienna for 2 years in a foreign study program. Then returned to the US to finish here and graduate. Two friends stayed and finished at Berlin and Heidelberg.
Two of my grandchildren want to try Vienna or Berlin. They know they must be fluent in German and I give them some basic instruction now.
I wish your granddaughters the best of luck in university next year. What country are they coming from? If the US, they should generally apply to Studienkolleg first.
We met an Uruguayan women working in a restaurant who wants to do her graduate studies in political science in Germany, and is spending this year in a language learning program. She came here with no German, but just a dream to go to Uni here.
In addition to being at Stanford in Berlin, a small center with 25 students, spring quarter 1983, I lived in Kyoto, Japan for 3 years of my childhood, ages 4-7 and 10-11.
For decades my claim has been that if every white US male lived for at least a few months in a non-English-speaking place, the foreign and domestic policy of the USA would be much more humanitarian, much more serving of liberty and justice for all and forming a more perfect union.
Then about 10 years ago I learned about the TCK classification, third culture kids. More creativity, stronger leadership, better critical thinking skills, and other benefits are among the outcomes of learning a second language and living in a culture not your original one. Doing so as a university student is the next best thing to living there as a child.
Linda, feel free to direct message me. But I'm not expecting further dialogue given how busy we all are fending off fascism. See you in the comments!
Thanks Eric, I agree on the benefits. My friend's son just spent a month this past fall in Norway going to class with an exchange partner in his high school in Oslo. Now his partner is visiting his school. So, he not only gets to see this school in a culture where he has been learning the language, but also gets to see how his exchange partner, now friend sees his school and community too. My daughter did that with a partner in Wien too, and now they are friends for life. They each spent half a year in each other's school and home, and it was great.
Fascinating - great detail on Germany. I went to Freiburg Univ in the 1960s and had help from the DAAD, Deutscher Akademischer AustauschDienst. I see they still exist, but do not see them mentioned in your description. Possibly your being plugged into Germany made them less important. Thank-you
Hi Alfred, Thanks for bringing this up. You are correct that we did not consider it, but that is a good point. As a German citizen we could also be applying for Kindergeld, the monthly child stipend that parents get who are still supporting their children after the age of 18 while they study, but we did not. I have an American friend who teaches for the DOD and she is getting Kindergeld for all 4 of their children. They attend regular German preschool and primary schools, and are not attending a DOD school, so that they will be able to go to University in Germany. With 4 children under the age of 5, when they left the US two years ago, they figured they could not afford to send them all to US university, so they moved to Germany even though she and her husband do not speak German.
We are currently financing our daughter by paying her rent, which is all inclusive in Berlin and is 1100€ a month which is known as warm rent because it includes her utilities. For that she has 2 rooms furnished including kitchen and washer and dryer. Her health and long term disability insurance cost another 125€ a month, and she is covered under our personal liability insurance which everyone has to have here too. She gets an allowance for food and other sundries. She probably needs less than 200€ for food because food is much cheaper in Germany. She can eat at the Mensa at least 5-10 meals a week, and they generally cost between 1 and 3 € for all you can eat. She has to pay her share of the Deutschland ticket out of her allowance as well, and I believe her share which is subsidized by the semester fee is around 14€ but it might go up in January.
My daughter has an online used clothing business as well, and at some point perhaps she will not need an allowance. I don't believe any of her friends who are from other countries have jobs but some may have financial support from the university, particularly if they are from countries like Ukraine from which they have had to flee. Living in Berlin is very expensive. When she started Munich was more expensive as was Hamburg, Berlin is more expensive for rent this year, but since rents don't go up the way they do in the US, her rent is looking good to us now.
Before she went I did look at videos of costs. There is a student from India who does videos in English where he is getting around to Universities in many cities through a network of other Indians, all of whom seem to be in Computer science or Engineering Masters programs. He does a great job of touring the campus, and interviews the people to show where they study, whether or not they get work, and detailing what their monthly costs are in each of the cities he goes to. They also show where you go from the train station or airport to the campus and where you register yourself. There are other people who do videos on getting housing, but since they are experts it is easier for them than it will be for most other people.
Did you do undergraduate or graduate studies in Freiburg? Here is a link to apply for the DAAD scholarships. https://www2.daad.de/deutschland/stipendium/datenbank/en/21148-scholarship-database/
That’s the main building of Graz University of Technology if I’m not totally wrong. 😊 I studied Mechanical Engineering and later worked there in the 80s and 90s.
You are correct that it is in Austria. It is the front of the main Campus building in Vienna. My daughter did an exchange there and I went to visit and we went to look at the University. None of the Open Source photos appealed to me, so I used one of my own, avoiding having anyone in it without their permission. All my German university pictures have people I know in them.
They k.u.k. bureaucrats must have had a quantity contract with their architects because the main buildings of Vienna University and Graz University of Technology absolutely look the same, even up to the cupolas in the corners. I just checked because first I couldn’t believe it. Graz is probably downgraded a bit but apart from that they seem exchangeable. 😄 Funny that I never noticed that before.
I have not been to Graz, but I was told this is the oldest University in the German speaking world. Founded in 1365. I thought my daughter might go there because she has several friends in Wien. https://www.univie.ac.at/en/international/international-profile/an-international-university/
I have not been to Graz, but I could imagine that if there might be some similarity if they are built around the same time.
I'm happy to learn you and yours are safe and doing relatively well Linda.
Thank you.
I attended the University of Vienna for 2 years in a foreign study program. Then returned to the US to finish here and graduate. Two friends stayed and finished at Berlin and Heidelberg.
Two of my grandchildren want to try Vienna or Berlin. They know they must be fluent in German and I give them some basic instruction now.
Your children have done well.
We’re going to Wien next April.
Best to your family.
Fred
Hi Frederick,
I wish your granddaughters the best of luck in university next year. What country are they coming from? If the US, they should generally apply to Studienkolleg first.
We met an Uruguayan women working in a restaurant who wants to do her graduate studies in political science in Germany, and is spending this year in a language learning program. She came here with no German, but just a dream to go to Uni here.
In addition to being at Stanford in Berlin, a small center with 25 students, spring quarter 1983, I lived in Kyoto, Japan for 3 years of my childhood, ages 4-7 and 10-11.
For decades my claim has been that if every white US male lived for at least a few months in a non-English-speaking place, the foreign and domestic policy of the USA would be much more humanitarian, much more serving of liberty and justice for all and forming a more perfect union.
Then about 10 years ago I learned about the TCK classification, third culture kids. More creativity, stronger leadership, better critical thinking skills, and other benefits are among the outcomes of learning a second language and living in a culture not your original one. Doing so as a university student is the next best thing to living there as a child.
Linda, feel free to direct message me. But I'm not expecting further dialogue given how busy we all are fending off fascism. See you in the comments!
Thanks Eric, I agree on the benefits. My friend's son just spent a month this past fall in Norway going to class with an exchange partner in his high school in Oslo. Now his partner is visiting his school. So, he not only gets to see this school in a culture where he has been learning the language, but also gets to see how his exchange partner, now friend sees his school and community too. My daughter did that with a partner in Wien too, and now they are friends for life. They each spent half a year in each other's school and home, and it was great.