2014-2015 University Attended - University of Mannheim Feedback 1 INDUCTION/ORIENTATION PROGRAMME What did this involve, how long did it last, was it useful? Induction was carried out during the first week we arrived, the last week of August. There were a number of events during the week to welcome students and provide information of how to register for courses, who to contact and how to find your way around (the campus is very large). On the first day we had to register in the International Office and provide a number of documents. As there were a lot of students all doing the same thing, it did take a while but was to be expected. On the second day, we had a presentation by some of the head of departments, outlining their roles as well as in-depth information and deadlines for course registration and local activities. During the week, we were also given a tour of the main campus buildings, which is essential if you intend on finding anything. These were all very useful to attend as the registration process is not the easiest to understand and get correct. There were also time slots for us to attend in order to help with this process. ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE Style of teaching, courses, ease of access to courses, methods of assessment, teaching support The range of courses offered in Mannheim are very slim, and the majority involve finance or mathematics. Registration of the courses was difficult as it is much different to Manchester, and it takes a while to organise your timetable to ensure you do not have clashes. Each course has three different classes; A Lecture in a large hall; A Tutorial to review the lecture content; and an Exercise class to run over homework questions. This therefore involves a lot of organisation and again restricts your choices of what you can take. Some of the exercise classes are also needed to be ranked by priority, due to so many people attending, and so you may need to reorganise your timetable after you have been allocated a slot. Methods of assessment is largely based on 100% exams, with only a few courses having a small amount of coursework to contribute. The exams are largely based around memory, and building knowledge around the subjects is rarely required. Lectures need to be memorised and regurgitated in the exam. If possible I would recommend intensive courses although these are filled very quickly. Teaching support is available although fairly minimal. Questions can be asked during the classes, although there is a large volume of content and is often only briefly explained by the student reps taking the class. Email contact is available if needed, although Q&A sessions are carried out towards the end of each course. Course Materials were mostly provided through a portal style website called Ilias, although some courses require you to purchase the materials in the form of a booklet at a charge of €10. One note to make is that in order for you to gain a seat in most of the classes, you need to be outside the rooms 15 minutes before, or your will not get a seat. MBS INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT TEAM Level of support, additional information that could have been useful Help was always available regarding any problems or queries that we had regarding the many forms required to be completed. Many emails were also sent reminding us of deadlines, which was very useful, because as mentioned there are a number of forms needed for various reasons and they are not necessarily the easiest to understand what information to provide. MBS SECOND YEAR MEETINGS Any additional information that you feel could have been provided In the second year meetings, a general overview of the year abroad was well presented and very detailed. Although of this, previous exchange students to Mannheim did not turn up for us. Slightly more information or emphasis on accommodation may have been helpful as this was a problem for us in Mannheim, although I will discuss this in more detail later in this feedback form. HOST INTERNATIONAL OFFICE Level of support, additional information that could be useful for future students The International Office is very useful in order to answer any queries you may have, academically or personally. If they are unable to answer your questions, they will direct you to another person in order to help. Any documents needing to be signed are usually complete within a few days, ready to be picked up on a Wednesday. If you have any documents that are urgent, we have found that emailing the documents to the relevant contacts in the International Office will often mean they are completed within a day or two. INSURANCE, HEALTH COVER Please include any information relating to the purchase of compulsory health insurance ie costs etc. or whether this was waived by having the University of Manchester Insurance Policy No extra purchase of health cover was required, apart from ensuring you had your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which was required during induction week to register in the international office. INFORMATION ON ANY ADDITIONAL COSTS This should be information on any extra fees that the University charged but should not include accommodation, books, transport, visa etc. Semester contributions were required at a cost of around €70 for each semester, paid by bank transfer with confirmation of this being needed when registering at the international Office. Registration for cultural or language courses also had a €10 fee per course, if you wish to take any. ACCOMMODATION As much information as possible on what accommodation is recommended or not recommended. Accommodation was very difficult to arrange. I would suggest looking to book your accommodation as early as possible, with several back up options. A place in the student halls was not possible for me due to all spaces being taken, even though I tried to register within hours of the opening of registration. There are a number of large apartment blocks, of which the details are provided on the myunima website. Again these will fill up very quickly so I would advise to send emails as soon as possible. If you are able to get a place in one of the main apartment blocks, I would recommend looking at Hafenstrasse, G7, D6 or B7. These are some of the main blocks with many exchange and native German speaking students. Ulmenweg is also a main accommodation hall for students, although I would not recommend this unless it is your last choice. It is a fair distance out of Mannheim, with limited transport during the night. Bus and Tram can be used daily, although taxis would be required between around 12.30-5am (if going home after student parties or arriving back from travels which often happens at this time). Myself and a number of other exchange students had to look for private accommodation. We were advised to use the following website, https://www.wg-gesucht.de/ , as accommodation in Mannheim is very sought after. I sent around 80-90 emails to various adverts, with only a handful of replies, mostly to say sorry the room was taken. I managed to find accommodation in the week before I was due to arrive, although I know of a number of exchange students who had to stay in a hostel for a number of weeks whilst trying to find a permanent place. I was successful in the end due to having a standard enquiry email translated into German, as I was advised that many landlords or occupants are reluctant to write back in English (even if they can understand and speak English). Obviously it would be best to be in a flat with a number of other students, giving you a chance to build on a language if your require as well as finding out the best places to go and when. It is also important to look at which areas of Mannheim you would like to be in. Some areas at night are not the safest to be walking alone, with me personally knowing of a number of people being hassled (no major harm done thankfully although it can be worrying). The Quadrate would be the best section to be within, being within walking distance to the University as well as the main shops, bars and clubs. To give you a quick understanding of the layout, the quadrate is in a grid pattern, using letters and numbers. It doesn’t take long to understand it and it is very useful to find your way around. Jungsbusch is not the best place to live in terms of the type of area, although at night it is a very lively part of the city. I personally lived in Neckarstadt West, over the river from the main part of the city. I have never had any problems or known of any problems to happen in this area, although at night it is very quite and students walking alone should be careful as with any other area of Mannheim. When I was searching for accommodation, a number of flats were situated in Ludwigshafen, which I would not recommend unless again it is your final option. It is essentially a different city to Mannheim with not many students living here nor much nightlife. To sum up, if you can gain access to accommodation within the quadrate or on the near outskirts of the quadrate, you would be in a prime location for all activities in University and socially. DESTINATION INFORMATION AND OVERALL EXPERIENCE Transport, travel, social life, integration with local students, student activity groups Upon registering with the city (at K7), students who are studying for two semesters are provided with a 6 months free tram / bus / train travel pass.