A review of TUM by an average Indian Student

I prepared for the admission myself. Prepared SOP (Letter of Motivation), Essays by taking help from the internet but for checking and enhancing grammar I opened a paid account on Grammarly. All the relevant information on the application process can be found on TUM's informatics webpage (or simply by googling). If there is any help that a potential applicant needs, then he can simply mail the university (studium(at)tum.de). Though they may take a while they always do reply. Even when I had trouble during my applications, I contacted them at the same email address. Otherwise, if there is a document that is not in the correct format, the admission department always informs you and is ready to help.

The total number of credits required to graduate is 120 credits. However, I must say that education and especially exams in Germany are a bit different and a bit tough as compared to India. Students in the informatics department atleast take 1~2 extra semesters to complete their master's since getting 120 credits in 4 semesters is quite tough. The professors are of course world-class. Education is top-notch. Lots of assignments that enable practical learning. The course curriculum is designed in such a way that students get theoretical as well as practical (research-based or industrial based) experience. As for the Faculty Student Ratio, I am not entirely aware of it, but as far as the classes are concerned, the teachers and PhD students will answer any question you have. They organize special exercise classes where you can discuss assignments or your doubts. But getting hold of professors outside the lectures is something of a feat in itself since the Profs are very busy.

Unfortunately no on-campus placements in Germany. It's not like India, where companies would come to college and hire students. You have to apply online using LinkedIn, glassdoor etc, clear interviews and get hired. In Germany, they say the more skilled you are at what you do, the better your chances are getting the desired job. So focus on developing your skills. I guess the average package that graduate student gets in Munich as a software engineer lies somewhere around 50k to 60k euros (but of course taxes are very high). The best way to get jobs after graduating is to gain as much relevant experience as possible before graduating by taking internships, projects, working-student jobs etc. Start working on your resume in your 1st Semester and start applying for student jobs and internships from your 2nd Semester. Be ready to fail, you will get rejected, a lot !! But keep trying. I personally have applied for more than 100+ student jobs/internships but finally got it in the end.

The curriculum itself consists of a practicum (internship) worth 10 credits and an IDP (interdisciplinary project) worth 16 credits. You have to apply for practicum using TUM matching webpage by giving priority to your preferred courses. For IDP you will have to talk to profs (difficult) or PhD students (easy). Apart from it, you are free to apply for a paid/unpaid internship or even an Inter-Disciplinary Project at a company through TUM DI Lab or even online job portals such as LinkedIn etc. TUM also has its own webpage where all the internal jobs are published. Simply google it and you can find it easily. You can apply for your preferred job by sending the email to the person responsible (usually given in the job description) along with your resume or any other document they have asked for.

The program has tuition fees of around 150 euros per semester or 300 euros per year approx which is quite nominal. These are some perks of studying at a German Public University. The real challenge is the living expenses. Munich or Germany for that matter is expensive to live and if you do not get any scholarship then you would have to open a blocked account with 10,000 euros per year. This account is also required for student visa applications and Residence Permit applications in Germany. Most students take loans from banks in India but apart from that take part-time jobs from software developers to delivery boys (there is a minimum wage per hour concept in Germany) so the pay is quite good and lots of students manage their expenses (and leisure activities ;)) using that money.

The total number of credits required to graduate is 120 credits. However, I must say that education and especially exams in Germany are a bit different and a bit tough as compared to India. Students in the informatics department atleast take 1~2 extra semesters to complete their master's since getting 120 credits in 4 semesters is quite tough. The professors are of course world-class. Education is top-notch. Lots of assignments that enable practical learning. The course curriculum is designed in such a way that students get theoretical as well as practical (research-based or industrial based) experience. As for the Faculty Student Ratio, I am not entirely aware of it, but as far as the classes are concerned, the teachers and PhD students will answer any question you have. They organize special exercise classes where you can discuss assignments or your doubts. But getting hold of professors outside the lectures is something of a feat in itself since the Profs are very busy.

Garching Campus is huge !! A river flows through it :P There are a lot of clubs in TUM and to be a part of any one of them you simply need to ask the corresponding members (and maybe apply if there are too many students who are applying to be a member of the same club). Garching Campus Library is the most extensive library on all of TUM's campuses. The campus has a basketball court, football court, table tennis, beach volleyball etc. Munich already has a lot of fests such as Oktober fest. But many events are organised by the TUM community such as hackathons, business games etc.

For stay, students either search for student-dorms, but the waiting time is 3 to 4 semesters or even more (some get it some don't), others search for shared apartments or studios on websites such as wg-gesucht.de or maybe approach housing anywhere (costly) or even Airbnb(costly). Note that TUM does not offer on-campus housing. In Munich, food + housing would cost you anywhere around 400 to 800 euros depending on your rent. The cheaper the rent the lower your cost of living goes. So I would say around 500 euros is pretty normal. But people manage with less also and there are people who spend more also. TUM does have a mess where you can have your lunch but again nothing is free. You would have to pay for the food.