Before Studying

Services focus on ensuring that individuals make the right choice of degree as regards their suit ability and interests, and thereby create a basis for studying successfully and satisfaction with studies.

The services’ target groups include all potential students, from senior high school pupils to people with university entrance qualifications through vocational qualification. There are also services for parents, who are important mentors to potential students. Senior high school teachers are also especially important as they can be influential in the success of preparations to study.

Linking up a variety of approaches and means of access creates a system to support a sound, information-based choice of degree, as described below.

All study information for potential students is prepared and made available using various interlinked media channels. This service, which is constantly being developed, is an important tool for independent research and basic self-assessment by potential students.

The Internet is currently the preferred source of information for potential students. Therefore the University of Göttingen offers a central landing page which enables access to all preparatory services and more in-depth information about studying and the application process.

The entire study programme can be found at Degree programmes from A-Z and offers basic information on the content, admission requirements and contact details for the relevant subjects. Additional links lead to faculty websites and to the Online Self-Assessment.

These information services which are designed for specific target groups are gathered under the heading “Studying”. The online service is rounded off with access to organisational issues such as key dates, semester fees and studying abroad. Target groups that require special information such as services for potential international students or accessible studying can find it here. In addition, you will find current dates and information.

Online Self Assessment allows potential students to find out about the content of courses at the University of Göttingen and learn a bit about the city. By offering insights into forty degree programmes it is possible to compare one’s expectations, preferences and interests with the actual content and requirements of an academic subject. On the Online Self Assessment page, there is a mix of links to information, interactive elements, video clips and typical exercises in the relevant subject which can be tried out online. The Information Platform for Students (IPS) of the Faculty of Social Sciences is there to give potential students insight into specialist tasks and to compare their expectations with the reality of studying.

Application review helps applicants for study places with information on when, how and where to make an application for a degree programme at the University of Göttingen as well as which documents are needed.

Another easily-accessible source of information for potential students is the social media presence of the University of Göttingen. In addition, students write about everyday life in Göttingen in a blog.

Furthermore, potential students can register for a quarterly newsletter that reports on current events in the world of study and guidance services.

In addition to digital media, print information continues to be important, when contact is made in person seeking information and advice. To this end, Student and Academic Services, the Public Relations department and the faculties provide different general, subject-related and specialised publications.

Individual information and advice appointments are a highly effective tool for ensuring the quality and sustainability of choice of degree. By giving individual advice to help with choosing the right degree, the Central Student Advisory Service supports potential students to make a carefully thought out, independent decision. A personal discussion with a study advisor can explore interests, preferences and abilities and consider the right potential courses, forming the basis for a sound choice of degree and later success in studies.

The study and examination advisorsin the faculties mainly advise potential students who have already narrowed down their choice of degree on the details of requirements and study conditions, subject content and focussing on a specific area, as well as on changing subject and university.

In addition to the questions faced by all potential students, those with disabilities face additional questions. The representative for students with disabilities and chronic diseases provides information about requirements and conditions relevant to decision-making (e.g. building facilities, compensation for disadvantages during studies and examinations) and advises on special requests for admission to higher education.

In addition to individual advice, the Central Student Advisory Service, as well as some faculties, offers various group events for potential students. Information evenings for parents held by the Central Student Advisory Service look in particular at funding a degree and highlight options for families without an academic background, as parents are crucial in guiding their children through the process of deciding to study.

With its special programme Get ready for studying, the Central Student Advisory Service organises specific events in the application period from June to July for everyone who wants to start a degree in the winter semester. Broader individual study advice is provided with themed presentations on potential courses, making a decision and applying. Additional visits to lectures, guided tours of the campus, and round tables with students allow day-to-day studies to be experienced close up and authentically, and to get to know the University and city as an academic centre.

For guidance and to help with the decision about studying, there are various advice and information services (such as the Central Student Advisory Service, the faculties’ examination and studies advice services, academic studies advice, the university out-patient psychotherapy service for students (PAS), the Family Service).

Lower Saxony’s autumn break similarly gives school pupils the opportunity to lay the foundations for a subsequent decision through the “Herbstuni” programme of the Central Student Advisory Service.

With InfoLine  potential students have an initial point of contact for all questions about studying at the University of Göttingen. The InfoLine answers telephone and e-mail enquiries or passes them to the responsible areas within the University.

At the Office of Student Affairs anyone who is seeking advice can find a personal contact to deal with all their questions on the subject of studying. They can deal with formalities and organisational matters, and make use of the services of the Central Student Advisory Service and the Registrar’s Office.

For almost 30 years now the University has put on Information Days University of Göttingen every spring, and the two-day programme has allowed a comprehensive and nuanced insight into its range of undergraduate courses. More than 5,000 senior high school pupils and other potential students as well as opinion formers from educational and advice services attend over 150 lectures and events and 60 information stands in the central lecture hall building (ZHG). Around 500 schools and over 350 other institutions, associations and opinion formers from Lower Saxony and the surrounding Federal States are invited.

Under the title “Getting to know the University”, programmes of visits for school classes offer the possibility of getting to know the University better at one-day multidisciplinary workshops. These include visits to lectures and introductions to the range of courses as well as guided tours of the campus and discussions with students and student ambassadors. Several faculties also offer specialised visiting programmes.

A central school portal offers interested teachers, school pupils and parents the opportunity to research relevant courses and services.

As after-school learning facilities, “school labs” make it possible to access the world of academia and have a taste of scientific experiments. The XLAB is one of the largest school labs in Germany offering insight into experimental processes in various natural sciences. The University has also established a Cultural Studies School Lab (YLAB) and a Life Science School Lab (BLAB).

The Central Student Advisory Service coordinates the publication of a list of events on site that are recommended by the individual faculties as part of a trial study programme. This list is integrated into the general University course register, allowing individuals to dip a toe in the water of studying without having to register in advance. The organisational and content information that is provided to prepare and follow up a visit to the University and the involvement of the central and faculty student advice services help with thinking about the experience.

On selected courses, gifted senior high school pupils can also pursue their special interest in a subject beyond what is available at school even before qualifying for university with an early study programme. Any credits that they acquire can be applied to later studies at the University.

The services of the student ambassadors of Göttingen University provide an easily-accessible source of information which is appealing to the target group. Student ambassadors can talk to potential students on an equal footing about their own path to finding the right subject and about life as a student. They know various contacts and guidance services offered by the University, can answer basic questions and direct them to the appropriate places within the University. In this way they can form a bridge between school pupils and the University and establish the first bond between potential students and the University. For Physics, in particular, the faculty provides what they call “physics spies” as contacts for school pupils.

The Central Student Advisory Service and some faculty offices of student affairs regularly attend selected educational fairs, especially in northern Germany, with information stands and/or to give talks, to raise the profile of the University of Göttingen and its study programmes, and open up a path to more information.

As well as these offers for potential students from Secondary Level II, the university also provides insights into professions and study subjects for younger pupils, such as the Kinder-Uni, internship opportunities in the faculties and the annual Zukunftstag open day.