Information for Admitted Students

First Steps after Admission

In order to prepare for your upcoming studies in Aachen, you will need to tackle a number of issues. The following page provides you with an overview of all necessary steps that need to be completed before travelling to Germany.

First Steps after Admission

First Steps after Arrival

Following your arrival in Aachen, there will be a number of important things to take care of:

Register in the city of Aachen with your new address. More info.
Apply the Residence Permit: Visit the municipal immigration office (Ausländeramt) to apply for a residence permit.The entry visa is generally valid for only a few weeks after you enter Germany so that you have enough time to apply for the residence permit. You must however apply in due time: dealing with the application procedure one month before the expiry date at the latest is strongly recommended by the Immigration Office. More Info.
Open a bank account. Most commonly, either Sparkasse Aachen or Deutsche Bank are chosen. More info.

A very central and important bureaucratic step is enrolment at the university. After it, you are an official student of the RWTH Aachen University:

Documents needed for enrolment

A valid passport. EU citizens can alternatively present their identity card,
Letter of admission to RWTH Aachen,
Original bachelor’s and master’s degree certificates or certificates for equivalent degrees,
Translations of your degree certificates and academic record/transcript containing grades, translated by a certified translator recognised by the German Embassy or Consulate in your home country. The translation agency may be located in Germany as well,
Originals of your language certificates,
Certification of your health insurance with a public Germany health insurance provider,
If you have been enrolled at a German university in the past: Proof of deregistration or exmatriculation from this university,
If your letter of admission included a list of missing documents still to be submitted or presented, such as language certificates or academic records, please provide these documents

Along with your admission, you will also receive a full list of all required documents.

Formalities to be Completed after Enrolment

Following your enrollment at RWTH Aachen University, you will receive various documents and will need to follow certain steps to complete your registration at the university and to activate your IT services. More information:

Formalities to be Completed after Enrolment

Upon enrolment at RWTH Aachen University, you will receive the following documents:

Bank Transfer Slip / Pay Form

Following enrolment at the university, you will receive a bank transfer slip and pay form so that you can arrange your university fees payment. Using the transfer slip, you can pay the due amount from your bank account by electronic transfer. Alternatively, if you do not have a bank account in Germany, you can pay the amount in cash into the university account at one of the branches of Sparkasse Aachen. For this transaction, a small fee will be charged. We advise you to use the bank transfer slip as it includes all relevant information, like your student ID number, your number of enrolled semesters, the amount due, as well as the university's bank account details. As soon as the university has received your payment, the enrolment procedure will be completed and you will have formally joined RWTH Aachen University. Therefore, you are advised to pay your semester fees as soon as possible.

Temporary Student ID Card (Enrollment Certificate)

During enrolment at RWTH Aachen University, you will receive a temporary enrolment certificate which will serve as a substitute for your student ID card for a few weeks. This certificate will be valid until you receive your enrolment and semester documents from RWTH Aachen University. Furthermore, by presenting this certificate at the ASEAG Services Centre – the local public transport provider – , you can obtain a preliminary public transport pass. For more information, please contact the Info-Service Center of the International Office.

Enrolment and Semester Documents

About four to six weeks after the RWTH has received your payment of your semester fees, you will receive a semester package containing all relevant documents for the coming semester by mail. Therefore, please make sure to keep the Registrar's Office and the International Office informed about any change of address. This also applies to the time of your studies.

Please read all documents sent to you carefully. You should now have the following documents:

Your personal data sheet ("Stammdatenblatt") containing all necessary information concerning your studies, such as your degree program, the number of semesters studied, your student ID number, etc. Please keep this data sheet in a safe place, as you will need it at a later time during your studies, e.g. when registering for exams.
Your Student ID card which replaces the temporary enrollment certificate.
Further certificates stating your student status to be presented or submitted when dealing with authorities such as the Residents' Registration Office, the Foreigners' Registration Office, the local Bafög Agency, etc.
Your public transport pass or Semesterticket AVV/NRW, which entitles you to use most of the public transport system in and around the City of Aachen, as well as in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia free of charge. Please read the information on the transport pass carefully as there are some restrictions which you should be aware of – you can use most public transport facilities within Aachen and the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia, but not all of them.
The bank transfer slip / pay form for the next semester, so that you can re-register on time.
The access code is needed to use the services provided by the Center for Computing and Communication of RWTH Aachen University (RZ), like your RWTH email account. You can find the access code on your personal data sheet

Activating Your IT Center

The IT Center of RWTH Aachen University offers students a variety of services, such as free internet access (WiFi and wired), your personal email account, user access management (TIM) for IT Center services, and CAMPUS Office, an online information system which gives you access to your study plans, the university's lecture and seminar list, and various other organisational functions. You are able to activate these services online by using your personal access code which you receive as part of your semester package. Please note that the temporary enrolment certificate does not provide you with an access code. In order to activate your communication services, please visit the Services Activation web page provided by the IT Center, where you will be required to enter your student ID number as well as your access code. Upon successful activation, you will receive your personal access data.

Before using the services, please note the following:

Your email address is typically firstname.lastname@rwth-aachen.de. It is essential that you check your RWTH e-mail regularly as important information regarding your course and activities will be sent to this email account. Of course, you can forward your RWTH mail from there to any other email account.
Please note that you are required to protect your PC by installing and maintaining an up-to-date version of a reliable anti-virus software programme. For this purpose, RWTH provides students with Sophos Anti-Virus software. You can download the software as well as the latest virus information free of charge.
For further information, please visit the IT Center's website.

Source: http://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/Studium/Vor_dem_Studium/Einschreibung...

: Next steps after admission | pdf, 2 MiB

: Enrolment Information | pdf, 47 KiB

: Preparatory Master's College MME-PS | pdf, 3 MiB

: General infomration regarding admission | pdf, 11 MiB

: Health insurance information | ,

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Information for Admitted Students

First Steps after Admission

First Steps after Arrival

Documents needed for enrolment

Formalities to be Completed after Enrolment

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