Student Life in Aachen

The great number of students makes student life in Aachen vibrant and unique. Not matter if you are interested in sports, arts or culture, there are plenty of options to enjoy your student life. This page will provide you with information that will help you to organize and enjoy your life in Aachen, be it regarding culture, sports or helpful institutions.

RWTH International Academy

The RWTH International Academy aims to make your stay in Aachen both as productive and as exciting as possible. For the latter purpose, we hold a whole array of experiences and activities in store for you: we provide an extensive social and cultural programme starting from day one of your time in Aachen.

RWTH International Academy Activities

RWTH International Academy Newsletter

Peer-to-peer Programme by the International Academy

Senior students of the M.Sc. degree programmes help to welcome the new arriving students by taking responsibility for a small group of fellow students of their study programme. The senior mentor can help the freshmen to get to know the university, the course structure, the city and the student life and will just be present to answer all questions which may come up after arrival.

Senior Mentors Responsibilities

A senior mentor is an experienced International Academy student that has studied in Aachen for two semesters or longer.
He/she would like to share his/her knowledge about living and studying in Aachen.
They want to start off freshmen that experience their first weeks in Aachen.
They help answering questions: Which supermarket is the best? What courses are mandatory? Which bus goes to campus Melaten? Where is the library? How to get in contact with student unions? Which place is the best to have lunch at?
They will get in touch via email before arrival and attend at least one Academy event or organize an own meeting.
There are few responsibilities that a senior mentor really has. Still, most of the senior mentors take their job very serious and they do their best to welcome their fellow students to the city and the university.

Registration as a senior mentor:

All students are invited to take part in the programme in May/June by email
A kick-off meeting takes place and afterwards mentees and seniors will be assigned
After succesfull participation in the programme and handing in the questionnaire, a certificate will be awarded

What can a mentee expect from a senior mentor?

As mentioned above, most of the senior mentors strive to give high quality advices to the freshmen and help them to make their start up in Aachen easier. Mentees should after all keep in mind that each senior mentor is assigned not only one, but a group of mentees that he/she gives advices to. Furthermore, it is important to know that senior mentors offer help as a favour to the freshmen, because they exactly know what it feels like to be new in Aachen. Usually, senior mentors are very eager to share their knowledge with the mentees and try to help them, but they are not obliged to e.g. organize accommodation. What they may do is providing help for the mentees on how to search for private accommodation themselves.

Registration as a mentee:

Admitted students receive a registration form along with their admission documents

Other Student Support Initiatives

Furthermore, there are plenty of other institutions and student clubs in Aachen that help international students to get settled and who support international exchange and intercultural communication.

BeBuddy Programme of the RWTH Aachen University - Mix with German students