Student review [#6159]
at RWTH Aachen University

I am studying Aerospace Engineering on RWTH and I will be reviewing it from a perspective of mechanical engineering, for which RWTH is the most famous for. I did my bachelor on TU Graz which is different from RWTH in many ways, so I have an objective view on both.

First of all, Aachen has a different way of doing things which might be judged as bad by normal standards. The teaching on university is arguably bad for couple of reasons. Mechanical Engineering in Aachen has around 16000 students, 1700 starting each year. Professors and assistants simply do not have enough time for every student. The overall organisation can and should be improved. The internet pages are old and registering for exams and classes is not easy in the beginning, its not “user-friendly” so to say. You really have to take care of the registration dates, for university will not remind you and will not tolerate if you miss them. The game rules are very strict. Student societies are many but it is hard for them to get support from the University. The teaching itself is really theoretical and exams are in general more demanding than in other universities.

BUT, Aachen has the best mechanical engineering course in mainland Europe for a reason. Because of so many students you might not have more access to the professors but you will meet many more future colleagues and create network bigger than anywhere else. There are still many student societies like EUROAVIA, Bonding, BEST, EESTEC, IAESTE and so on, all of them being active. However, what differentiates Aachen from other Unis is its way of financing. In that respect RWTH is more of a company than an university. Many (and I mean MANY) companies are coming to RWTH for solutions and projects. Money coming from there is then forwarded towards scientific projects on the RWTH. All of these projects require huge amount of workforce and as a student you get a chance to be a part of them. There are literally thousands of jobs on RWTH that students can get. You will get actual work experience during your studies and you will get (very) nicely paid for it. The whole system of working on RWTH is very nicely organised. You usually have a very flexible working time and more free time during exam phases.

All in all, if you are used to do what Uni tells you to do and just graduate, Aachen is not for you. If you are however motivated to do more than just pass exams, Aachen will offer you many more options than other universities. In the end it is up to you to choose, RWTH doesn’t need you and will not chase after you, they are big and powerful enough anyway. But if you knock at the right doors, you will get amazing opportunities and in the end be able to develop yourself better than on other Universities.

In the end just a remark about the city and life in it itself. Aachen is small and it lives for RWTH, it is very practical being a student there. Night life is full of options, you will not get bored here! It is relatively cheap city to live in as well. Weather is not the nicest, Aachen does not have many sunny days. And for last, Aachen has mostly technical courses and this has a negative influence on its demographic picture. There are approximately 3 times as many men as women, but the situations is improving in the last years.

Thanks for reading, I hope it was helpful! 🙂