By Ryan Edgar

If you’ve ever wondered about studying in Germany, you’re not alone. Germany has affordable schooling, affordable health insurance and low rent (especially if you’re coming from the United States of America).

I moved from Montana to Berlin, Germany after high school and studied Political Science at the Freie Universität Berlin and at Touro College Berlin. There were many positives and some negatives that I will share with you about taking this path.

If you’re American like me, they are some great perks to studying in Germany! It is a good way to avoid taking on large amounts of student debt and learn a new language and culture at the same time.

Moving randomly to Germany is an incredible feat in itself. Luckily, I had some friends who lived in Germany who were able to help along the way that greatly reduced some of the challenges I initially faced.

The process of acquiring a German student visa is straightforward. Germany has a very open approach to immigration. As an American, you can apply for a visa in Germany rather than having to apply in your home country like people of many other nationalities have to do.

While this simplifies some aspects of living in Germany, it does create some other hoops to jump through. In order to apply for the student visa, you need something called an Anmeldung. Translated into English, it means registration. This piece of paper proves your address and that you have a place of residence. The ever dreaded Anmeldung will present itself as a huge challenge when you first move to Germany, particularly if you move to a city with a competitive housing market such as Berlin, where I studied. Once you have said registration, you will have passed through this bureaucratic hazing initiation that will bond you with other foreigners.

You will need this Anmeldung in order to open a bank account. You will want this bank account for when you eventually land your first job in Germany.

Applying to a university requires bureaucratic management but is much more straightforward than finding suitable housing. First, you need to decide if you need to attend something called Studienkolleg. German secondary education is structured differently than in the US. German high schoolers on track to attend university need to complete a set of tests called the Abitur or Abi for short. In another blog post, I will walk you through this.

Uniassist processes the applications of potential international students. You most likely won’t submit your application directly to the university but to them. If you don’t qualify immediately for university, you will apply to attend a Studienkolleg, where you will complete an Abitur equivalent. I had a lot of fun attending the Studienkolleg of the Freie Universität Berlin. The classes were filled with liked minded individuals and people going through similar experiences as me.

Any rate, I digress, returning to getting the visa. You need to have an acceptance letter from a university or a Studienkolleg in order to receive the visa. And before you get an acceptance to a school, you need to prove a certain level of German fluency.

If this seems overwhelming to you, that’s because it is incredibly challenging. Another route to getting set up in Germany before starting university, is arriving with an Au-Pair visa. This has the advantage that you will learn German and live with a German family, who will likely help you if you are on good terms with them.

All of these challenges are achievable but you will be stressed and overwhelmed while jumping through these hoops. That’s okay though, you just gotta keep the end goal in mind.

There are many perks to studying and living in Germany, especially as an American. Germany has a lower cost of living, little gun violence, public transportation and much more. There are also many challenges and negatives to living abroad. In my experience after the first three years of living abroad the novelty had worn off and life just became life, but life in a foreign language.

The differences in bureaucracy and societal expectations overtime became less intellectually stimulating and less like a puzzle to solve and became more like a hurdle to overcome that I didn’t have energy for anymore.

Oftentimes as a foreigner you will be lonely, bored, sad and feel directionless. For many stretches of time it will feel like the majority of the time. If you plan on moving abroad you should be mentally prepared that there will be times you doubt your choices and regret leaving behind your home.

Part of moving abroad is having this emotional resilience and ensuring living abroad for more like a semester or so with a structured program is something you truly want.

Pursuing a degree in Germany is a four to five year commitment. If that is off putting to you and you seek more flexibility, then I would recommend a year or semester long study abroad program, a work holiday visa, digital nomad visa or even just travel until the tourist visa runs out.

I have no magic suggestion for building emotional resilience while living abroad. For me, close friendships, hobbies and finding activities that are unique to the area I live in were key to finding positivity during bouts of homesickness.

Another downside that I discovered after graduating from a Master’s program in Germany and returning to the US is that my professional network and work experience become tailored to Berlin. Upon returning home where there is an entirely different economic basis, I have to rethink my approach to work and knowing other professionals. One of the biggest values of studying is maybe not what you learn per se, but rather who you get to know. A close friend of mine landed his first in-state professional job out of school through a recommendation of his professor.

If you love the California coast and want to live and work there, studying in Germany might provide cheaper education but might not offer you the network needed to thrive there. Of course, everything is possible.

A German professor could potentially know people in the area you want to work, but they might not. Whereas a Californian professor will likely have a better understanding of the Californian job market, for example.

Returning to the theme of emotional resilience and long term goal setting, if you want to study in Germany for the affordable education and return to the US ASAP, then during the challenges and downsides you could lose focus on your long term goals.

Studying is a means to an end (while the pursuit of knowledge is always worthwhile). Make sure that the means matches what end you seek. This way you can remember your long term goals and find strength and comfort in that so you can push through the inevitable challenges.

Studying in Germany is no different. Try to imagine your life ten years after graduating German university, does a German degree help you achieve that or just seem fun? If it just seems fun, perhaps a short-term study abroad program might meet your needs better than a four to five year commitment to living in Germany.

There are so many awesome aspects to studying in Germany ranging from affordable rent to being immersed in a new language and meeting all sorts of interesting and great people.

There are also a wide range of negatives like navigating German bureaucracy and a limited professional network in the US, if you choose to return.

Ensuring that a German degree helps you achieve your long term goal is key otherwise the challenges will seem overwhelming and not worth solving.

If this post spoke to you, keep checking in. I will continue to write about my experiences studying in Germany and providing you with advice on making it in Germany.

You can also message me through the website if you have any questions for me about moving and studying in Germany.

If you have a degree already and want to teach English abroad, read about teaching English in Spain through NALCAP.