What Students Say
Likes
- Nice catalog of subjects that can be studied in the course
- Good alignment topics towards specialization.
- Decent collaboration of projects with industry.
Dislikes
- Sometimes few subjects of interest overlap and one needs to then choose any one for that semester.
- Exams for a subject may not be available at both semesters.
- International students have to pay a state fee of 1500€ extra per semester.
Course Curriculum
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Difficulty, of course:
- It generally depended on subjects but on a scale of 0-10 difficulty was 7.
- Depending on the subjects you took, it was either theory or practical.
- Subjects were a good mix of both.
- Positive aspects of the course:
- Wide catalogue to choose from so you can really take the subjects that interest you or can build the portfolio for your professional life.
- There are certain project-orientated courses that can help understand the application of topics at an industrial level.
- Negatives:
- Some course timings overlap, making it impossible to take both.
- Some (very few) require a bachelor course prerequisite, and that course in bachelors is taught in German.
- Class timings:
- Highly flexible. 3 hrs of lectures/practicals are performed per week per subject, but the timings are based on professor availability. You can have no lecture on one day and say 5 on the next. Earliest lecture starts at 8:00 am and the latest lecture ends at 17:15.
- Number of students in class: Again, depending on interested people, it can be from 15 to 100. the reason is a subject can be offered across multiple master's programmes.
- In my course we had 15 Indian students (out of 30)
Admission Experience
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No. of colleges: 3
- TU Munich (MSc in CS): Rejected (No considerable overlap between my bachelor's and their bachelor's, which was a requirement for a master's)
- RWTH Aachen (MSc in Data Science): Accepted.
- Universität Stuttgart (MSc CS): Accepted
- I did not apply to any other universities, as I had received an acceptance letter from Universität stuttgart quite early and it was number 2 priority for me.
- Selected University: Universität Stuttgart
- Reason: bigger city with many companies (higher working student opportunities)
- Admission process:
- They have their application portal. Register on that.
- Documents to be submitted (Digital copies):
- - Transcripts
- - Degree certificate
- - IELTS/TOEFL certificate (6.5 or more required)
- - Form listing subjects in bachelor's (this can be downloaded from the portal itself).
- - Optionally LORs, GRE and Letter of motivation.
- Once submitted, a few weeks after the deadline, you will receive acceptance or rejection mail.
- Acceptance criteria: Not explicitly mentioned but takes into consideration your bachelor subjects and your final bachelors score. Work experience does not count.
- It is a straight forward process and I did not face any challenges.
- Admission for: Winter Intake (October start) 2022.
- Note: The university (or most public universities in Germany) offers winter or summer intakes. Summer intakes begin on April 1st.
- Application open: 15 November 2021
- Application submitted: 5 January 2022
- Application deadline: 15 January 2022
- Acceptance email: 8 March 2022
- I accepted the offer: 1 April 2022
- By the end of April I had all the document from university I required for Visa
Faculty
- Faculty-to-student ratio: 5:120
- Since it’s the public university, the focus is not on the faculty-to-student ratio.
- Teacher methodology:
- Most of the professors have industry experience and/or multiple research papers. This makes them highly specialised in their topic. While teaching, most of them give real-life examples.
- Assistance in finding a job:
- Generally speaking, No. But if a professor has an open position for a student assistant, then they can be approached.
- Admired faculty:
- Not a particular professor but the institute of IAAS impressed me due to their research topics. Also did my thesis with them
Campus Life
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Number of campuses: 2
- Engineering campus: Vaihingen, Stuttgart
- Literature and Management campus: City Center Stuttgart
- Facilities on Engineering campus (my campus)
- Library
- Sports hall and ground.
- Supermarket
- Canteen.
- Cafes and bars.
- Accommodation.
- Lakes and parks for leisure.
- Major campus Festival:
- Campus beach (during summer)
- Winterglüh (during winter)
- Apart from these, every department has their own smaller festivals and parties.
- Extracurricular activities:
- For social activities, the university has a webpage that lists them all, which go from international student clubs to drama club and so on.
- Similarly, there is a page for registration for sports and games ranging from chess to track and field to cricket.
- Every department has a student council you can be a part of and then there is a major student council of the university.
Part Time Jobs
- Not all students apply for part-time jobs on campus, as you can also work elsewhere as a student. Of those who apply, approximately 30-40% of students get it.
- University pays the minimum wage. During 2023 it was €12/hr, and in 2024 it was €12.41/hr.
- Apart from TA/RA/DA students can work in on-campus cafe and restaurants, library, etc.
- Maximum working hours per week are 20 hrs.
- Difficulty depends on the type of job: for TA/RA you should have a good understanding of the topic. Most of the cafes and restaurants required a basic level of German.
- As mentioned previously, on-campus students earn the government-mandated student wage. If you take work outside of campus, it is generally €1-2 above the minimum pay. Securing part-time employment depends on the availability of jobs in the university city. Stuttgart being an IT hub, it is fairly easy for students to get a working student job. Students generally start looking for jobs in the second half of the first semester. For on campus, it’s best to approach the faculty themselves. For company part-time jobs, applications like LinkedIn, Stepstone and XING are best. Pro tip: If you have some level of German efficiency (B1 or higher), always mention it in the application, even if not asked. It boosts your application.
Placement
- Most of the students secure either a full-time job or a paid PhD position in the first 6 months. I have not come across anyone who hasn’t.
- Average salary depends on whether you have had experience previously before your master's, but if you are starting out as a Junior Developer/Engineer in Software , you can expect anywhere between 45-60k€ per year before taxes.
- Ways to find jobs:
- If you are a working student at a company, check if they will convert you to full-time.
- Apply on job sites.
- Use LinkedIn references to find referrals for available jobs.
- Company sectors where my batchmates are placed:
- IT giants like SAP, Amazon.
- Car industry-related companies like Mercedes and Bosch.
- Other industries in IT like TeamViewer, Siemens, etc.
Accommodation
- Studierendenwerk Stuttgart is an official organisation that offers on-campus accommodations depending on availability.
- Another popular option is WG Gesucht.
- Accommodation I received was a 4-sharing apartment with a private room on campus.
- Monthly rent: 350-400 (increasing every year)
- Includes all utilities like heat, electricity and water.
- Since I applied quite early, I got accommodation easily through them.
- Recommendations: As soon as you have the university admit you, you should apply for accommodation at their website. This will be the cheapest and nearest to the university.
Exams
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Exams for admission:
- IELTS/TOEFL: This is an English exam. I had given IELTS. To be eligible, you need at least 6.5 on the academic IELTS.
- GRE: GRE is not required but you can submit it as additional documentation. If they are unsure about your admission, they will go through additional documentation.
- Note: Since the course is in English, German language certification is not required.
- Other documents required:
- Transcripts
- Bachelor's degree certificate.
- Filled out a supplementary form highlighting course-related subjects in bachelor studies (unfilled form can be downloaded from application portal)
- No interview was conducted for me.
Fees
- Fees (per semester):
- Admission fees: 200€
- Tuition fees (only for international students): €1500
- Apart from these, no other fees are collected by the university.
- Monthly expense (apart from fees): 850€ (this can vary from person to person but general is between 750-1000)
- Room Rent (including utilities): 400€
- Health insurance: €130
- Groceries: 150€
- Internet: 20€
- Travel: 50€
- Social life (movies, restaurants, etc.): 100€
Scholarship
- Scholarship I received:
- Name: Deutschland Stipendium
- Eligibility criteria: You have to fill out a form highlighting the following:
- Your scores
- academic projects
- socialism’s extracurricular activities
- letter of motivation.
- Based on this, you may be selected.
- Scholarship amount: 300€/monthfor 1 year.
- How many students selected: The Number varies per year but approximately 150-160 students from all courses get it.



