Bayrische Julius-Maximilians-Universitaet

If you plan on travelling a lot, get a Bahncard. It costs €50/100, depending on which you go for, but it can end up saving you quite a lot if you travel by train. Look out for special offers on the Deutsche Bahn website, up to 5 people can travel anywhere within Germany by train on a "Happy Weekend ticket" for a quite a low price. There are also similar tickets for within each Bundesland, so its worth researching your journeys a bit. There are also Mitfahrgelengheit, which is essentially organised hitch-hiking.

Student life is not the same as in England (there are no Student's Union's as such). There are 'fraternities' in Germany, but not like in America. There are parties laid on for 1st year students (Ersti's!) and there is a massively organised bar crawl around the city once per semester (with public transport provided) This is excellent fun mixing student life with local communities. There are lots of good bars: Cafe Schoenborn and Joe Penas amongst the best. Jobs are relatively easy to come by for English speakers as there is a US barracks based in the city and employers like to have English-speaking staff. There are lots of festivals throughout the year. Afrikafest, Rockfest, Wine festivals and beer festivals! Around 5/6 per year. There are jazz cafes, discos, theatres, and lots of nice small bars that are really friendly and welcoming to the student community.

I really liked the location and I had loads of space. But sometimes I got a bit lonely, especially during the winter months, because it was a studio apartment and I prefer living with other people. However, it wasn't too bad as everyone else was in the same situation so once I settled in and got to know people we were always in each other's apartments.. couldn't get rid of them!

During the Semesterferien TRAVEL! Especially if you come from an island nation like I do, you should take advantage of the fact that you are on the continent. Force yourself to speak German! Most Germans speak English and will try to practise their English on you. Don't be put off by this, it doesn't mean that your German is not good enough, just keep talking!