The Weekly How-To Manual: Volume 3 - Registering for University Courses

Bonus points to whoever knows what university this
really is.  Hint: its not in Leipzig!

    And we're back!  Well I am anyway.  You all get to meander on in at your leisure, thanks to the internet.  Anyway, back to the point!  This week's "how-to" is on course registration, one of the most important aspects of beginning any semester abroad.  Unlike the online systems that current college and university students have become accustomed to, German universities tend to operate a little differently, particularly regarding Erasmus/Austausch (abroad) students.  Here goes!

   

Goethestrasse 6.  This isn't the most picturesque building
you'll find, I know.

     Your first goal is to find your contact person, here at the University.  Generally speaking, their office should be somewhere in the student center located at Goethestrasse 6, as that is where all of the student life, housing, and University registration (matriculation) offices are.  In rare cases (read: graduate students), this may be different, so you will want to refer to the information you've been provided by the University.  This contact person will act as your adviser, and can help you find courses, both in English and in German, and direct you to the appropriate office to register for your courses.

I picked a department at random; English courses are
probably not available here.  Try American Studies or Physics.

     Once you have found a course, you have three options for registering for said course.  You can find the relevant professor(s), and ask them personally to enroll, you can go speak to the department's contact person (typically the best option), or you can go to the department's "Studienbüro," or student office.  Regardless of which option you choose, make sure to go to the given office during their posted office hours.  The doors may be closed, but they will be in there; just knock. (Make sure to specify that you are abroad, as they may otherwise assume you are a German student who failed to register at the proper time)

If that tree wasn't there, you could see, well, more tan-ish
building.

     If you are looking to take any of the various German as a Second Language courses available through the Herder Institut (the University's German language department), you will need to go to Lumumbastrasse 4 (tram line 12, Gohlis-Nord ü. Zoo, Nordplatz stop, directly opposite the church shown below).  The placement exams take place in the two days before the semester begins (if you take the pre-semester language course at the University, you are all set, otherwise check with your adviser on the times), and there are a number of courses available in topics like grammar, phonetics, and conversation, at all language levels.  If you miss the exams (like me), talk to your adviser; they will be able to get it sorted out.

While all of this running around seems convoluted and outdated (and it really is), it turns out that it is only Erasmus/Austausch students who have to go through this particular process, as students enrolled normally (intending to complete their entire course of study at the University) do have an online program available (as students abroad, we do technically have accounts, but they don't really function).  Hopefully this how-to helps to make course registration slightly less stressful, but in any case, I'm certainly thankful to have online registration back home!

For your Amusement:

I want to say I'm jealous of that van.  But I can't.
They didn't even get matching animal print!

A tour guide made a vague mention of this church facing the wrong direction,
but I think they were just making stuff up for us tourists...

This building is nicknamed the "Tin Can."
I have no idea why.

Proverb of the Day:

One of the perks of a city campus is that you can see all types of people.

Including the one guy trying to bring top hats back into fashion.

*The background music is from a personal music project in progress.