“You cry twice in Mannheim, once when you arrive and the other when you leave” – it’s true! You’ll find out when you see it, but it’s because of how “unattractive” the city is.
There are so many things to do, so many offices to go to, so many lines. What really helped me was making a flow chart. This was so helpful, in making sure that I stayed on track and remembered all my deadlines/events.
Note to not actually use what I have in this timeline here, I found out that some of it was wrong afterwards, and I had to switch around the order for some things.
Overall, these are the basic things you need to do.
- Get to Mannheim.
- You can take Flixbus (cheap coach bus), the ICE (fast train which pricy but fast), or possibly shuttle services. Since you’re probably confused, exhausted, and/or overwhelmed by being in a new country, I’d recommend splurging on the ICE on your first trip to Mannheim. To get to wherever you’re going, I’d recommend taking public transit (tram or bus), of which many buses and trains depart from right in front of the Hauptbahnhof (train station) where you’ll be dropped off after the Flixbus/ICE. You can either buy a 1 way ticket or a day pass from the ticket terminal machines right outside. Bus/tram tickets with a 90 minute transfer time are not a thing here. You can technically jump the tram without paying, but you’re risking a 60 euro fine.
- Get the keys.
- You will be given separate directions through Studierendenwerk via email on how to get your keys. If you’re going through private housing, then you’ll have to figure it out with the landlord.
- Set up your wifi.
- You may need to purchase a wifi router. Read the instructions in the pamphlet provided to you be the landlord. If you need help, ask a roommate or someone else you bump into in your building or grocery store, or go to the internet help desk in the basement of one of the houses.
- Register at K7 as a resident.
- You must do this within 2 weeks of arriving in the city. I recommend doing it as soon as possible.
- Do this early in the morning, ideally right when they open, otherwise the line can be a few hours long. Make sure to check the hours of operation, as they can differ depending on the day of the week.
- Note that employees at K7 do not speak English. Either they don’t know how, or they refuse to speak it. Try to be optimistic, but honestly speaking, you probably won’t have the best time. You have to grab a ticket at the front desk with a number, and then sit in the waiting room. Your number will be displayed on the screen when you get called. Be sure to bring all the documents you need. Double, triple check that you have everything. All the required documents will be listed on myUniMa.
- Open a bank account
- If you did not pay your rent in full beforehand, you will need a German bank account. Even if you did, I would suggest that you still open one to avoid ATM fees and whatnot, unless if you’re ok with that. I recommend that you make your appointment as soon as possible. My friends and I did not have this done before enrollment at Express-Service, and it delayed our registration with the university by at least a week. This was after waiting 2-3 hours in line at L1 just to be told to come back.
- You will need this to be open by the time you register with the university if you need to pay rent going forwards with Studierendenwerk. Without it, you cannot get your student card (and can’t get your student bus pass), cannot register with the university for courses, and will just be a headache. They will refuse to do anything for you until your get your account open. You just need the printed bank documents with your IBAN, you don’t need money transferred there yet.
- There are many options for your bank: Sparkasse, Commerzbank, Santander, Deutsche bank, etc. Deutsche bank requires that you submit the application online, then mail some stuff in. Santander required that you have a student VISA, or have your residence permit. Sparkasse required that you have a German speaking friend present with you at the time of the appointment for real-time translation. They will refuse to open an account for you otherwise, as it is against their policy (as I understand it). Commerzbank gave me the easiest time so I highly recommend them – they just needed ID, my proof of registration at K7, proof of enrollment at the University, and proof of my rental contract. You might have to hop around to different banks, as I heard that it sometimes depends on the mood of the person you get to see how easy it is to open your account. Same goes with K7 – two different people can go with the same documents to do the exact same thing, but sometimes only one person will be successful.
- Get an EU SIM card
- You can try to pick up any random cheap SIM from a grocery store like Lidl, Rewe, etc, but the signal might not be the most reliable. I purchased one from Netto, and it didn’t work at all. I would recommend going to any Vodafone with your passport (legal requirements) and ask to purchase one of their prepaid SIM cards. The prices are fairly reasonable. Buy it, and make sure to ask them to install it for you and test it for you before you leave. They know exactly how it works and it’ll only take a second for them. Left to yourself, you’ll be very confused.
- Enroll at Express Service
- Bring all of your documents to L1.1 and get ready for your first University of Mannheim documents. They will require proof of your IBAN, your passport, and likely other documents. Bring everything that they might ask for (ex. Welcome Letter, Enrollment Letter, K7 registration form stamped — everything will be in your email).
- Make your residence permit appointment
- Go to the 3rd floor (2.OG) of K7 as soon as possible. I can’t stress this enough. I went in late August to sign up for my appointment, and the earliest appointment time was for early October. Go straight to the office of the person who is in charge of your range last names (ex. Mr. Smith is in charge of those last names Aa-Br, Mrs. Jones is in charge of Bs-Da,…). The list of the exact room you need to go to will be on myUniMa, but also displayed beside the “Welcome Office” at 2.OG K7. You don’t really need to knock once you find the room, just open the door, and ask to make an appointment for a residence permit. Get your paper stating your appointment date, and be on your way.
- Go to your residence permit appointment.
- Be sure to bring all of your documents, and sufficient documents, or else you will risk not getting your permit before your 90 days pass!! It also depends on the mood of the person the day of to see how lenient they are. Some say that you need the German bank account regardless of what other proof of financial resources you have, some say that you only need your foreign bank account showing enough Canadian/US dollars, or the statement from your parents saying that they will fund you. I didn’t end up figuring out how to use the passport photo machine on the first floor and the lady there wasn’t helpful, so I ended up getting my passport pictures done at Foto Düring (Q4), three biometric photos done for 12 euro. There’s also PicturePeople at the basement of the mall in Q6/Q7 (close to the DM). I didn’t want to risk not having all of my documents perfectly in order before the day of.
- Go to all of your orientations (4 orientations overall)
- Meet some people and learn some things!
- There are some for being a student with the Mannheim Business School, one for being in student residence, one for being an international student at the University of Mannheim, and one for how to take exams.
After that, just make sure to know when your classes start (watch out for the intensives), and mark down exam registration times.
Studying in the Quadrate 