Work hard and never give up
International students express their opinions about RUB in the International Student Barometer
“Learn German, work hard and never give up – then studying at RUB will pay off”. This is the piece of advice international students at RUB would give prospective students – that is one result of the International Student Barometer, a worldwide survey conducted amongst international students, which RUB participated in in 2012 for the third time.
A total of 161,781 students from 193 universities in 14 countries took part in the survey; 603 international students at RUB took part. All international students at RUB (those who have come to Germany to study) were called upon to take part in this survey; this makes a response rate of 21%.
The largest group of students who completed the survey is from China, followed by Russia, Turkey and Italy. Almost half of them are Master students, a good third are Bachelor students and 13% are PhD students.
Improvements in many areas
The students believe that RUB was able to improve in many areas; welcome and support offers for new international students were rated even better than last year – offers which the International Office has consistently extended in recent years. In the field of teaching, the organisation and the support given when selecting courses was rated better. The public transport was also rated excellent: over 90% of the students are happy with the journey to university. The buildings on campus were rated a lot better than in 2011 – maybe due to the many measures that have been taken to modernise them.
Best marks for service and counselling
RUB could also gain points in the area ‘support’ – counselling and service facilities were rated especially good in comparison to other German universities and there was also an improvement of an average of 3% compared to 2011. The students believe that the International Office was also able to further improve its offers so that now almost 90% of the students are happy. The Central Office for Student Counselling, the gastronomy service and the IT support were rated just as good.
There were mixed views concerning accommodation – the students are happy with the price and quality of the accommodation, but criticised the support given when searching for accommodation and the allocation of rooms in the halls of residence. This is most likely in part a result of the difficult situation on the housing market due to the increased number of students.
Always in sight: the career
Career prospects are very important to the participants; when choosing a place of study, the good reputation of RUB and its degrees play an exceptionally big role, as well as the anticipated career prospects. The preparation for the world of work and advice and support when starting a career are also especially important for the participants during their studies – however RUB has a lot of catching-up to do in this area.
Further desire for integration
Just like in 2011, many participants expressed their desire to get to know more German students and experience more of the German culture. The RUBiss Team from the International Office took many measures to improve integration in everyday university life: “Campus Guides” accompany the new international students during the orientation days and new events are especially aimed at German and international students. Maybe this was the reason why the new international students reported fewer problems in this area.
Learn German!
Learn as much German as you can – that is the most important piece of advice that the international students would give future students, but this is also an area they have problems in: In comparison with other German universities, the possibilities of learning German at RUB were no rated so well.
To sum up what most students who participated in the survey said about studying at RUB: Study hard, don’t give up and then studying at RUB will pay off on a personal and academic level: 84% of the participants would also recommend RUB to their friends.