How to Prepare For Studying in Germany 2026 step by step guide

assume you decided you want to study in Germany next year. Much respect for that. Well, there are lot of things to do, so in this video I'm gonna show you step by step how you can prepare for this crazy journey from zero. But before you get excited and look for the best universities and degree programs on the Internet, there is one important thing to do. Checking if you're eligible to study in Germany. Especially if you're coming from non-European education system, it might be the case that your high school or bachelor's degree don't directly align with the German education system. So what you can do is visit the DAAD website and go to the eligibility checker. You can enter your academic data there. It will tell you if you're eligible and it also lets you see what additional steps you need to take. So depending on your situation, you might need to go through Studienkolleg or submit certain language certificates. As second option, you can also check out the Anabin database to figure out if the university in your home country is recognized in Germany. After you get your results from the eligibility checker, we can move on to the next step. By the way, if you're serious about studying in Germany, really recommend you download my completely free Studying in Germany guidebook in the video description. Okay, the next step is to choose the right university and the right course for you. Germany has over 400 different universities and the majority is tuition free. Now, students always ask me, "What is the best university for degree?" To that, can only say that there's not one-size-fits-all solution. Germany doesn't have this concept of elite universities, like in the US, for example. You can get excellent education everywhere, even in smaller cities. The most important thing is that you like the content of the degree program. For example, studying computer science at university might be completely different than computer science at university Just because the programs have the same title doesn't mean that the content is also the same. So, to research and choose your dream universities, there are two resources. One is the DAAD university database. This includes all the 21,000 degree programs and you can look up literally anything you want. Play around with the filters, enter different keywords and with time, you will find good options. If you want to specifically look for English taught programs, you might want to have look at the website MyGermanUniversity. So, during your research, want you to shortlist at least 10 to 15 universities and degree programs. You can put them in spreadsheet and note down the university, deadline, tuition fees and more. Look for universities that align with your career goals. Don't just look at fancy rankings. So, do they have good facilities? Are they located in city that fits your budget and lifestyle? What do student reviews say? Nobody really tells you this, but have deep dive into the course content and look through the "Modulhandbuch". The "Modulhandbuch" is PDF that explains the degree program in detail. You can find it on every university website. Now, it is really important that you don't go all in on just one university but have some backup options. So, from your big selection of 10 to 15 universities, you can pick 5 to 7 that you like the most, rank them and we can go into more detail with the preparation now. So, the next step is figuring out if you need to pass any exams and show certain certificates. These can be aptitude exams like GMAT or language exams. And both take while to prepare, so you need to figure out very early in the process if you have to take any of these. Each degree program is going to make it very clear what the language requirements are. So, let's say you want to prepare for the winter semester next year and in order to get into your dream university, you need to pass German language exam for the A2 level, which is quite common for studying in Germany. Now, the best way to go about this is to start in October or November with the exam preparation. So, you start learning German and take the exam in February or March. What want to say is that these things take time and if you need to study more advanced levels of German like B2 and C1, you need to calculate at least year of study time before you attempt any exam. And big tip from my side, score as much as you can in these language exams, be it English or German. good score will boost your application and lead to fewer rejections. Don't just go for the bare minimum like many students do, but try to give it your best. would say if you're preparing for the winter semester, now is the perfect time to start learning German. have bunch of videos about the German language on my channel, so check them out after watching this video. So, next to the language certificates, there are also other documents that you need to prepare. You can find the required documents on each university website. Let's say you want to apply for the program computer science at KIT. So, you visit their website, search for the course and look through their list of required documents. And if you have any other specific questions, you can always contact the International Office of that university. The documents are different by person, country and situation, but here's list of the most common documents you will need. So, on one hand, there is academic preparation, but we also have the financial side of things. One major requirement for studying in Germany is proof of financial resources. You need to show the German government that you have enough money to survive in Germany because they don't want you to go broke and become homeless. Students from non-EU countries need to prepare something called blocked account. And this is law in Germany. As of this year, you need about 11,208 euros per year, and you put this money into the blocked account before you come to Germany. And after you arrive here, you can access this money on monthly basis and pay for all of your living expenses. know this is lot of money, but it's also safety mechanism to prevent you from going broke in Germany. But you need to prepare this money before going to Germany, so please keep that in mind. Now, there are also couple of scholarships and other funding opportunities available for international students. The application for them also requires some time, and you can check out selection of them on the website, myStipendium or the DAAD scholarship database. So, when you are preparing to study in Germany, always keep the deadlines in the back of your head. Germany has three major ways you can send applications to universities. So, you have the portals Hochschulstart and UniAssist, and some universities also have their own application portals. So, for the winter semester, which starts in October, this one is the most popular intake, the application deadline is usually the 15th of July. And for the summer semester, this one starts in April, application deadline is 15th of January. Now, the applications usually open few months before the deadlines, because then you can get an admit earlier as well. For example, an application portal opens on May 5th, and some universities already start checking the incoming applications on May 10th, for example. So, please invest lot of time into good preparation. Don't waste money on weird consultants, all the information is freely available on the internet. The best time to start preparing is right now. And also, don't forget to download the free studying in Germany guidebook in the video description, and if you have any questions, leave comment, or join our huge Discord community. Love you and stay focused.