Details

• Germany
• MAMark-21
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

There is almost no competition for Mannheim Business school, so I can almost guarantee you will get here if you want :) In my opinion, the most important thing to get a spot at university abroad is good grades.

2. Accommodation

I've found my room in a shared flat on wg-gesucht, which took me a month. I started searching 2 months before moving here. Before I started my search, I heard it's hard to find a flat/room in a shared flat here but I would strongly disagree. It's also cheap in comparison with Vienna - I paid 450 Eur for a big room in the very city centre. It took me ~10 min to get to the university. However, Mannheim is not the safest place, so when people tell it's really important to be cautious and maybe not be alone at night - believe it :)

3. Academic life at host university

Campus infrastructure is as cool as in Vienna! But the big difference that people here study really A LOT. I think I never studied that much in my life. So be ready to start preparing for some of your exams weeks in advance. Also who would believe me if I said it was almost impossible to find a place in the library in the morning during exam season? :) What surprised me as well is that some courses don't have group work during the semester, so the exam is 100%.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport is very convenient. You pay ~40 Eur/month and can use all public transport in Germany + regional trains. Safety is not Mannheim's strong side, especially after Vienna, but if you're cautious enough, it's fine. There are not that many event in Mannheim but it's a super good location for traveling around Europe, especially with the DB ticket. I traveled almost every weekends. Sports is also cheaper here. I paid 30 Eur for membership in John Reed and the gym was 8 min away from my place. There also even cheaper options, and I know the uni offers various courses but you have to register in the beginning of the semester.

6. Testimonial

Strong uni, convenient location, and like-minded people — that's how I'd describe my experience in Mannheim. Life in Mannheim was a nice balance of studying, traveling, seeing your friends, doing sports and just keeping it slow (I'm not talking about exam season now:). That's what I needed for the semester abroad.