I studied at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt (UAS Erfurt) during the 2012-2013 academic year as a foreign exchange student from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL, and quite frankly, I loved it.

First off, the location is great. Erfurt, a medium-sized city in the heart of Germany, is the best of a large and small city combined, and as a result has a lot to offer. There are many festivals and events that occur at least once a month – Oktoberfest, the Wine Festival, Night of the Museums, and “Fête de la Musique,” and much more. There are a ton of museums, nice restaurants, parks, cafes, shops, many sports clubs and professional teams, decent nightlife, and a fairly sizable student population. If you want something a bit less local, there’s plenty of variety to be had in Thuringia: Weimar is a very artsy and cultural city about 20 minutes by train; Jena, a city bustling with student life; Oberhof for its great winter sport activities. Then, if you’re feeling adventurous and want to explore the rest of Germany, well, you have the option of traveling by train. With Erfurt being so central, you can get anywhere in Germany essentially within 4 hours – Frankfurt is 2 hours away, Leipzig is 1.5 hours, Berlin is 2.5 hours, and Munich is 4 hours. It’s hard to not find something to do while you’re here. The academics are nothing to scoff at either.

While I was a student at the UAS Erfurt, I took 8 courses under both the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs of Applied Informatics, and found them to be highly enjoyable and beneficial as they tended to focus a lot of hands-on work. For example, I finally had the chance to learn Android programming in Mobile Computing I & II modules (Master’s), and now I have two apps and a GitHub to show off for it! Then there is Computer Game Programming, which isn’t a lecture, but a slice of a game studio being ran out of a classroom in disguise – standup meetings and all. And lastly, IT Architecture, which gives you a glimpse of what true business IT is all about.

Overall, I found the professors and lecturers to be highly knowledgeable and friendly, and the course offerings to be well varied and interesting. Overall, my experience was great, and I miss every moment of it. If you have the chance to go, don’t think, just go! You won’t regret it.

Corlan McDonald