HOW TO

Checklist for our exchange students

(revised Wintersemester 2005/06)

First contact per mail or e-mail

After receiving the confirmation and the contact information about the assigned mentoree, you should make a first contact per mail or e-mail. This first contact should inform the student of who his mentor is (you) and roughly what it means to have a mentor (e.g. guidance throughout the first days, local contact that will help integrate to the TUHH student life, etc.).
There are 3 main pieces that should be given to the future mentoree in preparation for his/her trip to Hamburg:

• The beginning of a semester (Semesterbeginn) and the beginning of the lectures (Vorlesungsbeginn) do not always coincide. Also, often, a week of German language courses are often offered before the beginning of the lectures, which the students are strongly recommended to follow. These dates can be useful to the mentoree to plan his/her arrival to Hamburg.
• The student will need a valid EU-health insurance for studying at the TUHH. If the student comes from an EU country and already has one, he should make sure to bring the proper supporting documentation (i.e. the EU-card or a EU-recognized document – E111 formular - from the health insurance company). If the student comes from a non-EU country, s/he will need to get it in Germany (e.g. AOK, DAK, TK, Viktoria, etc.) and requires insurance only for the traveling part and the first days until the local health insurance company will be contacted.
• The student should bring enough Euros in cash to survive the first days. This includes the students fee (242,50 €), the first rent and the deposit of up to three rents.
• Non EU-students will have to get a residency permit (visum) for their academic stay in Germany. For this, they will have to prove that they have available financial resources of at least 500 euros/month for the whole length of their stay. This could be proven by a scholarship attest, a letter (in German or English) from the parents stating their financial support, or a printout of an EU bank account with sufficient funds (after arrival). EU students should also be ready to provide such proof of financial resources.

The student should also be asked about her/his arrival date to Hamburg, the mode of transportation.

A few days before the student arrives

A few days before the student arrives, you should know when exactly and how the student will be arriving in Hamburg. Arrangements for a pick-up at the arrival (airport, ZOB, Hauptbahnhof) should be made, making sure that a precise meeting point has been agree (e.g. at the McDonald’s at the Hauptbahnhof because there are 2 ends to the platform).
You should also make sure that the student will be able to access her/his residence as soon as s/he arrives. Often mentorees arrive on the weekend and arrangements have to be done to obtain the key of the room in advance. Mrs Sophie Dishman of the TUHH Accomodation office (42878-2707) can help make arrangements and you should contact her prior to the student arrival. The student should already have been notified about their residence room; mentors are only responsible to safely bring the student to their accommodation, not to find them a place to stay.
If not done already, you should remind the student of important papers that s/he will need in Hamburg. Such papers are:

• a passport,
• the proof of health insurance,
• the proof of financial resources,
• the acceptation letter from TUHH,
• the high school diploma (will be required when applying to a HiWi job, for example),
• information about accommodation / housing contract if already available
• enough money for the first days where s/he will have to pay the Semester fees (~ 245 euros), the first rent (~ 250 euros + deposit), etc. possibly before to be able to access funds transferred to a newly opened bank account

For arriving students, there is a “Welcoming Package” available with interesting information about TUHH services and Hamburg. This package is available at the TUHH Akademischer Auslandsamt, you should pick up a copy in advance for your mentoree.

The day of the arrival

The day of the arrival, the mentor picks-up the mentoree at the agreed arrival location and brings her/him safely to her/his accommodation place. For this, you have to make sure that the key of the room is available (i.e. when is the Hausmeister there to give the key). After giving the welcoming package to the mentoree you should agree on some time in the following days when you will be able to accompany her/him through the first administrative things to do in Hamburg.

Some time shortly after the arrival

The administrative round! It is important to follow the order, since many documents are prerequisites for others.

1. Einwohnermeldeamt: the mentoree has to register as a “Hamburger”. For this, the passport, the housing contract and the information about the landlord are required (don’t need the signed form from the landlord anymore).
2. Bank: Open a bank account at a local bank (as a mentor, referring the mentoree to your own bank might earn you some rewards from your bank!). The bank will require the Anmeldungsbescheinigung, and the entry visum for non-EU students.
3. Health Insurance: If the student does not already have an EU health insurance, s/he should get one from AOK, or DAK, or TK, or Viktoria, etc. The required documents are the Anmeldungsbescheinigung and an existing bank account with funds in it.
4. Residency permit at the Ausländerbehörde: non-EU students need to get a residency permit for the length of the studies abroad. Required are the proof of studies (acceptance letter from TUHH), proof of financial resources, proof of health insurance, and the Anmeldungsbescheinigung. Check well the opening hours, they are tricky!
5. TUHH Immatrikulation: this is done at the TUHH Akademischer Auslandsamt. The student registers at the university and receives a temporary Semesterticket valid until the full registration documents will be sent to him per mail following a payment of the fees. Required are the health insurance and passport with entry visum. A payment of the fees at the bank will have to be done shortly after.
6. TUHH Info: additional information about academic programs, language courses, excursions and activities for foreign students can be gathered at the Akademischer Auslandsamt.

During the visit on campus, the student can be shown the important places on campus: the computer labs, the Mensa, NIT Fitness Studio, Audimax, AStA and Uni-AGs, the library, etc. Computer access and library will be given after the fees are paid at the Rechenzentrum and the library respectively.
It is possible that the mentoree is interested to meet with the professor responsible for her/his academic program. Here is a short list, further can be found on the TUHH website: Prof. Schmitz for MB and HWI, Prof. Matz for ET, Prof. Kasche for ET, prof. Rombach for BauIng.

And now the fun part

After all this, the mentoree should be all set for an enjoyable time at TUHH. Don’t forget to invite her/his to the regular mentor events. If you wish, you can meet with him for a later tour of the city (not forgetting Reeperbahn!), point out where good shopping can be done, inform about the whereabouts of the other exchange students and other happenings…

Things to keep in mind

A new exchange student is always full of questions about life at TUHH and in Hamburg. Here is a short list of things that could be asked:

• Where is the lectures plan (Vorlesungsverzeichnisse): available online and the Infotek
• How lectures and programs are organized (registration for exams only, difference between Vorlesung, Ãœbung, Seminar)
• Meals in the Mensa, coffee break in NIT
• Sports offered and access to the Fitness studio
• Shopping (opening hours, location, what is better where…)
• Where to get phone cards and internet access
• AStA, Fachschaften, Uni-Ags (list available at AStA)
• AKDAS and other international groups
• Doctors and specialists (to be found in the Yellow pages)
• Bar-evening in the Wohnheimbar (Ebelingstr.) every Tuesday during the semester and on special occasions
• Etc.

The opening hours of many necessary governmental agencies can be found on this website. For further information, you can always contact the mentor@tu-harburg.de.