h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

for the sake of internationality

http://www.tuwien.ac.at/english/

location:
centre of Vienna, about 10-15 minutes from St Stephan's Cathedral

number of students: 16.630
founded: 1815

alumni:
Christian Doppler
Viktor Kaplan
Fritz Lang(film director)
Josef&Johann Strauß (composers)
Herbert Boeckl (painter)
Rudolf Steiner (anthroposopher)
Franz Viehböck (astronaut)

studies:
actuarial mathematics
architecture
civil engineering
computer sciences
computer science management
economics/ mechanical engineering
electrical engineering
mechanical engineering
process engineering
regional planning
surveying & geoinformation
technical chemistry
technical physics
technical mathematics

(most students: architecture (3028) and computer sciences (4855))

What means 'Approximate grade requirements'? You mean what you need to get in?
that would be:

Austrian school leaving certificate,
Other Austrian certificate concerning the award of the entitlement to pursue a particular course of study at a university or academy (Hochschule)
Foreign certificate that is deemed to be equivalent to one of these Austrian certificates by virtue of an agreement under international law or by virtue of official recognition of foreign diploma or by virtue of a decision by the Vice Chancellor of the Austrian university in the individual case,
Document concerning the conclusion of an at least three-year course of study at a recognised Austrian or foreign post-secondary educational institution.
Document concerning the conclusion of an at least three-year course of university character.



I'm in my 4th semester of architecture right now. In general I love it.
I'll come back tomorrow, gotta go

sorry, I copied everything into a new window and forgot the subject line

I still don't fully understand the English uni-system, but ours is different. We usually don't have the problem of wether we are taken at a university. Except for a few subjects (like medicine) everyone is taken but of course many students will never finish uni. They chose over the years so it isn't dependant on an entrance exam or so.

Well, and then we don't have colleges.

Entrance to UK universities is generally based on a combination of *predicted* A-level grades and an interview, as most students apply for university before completing their A-levels. I think Oxford is now the only university that uses an entrance exam.

Most UK universities don't have colleges - only Cambridge, Oxford and Durham. Even at those universities, the bulk of the teaching (lectures, practical classes etc.) is carried out centrally by the university. The colleges really just provide accommodation, meals and some small-group teaching (and a bar!)

And in answer to your question: What means 'Approximate grade requirements'? You mean what you need to get in?

Exactly. UK universities can often be defined based on what A-level results they require their students to have for which courses. Medicine and so forth generally have very high requirements at any university (A and B grades at least), while a typical arts or science degree might vary from very high grades at Cambridge or Oxford, to much lower grades at less 'prestigious' universities.

Ah, ok, thanks.

Well, here you just need the Matura, which is the last exam at many schools. They seem to translate it with 'Austrian school leaving certificate'. In fact it doesn't matter which grades you have, you just have to pass.
So in fact getting into most universities is rather easy. In our first year we were 500 students in my year of architecture. That of course brought the problem that we didn't fit into regular lecure halls. Having to sit on the floor because there is no space is nothing uncommon, especially at the beginning of the semester when still all people go to all lectures.
Now we are already about 100 people less. Our number in the last semester is predicted to be only 250.

Wow! In the UK, I think the assumption is that if you're admitted onto a university course, you'll finish it. Obviously there are drop-outs, but the rate is around 7-8%, not 50%.

I suppose the thing that matters, though, is what happens to those who do leave...

Here one of the first things they told us at uni was 'most of you will never finish'. Many people find out that it's too difficult or that they aren't really interested, so they change the subject or do something else. Many people change the subject, it's nothing unusual.

And our drop out rate is very high I think, also for Austria, but it certainly always is much higher than your 7-8%.

We also have quite a few lectures you just *have* to do, and for every exam you only have 3 tries. That should usually be enough, but if you don't pass in the end you have to stop studying your subject.

One of the good things here is that usually you have many possibilities to do an exam. We don't have all at the end of the year. To many lectures there are exams in every month and you can chose when you would like to do it.

Actually Danny, I'm at York and we have colleges. They have them at Lancaster too. They're not like Oxbridge colleges though, they're more like a hall of residence I suppose.

Also, most universities don't require an interview for most courses. Some interview for pretty much everything, so don't interview at all.

I stand corrected! I assume, though, that you applied to 'York' rather than to a specific college..?

And you're right about interviews, of course. I did medicine, so I was interviewed everywhere (although, thinking back, I have a vague recollection that Manchester gave me an offer without an interview... it was a long time ago )

I at first tried to go to a university of arts and *there* I had a test. Drawing and so. Well, I was among the last 20 but then they didn't take me. Today I say: I'm so glad that they didn't. I like my uni.

Yeah, you apply to the uni not a college. You can state a college preference but they basically just allocate you depending on the sort of room you want.

Here the rooms aren't organized by the unis.

Generally it's only for first years here - one less thing to worry about when you're preparing for uni.

Some Oxbridge colleges give you a room for the duration of your course, but that's very much the exception.

Not a bad system. Here you have to run around and search for something yourself. I'm glad that I live close enough to uni to live at home.

ok, I now had a look at the statistics. they're from 2004, no idea where newer ones are.
That year our uni had 2618 new students and 12036 others. 819 of the beginners were foreign, and 2695 of the others... which makes in the whole 18168 students and... erm *calculates* about 19% of them were foreigners. And only about 23% are females!

Hm, funny, another statistics of the same year says we had 3.437 new students... but what in fact wanted to find out is our general drop out rate. In that year 1.242 people got their degree. No idea how many they were in the beginning, probably less than the beginners in that year, but it still would certainly be a drop out rate of about 50%.

Good... erm... what's meant with 'facilities'?

I suppose 'facilities' is anything that makes life easier or better for the students. From cafes and bars, to theatres and clubs, to hospitals and dentists, to libraries and... you get the idea!

Hmm... yes, well, Vienna is full of all that. But directly at uni? There's a café directly in the court yard. Of course we also have a uni library and a public library is not far away. As we are in the inner city all these things are no problem.
Directly in an uni building we also have a shop which sells stuff for model building and paper, biros, pencils and all that. And another one with stuff for computers and so I think.

Yes - being in the middle of a city always helps! I think the 'facilities' question is aimed more at campus universities, which can be quite isolated and so need things like shops, banks etc. on site.