Student portraits

I study business informatics and a minor in business administration. I've always been computer-savvy and I did my A-levels at a business grammar school, so this combination was obvious. In addition, business studies was recommended to me as a minor in case I wanted to do my Master's at another university.

I applied to several universities and Leuphana was one of the first to send out an acceptance letter. At first, I went back and forth a bit about whether I would wait for further feedback or whether I would choose Leuphana directly. Even before I applied, I had been here once with my school and I already liked the university. What's more, my parents actually studied here, which is why I accepted the offer straight away.

Of course, you can say what you like about the Leuphana semester and the complementary studies. But personally, I find it nice to get out of the rut and work with other people instead of the same fellow students and faces. That was quite pleasant as a change from the daily routine of studying.

A big advantage is that you have a small general induction and that you are introduced to basic topics such as writing term papers. I haven't heard that before at other universities. It's also nice that you can think outside the box a bit. My highlight of the Leuphana semester was actually my module in history. Not so much the lecture, but I found the seminar very interesting. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what it was called, but it was about economics in Aristotle's politics.

I have to say that I like the complementary studies quite a lot. There are always very interesting seminars in which you can deal with topics that you wouldn't otherwise consider in your studies. 

I learned a lot about writing, not only about scientific writing, but also a little bit about fiction. The seminar Psychiatry in Film was also exciting, where I actually learned a lot about psychiatry and mental illness that I hadn't known before. And last semester I had a complementary seminar on the topic of spirituality and science, which triggered some very interesting discussions with fellow students. It was quite exciting to deal with people and views that are not usually in one's own field of contact.  

Really good. The city is beautiful, you have everything in one place. You also notice that you're in a student city here because you almost only meet other students. If you do meet people who aren't students, they ask the wrong questions at first. As a place to study, Lüneburg is really great, and when I think about the experiences of friends from Hamburg who commute endlessly between two places because everything is completely decentralised, I wouldn't trade Lüneburg for anything.

When I finish my Bachelor's degree, I want to start working. I also considered doing a Master's degree, but decided not to do it straight away.
Finding a career in IT consulting would be ideal for me. In IT consulting, you function as an interface between the companies that want something and the technicians who build and programme something from scratch. For example, this would be new software for a company's accounting, which you then set up and customise together with the company.
But I would also go in another direction. Nowadays, you tend to do a lot of things instead of staying in one job for a long time.

Kai started studying business informatics in the winter semester 2009 / 2010. He already knew how to programme before he came to Leuphana. Through his studies, he wants to bring computer science into a new context.

I already knew how to programme through my previous training. I chose the Bachelor of Business Informatics mainly to put computer science into a different context. However, programming knowledge is not necessary for the degree programme, because you also learn programming and software technology during your studies. 

What I particularly like about the Business Informatics programme at Leuphana is the good supervision. We students have close contact with our professors and can, for example, set individual deadlines and develop better exam topics. We have also concluded weekend events with a barbecue together.

When I started my studies, the Bachelor of Business Informatics had just been restructured and there was only one minor with various electives. Today, you can combine the major with the minor in business studies for the economic perspective, for example, or with the minor in digital media, in which case you study cultural informatics.

Do whatever you feel like doing - that's how I would describe complementary studies. It is a kind of free elective area in the study model with a diverse range of courses, so there is something for everyone. In the complementary studies, I deliberately chose seminars that were not part of my main studies.

Studying at the college is characterised by many options, so of course a lot depends on your own motivation. If you show commitment, you can get a lot out of your studies here, both specialist knowledge and soft skills.

Because I don't have an Abitur, but a Fachhochschulreife and a completed apprenticeship, I went through an admissions interview. That's how I got the place to study at Leuphana. I found the interview very motivating, because the people I spoke to encouraged me that I could do very well with my CV.

After my Bachelor's degree, I want to do a Master's degree. Starting my career directly is not an option for me. I'd rather use the opportunities offered by a degree programme to try out different areas for a while. But starting a career after my Bachelor's degree is no problem; as a computer scientist, you usually get a lot of job offers during your studies.