RWTH Welcome Week Aachen

Accepting a study place at RWTH Aachen is the first big step. What comes next is a long list of unanswered questions for most international students: How does enrollment work? When do I have to arrive? What is a blue card and why do I need a health insurance certificate before I'm even in Germany? And what exactly is happening during this Welcome Week, which is being talked about everywhere?

This article answers those questions in full. He explains what RWTH Aachen Welcome Week is, when it takes place, what it specifically includes, how to prepare yourself effectively, and why a clarified accommodation situation is one of the most important prerequisites for really being present in this first week.

What Welcome Week is and who it is for

RWTH Aachen Welcome Week is a free introductory program organized by RWTH International Office and aimed exclusively at new international and exchange students. The program takes place at the beginning of each semester. For the summer semester 2026, Welcome Week runs from April 7 to 10, 2026.

Welcome Week is not an optional bonus that you can do without if you'd rather start studying right away. It is a structured introduction to student life at RWTH and everyday life in Aachen, specially developed for people who have not yet known the city, are not yet familiar with the German university system and arrive in a new language or at least in a new administrative environment. Anyone who is in Aachen should take part. The full program is available on the RWTH event portal.

What the Welcome Week specifically includes

The Welcome Week program combines two levels that are equally important: practical-administrative and social.

On the administrative level, Welcome Week explains and supervises all steps that international students must complete at the beginning of their stay. This includes the use of RWTHonline, RWTH's central administration system for course registration, exam registration and timetable planning. It also explains how to set up the RWTH email address and which accounts are required for everyday student life. One specific point that is specifically addressed during Welcome Week is the question of health insurance: Anyone who has not yet presented a German health insurance certificate can find out here which steps are necessary to complete enrollment.

On a social level, Welcome Week is the place where, in a situation, you meet other people who are in exactly the same situation: new in Aachen, without an existing network, with unanswered questions and the need to orient yourself. Anyone who leaves Welcome Week with one or two contacts that you will see again in the next few weeks has made it much easier to get started in the new city. Looking back, many international students describe Welcome Week as the decisive social starting point for their time in Aachen.

RWTH's First-Steps Checklist: What should be completed before Welcome Week

The RWTH International Office provides new international students with a first-steps checklist, which lists all necessary administrative steps before and after arrival. Anyone who knows and systematically processes this list will arrive at Welcome Week much more relaxed.

The checklist includes the following items: participation in a RWTH Prep webinar, which can be attended online before arriving in Aachen, completing enrollment at RWTH Aachen with submission of the correct documents and payment of the semester fee, setting up the RWTH e-mail address and all associated accounts, collecting the BlueCard as a student ID, activating the semester ticket for public transport, registering in the BeBuddy program and finally participating in Welcome Week itself.

Each of these steps has a specific order and a dependency on the previous one. Enrollment must be completed before the Blue Card can be issued. The BlueCard is the basis for using the canteen and various higher education institutions. The semester ticket can only be activated after enrollment. Anyone who is familiar with the system ensures that all the foundations have already been laid upon arrival in Aachen.

Health insurance: What you should arrange before departure

One item on the checklist that is often underestimated is health insurance. An electronic health insurance confirmation is mandatory for full enrollment at RWTH. RWTH uses a completely digital system for this: You choose a German public health insurance provider, tell them that you are enrolled at RWTH, and the insurance company sends the confirmation directly to the university. You don't have to upload anything yourself and can track receipt of the confirmation in RWTHonline.

What many people don't know is that some German health insurance companies allow you to register from your home country, i.e. even before you enter Germany. This means that you are already insured when you arrive in Aachen and do not have to count this item as one of the outstanding issues of the first few weeks. Anyone who clarifies this before departure will enter Welcome Week with a shorter open list.

All further information about health insurance for students at RWTH can be found at rwth-aachen.de/stud-kv.

The BeBuddy program: Why early registration is worthwhile

Parallel to Welcome Week, the RWTH International Office recommends signing up for the BeBuddy program. The program connects new international students with experienced RWTH students who already live in Aachen and are helping them get started. Registration is free and voluntary, and expires www.rwth-aachen.de/bebuddy.

What a buddy means in practice depends on both sides. In the best cases, there is real contact that goes beyond the first semester and offers practical help with everyday questions: Where do you print on campus? Which supermarket has the best opening hours? How do you register with the residents' registration office? These questions sound banal, but they are real hurdles in the first few weeks in a new city, which cost time and energy if you have to navigate them without local knowledge.

Anyone who signs up for the BeBuddy program early has a higher chance of being assigned an actively involved buddy because capacities are limited.

Where to get help if you don't know who to contact

The International Student Center, ISC for short, is the central point of contact for all international students at RWTH Aachen who do not know where to contact with their problem or question. The ISC can be reached at international@rwth-aachen.de and about www.rwth-aachen.de/isc.

There are also other points of contact for more specific issues: the respective academic advisors and student councils for study questions, the Incoming Student Service for exchange students, and the RWTH Housing Advice Service for housing issues. Anyone who has questions before arriving in Aachen that go beyond what is answered on the RWTH website can contact the ISC directly by e-mail.

Why the accommodation situation determines how much you get out of Welcome Week

There is one variable that decisively determines the benefits of Welcome Week and that is rarely mentioned explicitly: the accommodation situation in the first few days and weeks in Aachen.

Anyone who arrives during Welcome Week but does not yet have permanent accommodation, i.e. lives in a hostel, sleeps with acquaintances or searches for new things every day, is spending part of their capacity looking for accommodation. This is energy that is then not available for the program, people and orientation. On the other hand, anyone who moves into a furnished apartment immediately upon arrival will enter Welcome Week without this stress factor in the background.

That sounds like a small difference, but it isn't. The first week in a new city is the most intense and formative. Anyone who experiences this week with headroom, i.e. without open logistics issues, without lack of sleep due to uncomfortable interim solutions and without daily reassessment of their own living situation, has a fundamentally different experience than someone who starts the first semester in a state of logistical emergency.

The Good Shepherd residential project is located directly on RWTH Aachen's West Campus, a few minutes away from the central Welcome Week venues. The apartments are fully furnished and ready for immediate occupancy, the move-in works completely online without a personal visit, and the process is aimed at international tenants who want to move in without Schufa information and with English-language communication. Anyone who clears their accommodation before Welcome Week can fully concentrate on what counts during this important first week.

More about available apartments: https://guterhirte-wohnen.com/apartment

‍