Pre-Semester Offers

Lectures in Karlsruhe usually start mid-October (winter term) and mid-April (summer term). The current dates can be found at dates and deadlines (internal link). Four weeks before that, the pre-semester offers start, which consist of the orientation week followed by the pre-semester German course of three weeks. You can find the exact dates for the orientation week and the pre-semester German course on the dates and deadlines page

The orientation week

The O-Phase, as the orientation week is usually called, is organized by the students group of ESN Karlsruhe in cooperation with the IStO and with the help of 60 to 80 local students volunteering to be your tutors for this week

It consists of one week packed with activities to get to know the university, the town of Karlsruhe and its surroundings and is a great opportunity to meet other exchange students as well as locals.

Further information on the O-Phase can be found here. Registration usually starts about a month in advance, around this time you will also receive an E-Mail with your invitation to it.

Pre-semester language courses

As a preparation for your stay here, KIT offers courses to learn German on beginner and intermediate levels (A1-B2) before the semester starts. These courses take place the three weeks before the start of lecture time. For the participation of at least 90% of the classes and the passing of an exam, 4 ECTS can be awarded.

You can enroll for the course directly during the online application process by ticking the box. If you decide to participate in the German language course to a later point of time, please contact overseas-in∂intl.kit.edu.

The course does not replace whatever language certification may be necessary for your exchange application

Exchange students from partner universities and Free Mover students will have to pay a small participation fee of 75€ upon their arrival in Germany. Students from certain scholarship programs (e.g. DAAD …) do not need to pay a fee, as the scholarship provider covers this cost.

For the DAAD scholarship holders from India, this course is part of their mandatory German language preparation period before the start of the semester. However, there are also additional language classes that will start earlier. Please check with your KIT coordinator if you are unsure about the starting date for your German language preparation course.

In addition to this, it is possible to take German classes during semester. Click here for more information about these.