pinkUnicorn

tanzbaer, From what I understood, it's really important to convey why it's necessary (or at least very very important) for you to do your Master's in Germany and at this particular institution. If you have a research project in mind and have contacted potential supervisors, definitely mention that, but I wouldn't go too much in detail. I think a formal proposal with a bibliography would be too much. I talked a bit about my previous academic trips to Germany, the perfect fit of the Master's program I'll be enrolled in to my academic and research interests, and also my desire to learn German. Mentioning that you're open to continuing your education in Germany (PhD etc) could be beneficial, but that's personal. Honestly, I feel like this should be very similar to a statement of purpose, except geared toward Germany (that's what I did and it seemed to have worked =). Good luck!

vautrin, I've done this already, but I'm already accepted to the program, so actually it was even worse, i.e. "Remember me? I got funding, yay!". I'm not sure if this is a formality or actually important, but I think you should email them anyway. It will only better your chances of getting into the program (not that I mean that your chances are not good, but apparently a DAAD scholarship is pretty much a one-way street to get accepted anyway), and you can always use the excuse "well this paper says I should email you, so I am".

Hi nosilla90, Housing is actually my main concern right now. I'm trying to use the "DAAD Scholar" argument to get housing through LMU (writing to various people from the Inernational Office), but that is likely to not work (normally they only arrange housing for ERASMUS exchange students). Regardless, you should definitely ask TUM people whether its possible to book a Studentenwerk room through them. And while you do that, you may want to consider to get in line for Studentenwerk housing (http://www.studentenwerk-muenchen.de/en/accommodation/munich-student-union-student-halls-of-residence/how-do-i-apply/). The waiting times are super long, but you never know, a miracle might happen. I got in line back in February, but still not very hopeful. If all that fails, there are also dorms not affiliated with Studentenwerk, you can try googling them (ex: http://www.newman-haus.de/, http://www.studentenwohnheim-willi-graf.de/, http://www.schollheim.net/). Now that's pretty much it for furnished rooms (usually those are dorms or super expensive rooms for rent for foreigners with funds exceeding our scholarships). I'm still hoping I can get into some dorm, but if not, a WG it is. And that's super complicated, since you need to get furniture, and that just adds to your already substantial list of things to do in the first couple of days in Germany! Anyway, hope that helped a bit, let's keep each other posted on our housing situations!

Oh right, you mentioned this before, but somehow it didn't register =). I'll be doing a Math & Physics Master's at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. It's in English, my German skills are not yet at the level where I could take courses in it. Well your program sounds pretty exciting, and I'm sure there's nothing to worry about in terms of acceptance - your DAAD Scholarship is another argument in your favor!

hereslookinateuclid, it could be worse, it could have been your Letter of Award... Anyway, I was curious - what will you study in Berlin?

East coast (Montreal), and for some reason mail to-from Germany usually gets here super fast

I just got mine today, and I'm in Canada, so I guess everyone's packages are in the mail! The stamp is from March 28th. So much information O_O!

Thanks for the info waveaflag! I'll be in Munich too, so the rent question is tricky. By the way, for anyone who's not planning to live in a dorm, what will you do about furniture? I gathered that most rooms for rent come bare. Congrats vautrin! Where will you be in Germany?

Same here - graduate study scholarship to use for a Master's degree (in theoretical physics). I would think that the scholarship for the arts has a different committee, and thus a different timescale than the study one! slal, I was also wondering about that - they say that a rent subsidy is possible, but it's not clear whether this is just for students with families or for everyone. I'm operating under that assumption that 750/month is all you get, and frankly, it's more than enough to live on. Hamburg is arguably more expensive than many other places in Germany, but it should still suffice. It would be great if your son could get a room in a student residence - those are usually cheaper, so he should definitely start looking into that.

vordhosbntwin, I doubt it, they might have started without having the full list yet (I think that's how they started last year, at least that what the DAAD North America facebook status mentioned). You might hear from them next week?

By email! Official letter should arrive by mail in April. I'm sorry to hear it FranzisKaner, hopefully some other time!

Got accepted today! Good luck everyone =)

Hi all, So any news anyone? FranzisKaner, I called DAAD a few days before you did (maybe around Feb 10ish), and the lady said we should hear back in March. Are you sure you couldn't have misheard? May sounds pretty bad... Also, about 200 spots. Doesn't sound realistic either - last year there were ~165 scholarships granted (excluding the Arts ones), and that was after an announced budgetary increase! In 2010 and 2009 there were about 150. So, unless a drastic increase happened, there's no reason to expect 200... (Not that I'm not rooting for more scholarships & better chances!) Anyway, let's keep each other posted in case anyone hears anything?