We (Yannik, Christoph and Jan-Luka) started our dual studies at TecAlliance in September. Yannik and Christoph are studying Business Informatics with a specialization in Software Engineering and I am also studying Business Informatics, but with a specialization in Sales & Consulting. At the end of November we started our first theory phase at the DHBW Lörrach.
The housing situation in the Lörrach area is quite problematic because of the close distance to Switzerland (it is about 5 km to Basel). Accordingly, living space is expensive here. The whole thing is made even more difficult by the fact that Lörrach itself is not a particularly large city and the student’s housing is very limited anyway.
On our first day at DHBW we were welcomed by the head of the course and our future lecturer. We have discussed all kinds of organisational matters, e. g. how it works with our credit points, when we have to write which practical work and much more. Afterwards we were divided into the different courses and students from higher semesters told us what the everyday life at the university really looks like and what we have to prepare for. We also had the opportunity to clarify open questions.
After this short introduction our first day was already over. In the following days we have already attended our courses. My first course was about decision theory and decision making with the help of utility analysis. Yannik and Christoph started with the law course.
Due to its size, Lörrach does not offer many possibilities for free-time activities, but there are – as we have been told – some good bars. The bigger cities, which are here in the surrounding area; e. g. Basel or Mulhouse (France) are especially worth seeing at Christmas time.
Our schedules look very relaxed so far, and it happens that we only have a few courses in one week. Our modules are quite similar so far, e. g. we have the following courses: Law, Mathematics, Introduction to Business Informatics and Introduction to operational Economics.
All in all, we like it down here in the south quite well and we are generally satisfied with the university and our professors. However, we are all looking forward to spending our holiday and Christmas with our families at home.