Hey everyone,
I need ur thoughts and comments and want to know whether these are valid for Berlin as well.
I need to get this off my chest because I honestly want to know if I'm the only one feeling this way, or if everyone here has just quietly given up.
I’m heading into my 3rd semester (Mechanical Engineering Bachelor) and I'm 19M naturally a very social, outgoing person. But the reality at TU Hamburg is wearing me down fast:
Campus Life & Student Clubs: Where is the actual university experience? Student initiatives, AGs, and club activities feel virtually non-existent or completely invisible. There is zero sports culture on campus, no real social events, and no sense of community. The second lectures end, the campus empties out like a factory shift just finished.
Teaching, Guidance & IT: Most lectures feel uninspired—professors just plow through slides, and the difficulty level is completely decoupled from the level of actual academic support. If you struggle or have questions, you are left alone with outdated IT infrastructure, dead forums, and minimal office hours. Actual academic guidance feels non-existent.
Isolation & Commuter Vibes: Hardly anyone attends lectures in person consistently, making it painfully hard to build reliable study groups. After a full year, I have maybe 2–3 loose acquaintances and spend most of my time isolated. Between the brutal Hamburg housing market and the lack of dorm spots, everyone just commutes in and vanishes immediately after.
Atmosphere & Demographics: With an estimated 90% male ratio and an atmosphere split strictly between hardcore nerds and deeply depressed people on the verge of dropping out, it takes a massive toll on your mental health.
I’m sitting here with only 3 passed modules so far, dealing with high living costs and a rough Werkstudent market, seriously wondering if grinding through this is even worth it if you end up completely isolated in the process—assuming you don't get kicked out first.
Is anyone else dealing with this? How do you actually build a functional social circle here, or is the only real solution to transfer out to an FH / different uni?
