&gt; six years in waiting for medicine is THE NORM, even with a perfect 1.0 Abitur degree<p>That&#x27;s just not true. A friend of mine recently (2012) started studying Medicine in Germany with a 1.4 Abitur and an excellent Medizinertest result (an aptitude test for prospective medical students) and had the choice of the <i>full</i> range of Universities, including Heidelberg etc, with zero waiting time.<p>&gt; kick you out when you fail the same exam three times<p>I never understood how someone can fail the same exam three times and still think that they&#x27;re studying the right subject. Either you buck up and do it properly the second time, or you very likely have a severe lack of essential foundations.<p>&gt; the housing situation<p>Karlsruhe is said to be one of those, yet several student dorms (Wohnheime) have empty rooms. Much of this is hoity-toity kids who don&#x27;t want to share a bathroom and living room with ten others.<p>The housing situation is much worse in England, where shitty university accommodation will run you around £100&#x2F;week (550€&#x2F;month) even in smaller cities, whereas a Studentenwohnheim in Germany will cost you roughly 200€&#x2F;month.