Where the figures come from

What the asterisk means

A figure or item marked with an asterisk (*) is placeholder data. It is there so the app can be built, tested and shown, and will be replaced when real data is available. Treat anything marked this way as an illustration of the method, not as a fact about the place.

Rents

No real rent dataset has been loaded yet. The rent shown for each area is a made-up figure in a plausible range, so the ranking, the map and the comparisons can be demonstrated. Because rent counts for a large part of each score, the order of the areas is an illustration too. Commute times, amenities and job access are real data (see below).

For real asking rents, use the listing portals linked from each area, or a published rent index such as a city's Mietspiegel.

The list of employers

The large employers you can choose as a part-time job destination are a proposed list that has not been confirmed with the companies. Their locations are real addresses, but whether they hire students, and where, has not been checked.

The documents behind Ask

The answers on the Ask page come from short notes written for this project. Each note summarises one official page, which is linked beside the answer, as it read on the date shown. The notes are not the official wording, have not been checked by the publishers and will go out of date. Before any visa, permit or contract decision, follow the link and read the official page.

Datasets in use

This list is read live from the server, with each publisher's licence and the date the data was downloaded.

Loading the list of datasets…

How the figures are made

• Commute times are computed in advance from the transport operator's timetable (GTFS) and OpenStreetMap footpaths, by public transport and walking, for every departure minute from 07:30 to 09:00; the median is kept. The details are on How it works.
• Amenities and job access count places mapped in OpenStreetMap: supermarkets, cafés, libraries and gyms for amenities; cafés, restaurants, bars, shops and supermarkets for job access. OpenStreetMap is edited by volunteers, so some places are missing and some have closed.
• Area boundaries are the official districts published by each city.

Map and photographs

Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors, served by OpenFreeMap.

University photographs are from Wikimedia Commons, used under their licences:

• TUM: Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0
• LMU: Felix Edelmann, CC0
• HM: Johannes Vogel, CC BY-SA 3.0
• FU Berlin: Gunnar Klack, CC BY-SA 4.0
• HU Berlin: Christian Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
• TU Berlin: Gunnar Klack, CC BY-SA 4.0
• HTW Berlin: Gunnar Klack, CC BY-SA 4.0

Found a mistake?

If a figure looks wrong, see Contact.