Justus-Liebig-Universitaet Giessen (JLU)

you can travel all over germany from giessen, because of its central geographical location. frankfurt and cologne are close by.

At the end of the World War II Giessen was bombed very badly, so it does not live up to the image of a small German town. The town in itself was not very pleasant. On the positive side, it locates near Frankfurt, only 30 minutes by train. At the time of my stay the bus tickets were payed by the university, and this ticket covered not only the busses in Giessen, but the trains troughout the Hessen.

Travel by bus + train is free in an area roughly covering Hessen (the federeal state where Giessen is), which is great for discovering the region, as network is dense. Frankfurt is only 3/4 hour away... Student jobs are very easy to find and cover all (and I mean ALL) branches.

One thing I would say, is that even if you have a good knowledge of the language, attend the intensive language course offered by the AAA (Akademisches Auslandsamt), the people there are so nice and they will help you a lot. Plus you will make lifelong friends with the other international students there. Other than that, travel as much as you can, use the Schoenes Wochenende ticket through the Deutsche Bahn, it is the best deal for the weekends. But definatly check out how you can use the different deals with the trains, and look at Ryan Air for travel to other European countries, it's really cheap.

Giessen is not a beautiful city. It would be preferable to choose the spring term to go to, or stay for the whole academic year, because it looks way better in spring/summer time.

have Fun!