u/Extension-Manager-22

I am applying to TUHH as an international student this winter semester for bachelors engineering science, and I had planned to do a lot of other things while studying. I wanted to work 10-15 hours a week at a job, join student groups and be active within them, have personal engineering projects to build a practical portfolio withn and also just maintain my hobbies like lifting, boxing and guitar.

But having read some posts on the TUHH subreddit, it seems like I'll be lucky to just graduate in the first place. How bad really is it? How much time a week does the average student in such a program have for a job, clubs, hobbies, a social life, personal projects, etc...?

Is what im planning even realistic? Or am i in for a major reality check?

How much time do you have outside of your studies in a typical week? Do you have time for your hobbies? Do you have time for a job? Do you have time for engineering practical projects?

Im about to apply to the winter semester, oct 26/27, and i wanted to get an idea of what studying this program at this university is really like. I really want to work during my degree, 10 hours a week or so, and i really want to participate in clubs and personal engineering projects. But seeing how much people seem to struggle at TUHH, im starting to wonder if my plans are at all realistic or not. I want to graduate with some savings and a good practical portfolio, but it seems like just graduating is hard enough as it is.

What do you guys think? Is it possible?

Ive read a lot of fics and stories in general where you are required to turn your brain off and remember its just a story to enjoy it at all. Ive read many where the amount of thought and depth put into the story is clear and you are allowed to forget its a story for a second and can enjoy some things without thinking too much.

Ive read very few where there is so much thought and depth that you are rewarded for thinking really deeply about the story, are rewarded for asking why and you never have to tell yourself that something happened because of plot or because the author didnt think of X. Usually, you also dont have to worry in the back of your head whether this will even be worth the time you spend on it or whether it will end well or not.

I always called this "trusting the author" because at some point, you have learned to just trust that the author knows what they are doing, that everything that seems to matter actually matters, that people aren't holding the idiot ball for plot reasons and that they have good motivations that will be revealed later. Things like that.

But when does that appear for you? Are you able to tell before reading whether you can trust this author? And can you recommend the fics that made you trust the author like this?

I've been super disappointed with most of the fics I've been reading lately, and i feel like they contain really good ideas but bad execution. The evil Dumbledore trope is usually a major red flag for quality, but are there any where the idea of an extremely powerful, well-connected, and revered leader of the wizarding world who outclasses the main characters in every sense and can be omnipresent in their lives AND is the antagonist???? That's gold!

But instead, evil Dumbledore is easily outsmarted, easily disrespected, and very easily defeated. Are there any fics that treat Dumbledore as the hyper-competent, very intelligent, magically and politically powerful man he's supposed to be? I dont care if voldy is in the story or not, or if hes competent or not.

Im looking for an extremely competent and clever villain and a protagonist who genuinely beats them rather than winning because plot. Or they could lose, as long as they put up a clever fight.

Anything like that around?