Generally, it is recommendend to follow the study outline given in the appendix of the examination rules. These study outlines are the basis for the schedluing of lectures: Each depicted study outline must be free of conflicts in the schedule. In turn, conflicts with lectures from other semesters or specification fields may occur, depending on the individual study outline.
Please note: Less than 3% of all former Metallurgical Engineering students and all current Materials Engineering students manage to complete the study major in 4 semesters as intended. The average study duration is 6-7 semesters. Consequently, nearly all students are following their individual study outline.
Sould you fail to pass all exams of the first semester courses you will have to make up your mind and decide whether you will be trying to pass these first semester exams in the second semester without listening to the lecture again or if you will continue with the second semester lectures and repeat the remaining first semester subjects in your third semester. You may apply a mixture of both, of course.
In the Summer intake you will have to select a specification field immediately upon start of the semester to enable the RWTH Online system to assign lectures to your curriculum. If you feel able to follow the second semester lectures you may register for the respective exams and try to pass as many as possible. In your first Winter semester you will join the new Winter intake students for your first semester lectures. Should you not have passed all lectures of the Summer semester you will have to make a plan how to continue (see section above).
The alternative is to “use” your first Summer semester to get adopted to Aachen, fix accommodation if necessray, deal with town hall administration, Visa issues etc., follow some lectures and prepare for a “restart” in October. This strategy is mainly recommended if you arrived late in the semester and missed significant parts of the lectures/exercises.