Student looking for accommodation in Berlin

The cheapest way to live in Germany and popular among students is a room in a shared apartment known as a Wohngemeinschaft or WG. It is important that people get along so similarity in ages, interests etc. can be important. Usually one will not be accepted unless the people already living there decide for you. Normally they want to meet the person themselves but in this day and age if one has not arrived in Germany then maybe an online chat of some sort can be arranged.

The way it is usually done is by people looking for a room, or offering one, put up notices on a message board at university. Maybe you have contact to someone in Berlin that could put up a notice for you? Otherwise, you might have to settle for temporary accommodation like a hotel or hostel and start looking after you arrive. This means uncertainty when, where and if you will find something but one can also better judge a place, the roommates and the neighborhood by seeing them with their own eyes. If one hasn't found something in advance then it really makes sense to show up a couple of weeks early if possible to look for a room before classes start.

@TominStuttgart thank you very much for the answer! I found it very helpful

From what I heard, Berln has one of the tightest housing markets in Germany. So don't expect the search to be easy or quick! So sooner you loosen your (rather rigid) criteria, the better.

Also, as Tom already hinted above, it will be much easier to find a place once you are in Germany. Most landlords and house-mates want to meet the candidates in person before they decide - so an applicant whoisn't here will usually be removed from the shortlist. And also you should have a look at the place, as there are any duds or even scams.

Additional sites to look at are kleinanzeigen.de and wg-gesucht.de. The are, of course, entirely in German, as are all tenancy contracts - so you should get a local friend's help to sort this out if you aren't fluent!

One hears about how hard it should be to find a place in Berlin but also how expensive it is. But it is not as expensive as Munich or Stuttgart. So I think it is not really worse than most major cities in Germany - they all have very tight housing markets. And foreigners are always at a disadvantage to find something on their own.

The typical student WGs however have an ongoing turnover as students graduate or go elsewhere. Every semester there are places coming available. This is in contrast to many normal apartments that a family might get and often stay in for the next 30 or 40 or more years. And if one doesn’t have a good place to stay long term by the time classes start, then they might ask around with their new classmates. An insider tip is often the best way.