Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP with the friend who studied undergrad in Germany and then went to US for graduate degree -- did she find it difficult getting into US grad school with the German degree?

HIGHER ED professional who did undergrad in Europe here. I have multiple masters and a PhD. No issue in applying or getting accepted to competitive programs. You do have to pay a 3rd party company to certify you have the equivalent to a US bachelors degree and it won't be necessarily recognized if you work for the government. I have an American friend who is respected in his field and works for the government but whose degrees from Europe are not recognized.

PP with friend here. No difficulty getting into US grad school. She was accepted into multiple programs, but that may also have been a function of her field of study (International Relations or International Business/Communications, I think).

Forgot to mention one other thing. The German students were, on average, about a year older than her. Not sure why that is, but if your child wants to do a "gap year" and beef up on German at say, a Goethe Institute in Germany, that would bridge the age gap.

That's because like in other countries in Europe they have 13 years of school before University instead of 12 in the US. We finish highschool at 18-19 instead of 17-18 in the US

?? Most school systems in the U.S. have 13 years -- K through 12. Are you saying there are 13 years of school in addition to kindergarten?

Anonymous wrote:Our DC is interested in this. If you attended college or university in Germany, how was it? Do you know how it compares to the US college experience?

We are considering this for our kids (still too young now). I am Italian and DH is also from a different country. Highschool is much tougher in europe compared to the US and kids are used to study hours everyday from middle school onwards. I don't think it would be a culture shock for my kids and they speak the language perfectly, but I am worried they won't be prepared for the rigors of European universities...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP with the friend who studied undergrad in Germany and then went to US for graduate degree -- did she find it difficult getting into US grad school with the German degree?

HIGHER ED professional who did undergrad in Europe here. I have multiple masters and a PhD. No issue in applying or getting accepted to competitive programs. You do have to pay a 3rd party company to certify you have the equivalent to a US bachelors degree and it won't be necessarily recognized if you work for the government. I have an American friend who is respected in his field and works for the government but whose degrees from Europe are not recognized.

PP with friend here. No difficulty getting into US grad school. She was accepted into multiple programs, but that may also have been a function of her field of study (International Relations or International Business/Communications, I think).

Forgot to mention one other thing. The German students were, on average, about a year older than her. Not sure why that is, but if your child wants to do a "gap year" and beef up on German at say, a Goethe Institute in Germany, that would bridge the age gap.

That's because like in other countries in Europe they have 13 years of school before University instead of 12 in the US. We finish highschool at 18-19 instead of 17-18 in the US

Look at Trinity college in Dublin (which is a blend of UK system and our system, so more of a liberal arts feel).
also look at schools in Sweden & Denmark which have many tracks largely in English. If your child likes science, than many of the classes in Germany will be in English. Here is a list of places which have English coursework, https://www.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programs/en/?p=l&q=°ree[]=1&fos=0&lang[]=2&fee[]=0&sortBy=1&page=1&display=list

You can do a search on the DAAD website for German university programs in English. This might be a way to bridge the language gap without doing a prep year. Do a program in English, and study German on the side. German will undoubtedly improve immeasurably simply by living there surrounded by other Germans.

I think the trickiest thing about applying to German universities is that there's not really any liberal arts. So, if you're pretty certain about what you want to study (eg, hard sciences, engineering, medicine) then it's clear but if you're undecided you're pretty much forced to choose. There are some English programs in international business for instance that I suppose could be more generalist - would be interesting to hear from anyone who's done one of these.

^It used to be (until 2011) that men had a service requirement, so were usually one year older than their American counterparts (although women were the same age). As far as I understand this has been suspended.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP with the friend who studied undergrad in Germany and then went to US for graduate degree -- did she find it difficult getting into US grad school with the German degree?

HIGHER ED professional who did undergrad in Europe here. I have multiple masters and a PhD. No issue in applying or getting accepted to competitive programs. You do have to pay a 3rd party company to certify you have the equivalent to a US bachelors degree and it won't be necessarily recognized if you work for the government. I have an American friend who is respected in his field and works for the government but whose degrees from Europe are not recognized.

PP with friend here. No difficulty getting into US grad school. She was accepted into multiple programs, but that may also have been a function of her field of study (International Relations or International Business/Communications, I think).

Forgot to mention one other thing. The German students were, on average, about a year older than her. Not sure why that is, but if your child wants to do a "gap year" and beef up on German at say, a Goethe Institute in Germany, that would bridge the age gap.

Gymnasium has been shortened so probably not true anymore re: age.

I was a Congress-Bundestag exchange student and would have been fine for college level German at the end of that program (entered with only high school German instruction). Someone in my program sat for the Abi and someone else didn't but still attended German Uni.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP with the friend who studied undergrad in Germany and then went to US for graduate degree -- did she find it difficult getting into US grad school with the German degree?

HIGHER ED professional who did undergrad in Europe here. I have multiple masters and a PhD. No issue in applying or getting accepted to competitive programs. You do have to pay a 3rd party company to certify you have the equivalent to a US bachelors degree and it won't be necessarily recognized if you work for the government. I have an American friend who is respected in his field and works for the government but whose degrees from Europe are not recognized.

PP with friend here. No difficulty getting into US grad school. She was accepted into multiple programs, but that may also have been a function of her field of study (International Relations or International Business/Communications, I think).

Forgot to mention one other thing. The German students were, on average, about a year older than her. Not sure why that is, but if your child wants to do a "gap year" and beef up on German at say, a Goethe Institute in Germany, that would bridge the age gap.

No tuition costs in Germany and housing/support much less.

Very interesting thread. How does the cost compare?

Anonymous wrote:PP with the friend who studied undergrad in Germany and then went to US for graduate degree -- did she find it difficult getting into US grad school with the German degree?

HIGHER ED professional who did undergrad in Europe here. I have multiple masters and a PhD. No issue in applying or getting accepted to competitive programs. You do have to pay a 3rd party company to certify you have the equivalent to a US bachelors degree and it won't be necessarily recognized if you work for the government. I have an American friend who is respected in his field and works for the government but whose degrees from Europe are not recognized.

I remember reading an article about how well off German families were sending their kids to university in the UK because they wanted the kids to have a more traditional university experience and also to graduate in a few years. The typical German student took up to 7 years to get their degree and the university model is as described on this thread, not particularly congenial. A lot of kids spend the seven years partying and being perpetual students.

The American higher education college model is a very special education format and a number of schools in the UK are also similar, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. I would think carefully about giving up the campus environment and flexibility of the American university experience for a much simpler and less congenial continental university model. It may seem more "adult" but let's be honest here, you have an entire life of adulthood ahead of you. Enjoy being a student for a few years.

PP with the friend who studied undergrad in Germany and then went to US for graduate degree -- did she find it difficult getting into US grad school with the German degree?

Anonymous wrote:Aachen has a great program. One year immersion, and then once you pass, guaranteed admission to their very fine university.

If I were that age, I'd go for it.

AACHWN actually us a really good school!