<p>Hi,</p>
<p>First of all I am an international student from Germany woh applied to the 9 universities in CA. Unfortunately only Santa Cruz and San Diego accepted me, my big favorite UCLA or Santa Barbara didnt. As a matter of fact, I only can afford to study 4 years in the USA. Basically that means that I could do my BA, but not the master.
So I could also do my BA in Germany and apply again for UCLA and other top universities in order to achieve the master degree. However that would mean, that I have to take the TOEFL and SAT again and again ( SInce I really want to aim for >2300 this time ). What would you advocate ?</p>
<p>There are different exams for grad school admission depending on the field of study. You might need to take the GRE, the GMAT, or another exam as well as the TOEFL. You don’t need to re-take the SAT.</p>
<p>Your plan is a very good one. It will probably save you a lot of money.</p>
<p>You want my opinion … DON’T leave Germany. You will appreciate Germany if you come to my country and listen to the youth here, EVERYONE DREAMS of going to study in Germany. They prefer it over the US. isn’t college education there free ?!! How would anyone leave a free college education and travel to a country where one will have to pay thousands and thousands (and possibly hundreds of thousands ) to study there !!</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to study and whether you want to get a PhD. The quickest route is: BA in Germany, Masters in the US, then PhD in Germany because you don’t need additional courses after the Master’s unlike in the US)
College in the USA is quite different from Germany. It’s more like school (boarding school, I should say.) If that’s what you’re looking for, then a BA in the US may be right. However, you could also look at the “university colleges” in the Netherlands for a lot less money (program is in English) or perhaps study in England. Or get a BA in Germany and include a semester or year abroad.</p>
<p>The university experience in Germany isn’t comparable to the one in the US, and unless you have either unlimited financial resources or very specific reasons for attending a US school, it probably isn’t worth it. Since money is an issue for you, your best option is probably to do your undergrad in Germany and save your money for grad school. You’ll have another chance to go to the program that best matches your interests, and your goals may have changed or evolved by then. - and no, you won’t need your SAT. It’s the GRE (most likely) that you’ll want.</p>