<p>OK so I have not really looked at any colleges outside the U.S. and I'd prob never go out of the US for 4 years just because 1) thats way too far from my family for such a long period of time 2) I've pretty much got my heart set on a place...</p>
<p>BUT </p>
<p>just for kicks, does anyone know how competitive colleges are in other countries compared to colleges in the U.S. </p>
<p>more specifically, top colleges, like, idk, Oxford and Cambridge, compared to top colleges here? How hard are they to get into for both someone who lives there and someone who's international? What's the atmosphere like? What U.S. college do you think is their counterpart? How much of a cultural difference? etc etc etc</p>
<p>just for fun. i like foreign! lol</p>
<p>g'day mate.</p>
<p>PS did i spell foreign right or not? It looks completely wrong...maybe I just looked at it too many times? idk lol lol hate when that happens!</p>
<p>^ You spelled foreign right :>)</p>
<p>phew! lol i didnt want a bunch of grammer/spelling hounds to come in here and tell me off! lol thanks!</p>
<p>Let me pick a German university... I'll go with the Technical University of Munich (TUM), just because they don't have an open admission policy like most other German universities. The admission process: send them your high school transcript after graduating from high school (graduations are in June and the academic year starts in October) and a statement of motivation for your aspired major and they either accept you immediately or invite you for an interview with a faculty member (most of the applicants are accepted). You only take classes for your major (and minor, if applicable), no distribution requirements and no electives outside one's major. Lots of big lectures, attendance is not required (except for seminars), and your grade on the final exam is the only grade you get.
Tuition is average for a German university at $600 per semester. Normal drop-out rates at German universities are between 30% and 70% depending on the major; TUM's might be a little bit lower due to the admission restrictions but probably not too much. I don't know which American university might be equivalent to it but it's got an active exchange program with Stanford.
And I guess that for American standards grades are very deflated (e.g. grades in math classes are scaled so that 50% of students will fail a given class, but that's not too bad because you just need to pass 2/3 of your classes on average)</p>
<p>Another interesting fact: TUM's math department uses the largest chalk board in Europe.</p>