Hi I’m most likely going to go get my Bachelor’s degree in Hamburg, Germany and then come back to the U.S. to do graduate (doctoral). If I do that, will my bachelor’s degree from Germany lower my chances of getting into schools like MIT or will they just not accept it at all?
Do you think they only accept students from US colleges for doctorates?
Many German universities are very highly regarded. An international degree may actually increase your chances of admission in some circumstances. It all depends on what you take and how well you do.
If you’re going to a German university, I strongly suggest that you get a Master’s and not just a Bachelor’s. The Master’s is considered the standard degree for students to earn before they move on to a job or graduate school in their field in Germany.
@“Erin’s Dad” you don’t have to get nasty I was asking a simple question because I’m American. No need to ask me a question and make me feel stupid.
@thatrunnerkid well I’m not going to stay in Germany I’m coming back to America
Why are you going to Germany?
Do you currently live there? Are you fluent enough to skip studienkolleg?
German universities deliver excellent content in bare -bones conditions.
Three main issues :
- if you don’t have European citizenship it’ll be difficult for you to get internships
- there’s massive weeding - typically half to 2/3 students get F 's. It’s kind of 'normal’to fail and repeat courses there… Except in the US, it’s be hugely detrimental.
- you can’t do research till the Master’s level, which is why it’s better to apply to graduate schools with a European Master’s. However, it means 6 years or so till you can apply.
@MYOS1634 I am more than fluent, I am native in German. Why would it be difficult to get citizenship if I’m not a citizen? And why can’t I get just bachelors and go to MIT. I know how research works. I don’t want to speak 6 years in Germany, just 4.
spend*
I’m not a stupid kid, my IQ is very high and I have a 4.0 I can multitask and I’m ranked very highly I have no doubt I can handle college. I’m in high school but I have taken many college classes getting a 4.0. I don’t feel comfortable with you questioning my ability because I am very good at school and I’ve never gotten lower than an A+ in my life. Germany will be no different I can gaurentee it
So, you’re an American with German parents.
You clearly haven’t researched German universities much if you think weed out correlates with IQ, that you don’t need research to get into a PhD (let alone MIT), and that the German bachelor’s degree is a four year degree.
Since you speak German natively you can easily read the pages Germany has designed to help foreign-educated students decide if they’re interested.
My advice would be to look into ETHZ and Fachhochschuele.
@b@ru!m ideas for this poster?
Chiming in as someone who did this years ago before it became so popular for Americans to go abroad-- absolutely you can go to school in Germany and then get into a strong US grad school, in fact there’s really no downside to going to school in Germany or elsewhere in Europe (Finland, Estonia, Spain, France, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, almost anywhere except Britain which is copying the United States on student debt), or South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador) or Asia where you can go for free or nearly for free. Especially Germany. The schools there are very, very highly regarded, and if you do well there you’ll be on the short list to be accepted at top grad schools all over the world, in US or abroad. I myself did this and am now at a Top 10 US grad school, with no debt at all, in fact I’m able to live quite nicely on my grad school stipend alone in part because I don’t have student loan payments to worry about. Whatever you do, do not allow yourself to take on US student loan debt, it’s the worst kind, compounds interest, very hard to get rid of. And even if you could pay the insanely high US tuition costs these days, you’re better off saving that money, getting a low-cost degree in Europe, and investing the money elsewhere or starting a business with it. The only catch is that of course you have to learn German, but they offer free courses for that too and help you out (though I’d advise at least doing some basic language study in the US). Also German universities are more no-frills and less hand-holding, you have to be self-disciplined and motivated here, but that’s a critical skill you’ll need to develop regardless. It’s well worth it. Plus the foreign language skills are a huge advantage for your career-- German’s the big European language now even outside Germany, but many over there learned French, Italian, Spanish, even things like Dutch or Russian, making them more competitive.
That’s the best part of studying in Germany, or similar places like France, Netherlands or Scandinavia, it opens up all kinds of doors and options for you all over the world. A lot of the other American students I met there decided to just stay in Germany, or go to other European countries, Asia or South America. The quality of life is very high there, higher than most of the US, salaries are comparable or higher in Germany but with lower costs of living esp. in Berlin. (Taxes are actually about equal, even a bit lower in Germany and France-- you have to remember you pay a lot more in state, property and local taxes in USA than you do in Europe.) My fiancee and I are actually considering going back to Germany when I finish in the US, in part because the childcare and healthcare are much more family-friendly and cheaper (nobody ever goes broke from medical bills or a divorce in Germany, and if the student loans in the USA don’t drive you into poverty, the healthcare or divorce costs these days probably will). It’s also much lower crime overall-- I got mugged and my home burglarized when I was growing up around San Francisco in the supposedly “nice” areas, not fun (and no, the “refugee crisis” hasn’t increased crime in Europe despite the media hysteria, most of them are actually well educated Christian or other minorities). Plus you get 5 weeks of vacation in Germany but still have a lot of ambitious people starting up companies and doing creative projects. What’s not to like? With a degree in Germany you have all this as an option, too.
Don’t worry about things like Times Higher Education rankings, nobody pays attention to them since they’re apples and oranges comparisons that favor the quirks of the US-UK model, for ex. misleadingly “penalizing” European universities for doing their research in institutes (like Fraunhofer) instead of “on-campus”. That’s why you have ridiculous results like German engineering universities supposedly ranking below some podunk schools in the US that happen to do research on campus. Also German “superstar” professors are all spread out, you don’t really have a single Ivy League which is a good thing for you, since you can go almost anywhere and get a top education.
OP, it sounds like you’ve got a few things to learn about the reality of educational system, however smart you may be. You said, “I know how research works,” but what does that actually mean? PhD programs are looking for students who have demonstrated that they can be successful researchers, which means having serious research experience in an academic setting. The way the German system is set up, with 3 year bachelors and 2 year masters, this research experience almost always comes in the masters portion of the education. Unless you do something exceptional, you’d be hard pressed to get into a top notch US PhD program without the masters, no matter how much time you “want” to spend in Germany.
It also seems a little naive to guarantee how you will perform in a different educational system, in a different country, with a different culture, even if you do know the language. That doesn’t make you any less smart; that’s real life .