<p>Hi!
I'm applying to schools in the US, England, Scotland, and Germany. How to apply to schools in the first three locations is self explanatory, but applying to German universities is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be, seeing that I'd like to go straight to medical school (I am willing to do studiumkolleg for a year if I don't get accepted right away).
What do German universities look for in a student? I heard that you need a certain score on the ACT, and a certain combination of APs. I got a 33 on the ACT, and have taken AP Psychology, AP US Government, AP World, AP Chemistry, AP Mico/Macroeconomics, AP Language, and got 4s and 5s on all of them. This year (senior year) I'm taking AP Biology, AP Literature, AP French, and AP Calculus A/B. I'll most likely get 4s and 5s on these too. I took the DSD 1 and passed it, and I'm willing to take AP German if I need to.
I have dual US/German citizenship, which apparently means I can't apply as an international applicant, I have to apply as a German applicant. What does this mean for my chances of acceptance, and how will they look at my American transcript but still admit me like a German citizen? Can I still attend studiumkolleg as a German citizen?
Do German universities care about extracurriculars, like for example I'm captain of the debate team, or things like where I'm currently employed? I worked at a german hospital for three weeks last summer, would that be of interest/factor into my chances of admission?
If you have any anecdotes or recommendations about applying, student life, the medical school you think is the best, etc, please share!! Thanks :) </p>
<p>The German citizenship will work in your favor. (In fact, getting into medical school in Germany as a foreigner is about as hard as getting into MIT when you’re applying from China.)</p>
<p>Admission to medical school works differently from admission to most other subjects. There are two rounds of admission.</p>
<p>In the first round, 40% of the medical school spots are allocated by a central agency, the Stiftung fuer Hochschulzulassung (formerly ZVS). Half of those go to the applicants with the highest GPA. The other half go to applicants on a wait list. (The current waiting time is 12 semesters, and semesters when you are enrolled at a German university in another major don’t count towards your waiting time.)</p>
<p>In the second round, the remaining 60% of the spots are allocated by the medical schools / universities themselves. Many universities let the same agency choose their students for them, according to criteria the university specifies. They can choose from a combination of the following criteria:
- GPA (computed as a combination of school grades and standardized test scores)
- scores from a university-administered medical school admission exam
- former military service
- completion of a medical apprenticeship (that’s a 3-year full-time on-the-job training program)
- the expressed university preferences of the applicant </p>
<p>Some universities opt to select the remaining 60% of their students themselves. The admission process is still generally driven by GPA. Universities are legally restricted in what criteria they may use for admission (e.g. alumni affilition or donor status would be illegal selection criteria) and they tend to prefer “hard” criteria (anything that can be measured objectively) over “soft” criteria (e.g. interviews, social engagement, etc). That’s because students can sue their way into the university if they can argue in front of a judge that they were more qualified by the university’s published admission criteria than a single other student who was admitted.</p>
<p>Even if you don’t expect to be successful in the first round, you’ll still need to submit a central application in order to qualify for the university selection round. </p>
<p>Just as a heads up, I graduated top of my high school class in Germany and scored 34 points on the ACT as a non-native speaker of English. My high school grades + test scores would have been barely high enough to qualify for a spot at the least popular medical schools in the second round. (Getting a spot in the first round requires perfect grades <em>and</em> test scores.)</p>
<p>A few useful links.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the central admission agency: <a href=“Bewerbung zum Studium in Deutschland: Hochschulstart”>Bewerbung zum Studium in Deutschland: Hochschulstart;
<li><p>a list of universities with medical programs and a description of their 2nd round selection process: <a href=“http://www.hochschulstart.de/index.php?id=4550”>Bewerbung zum Studium in Deutschland: Hochschulstart;
</ul>
<p>By the way, you may come across the term “NC” a lot. That stands for Numerus Clausus; it’s the minimum GPA you’d need to qualify for admission to a particular program in a particular term. </p>
<p>
Most universities would require the DSD 2.</p>
<p>
Why would you want to? With AP Calculus, AP Bio and AP Chemistry, you’re perfectly prepared to study medicine at a German university. You’d just be re-taught those same subjects at the Studienkolleg. That aside, attending a Studienkolleg would do nothing to help your admission - in fact, you have to get admitted to a university first before you can even attend a Studienkolleg. </p>
<p>
No, they wouldn’t care about any of those. </p>
<p>
University admission is super bureaucratic with absolutely no wiggle room if you don’t follow procedure to a T. Find out what you need to do when well ahead of time. (For example, if you are offered admission, you may have to register in person on a specific day. Miss your appointment and you lose your spot. The only accomodations would be made for verified medical emergencies.) </p>
<p>thank you so much!</p>