<p>@MYOS1634
@b@r!um
I applied to Edinburgh Napier University yesterday for Engineering with Management. I was then accepted today :). Tuition is free and I already meet their conditions. But as Edinburgh Napier is not very good, I will wait with my decision until the application process opens here in Germany. I really don’t know if I should choose the RWTH Aachen University or Edinburgh Napier.
I’ll keep you informed :).</p>
<p>Edinburgh Napier isn’t bad at all, congratulations!
RWTH Aachen is better, but is there a compromise somewhere, ie., if you did Edinburgh Napier for 3 years would you be allowed to enroll at Aachen and get a Master’s or technical degree?</p>
<p>Congratulations!!!</p>
<p>I don’t know how Scottish universities work, so I won’t comment on your options in particular, but I wanted to share my own experience. I personally learned MUCH more at my relatively-less-selective American liberal arts college than I did at my German university beforehand. The American college exposed me to less material than the German university would have, but what I did learn I learned so much better. There’s something to be said for regular homework assignments, several exams per semester and classes so small that your professor will notice and send you an email when you skip class. </p>
<p>German students seem to aim to learn “just enough” to pass their exams. My American classmates aimed for mastery and perfection. I found this new approach to be very refreshing and empowering compared to what I was used to.</p>
<p>In short: I would encourage you to think beyond the “prestige” of a university and think about what you want to get out of college and where you could get that. You’ll have plenty of time to get a “prestigious” Master’s degree later. </p>
<p>
I am not even sure if this is true. I completed the first-year math curriculum in Wuerzburg. Only 20% of their ~300 beginning math majors survived the first year. The exams felt hard at the time, but they weren’t actually any harder than the exams in the equivalent American classes that were passed by 90% of the students. </p>
<p>I think the difference lies in the preperation of the students. Most students in Wuerzburg entered the exams under-prepared. (We did have weekly homework assignments but we were supposed to submit solutions in groups since there weren’t enough graders for 300 students. So most students only solved one homework problem per week. Unfortunately, the homework was actually way too hard for a first exposure to the material. So most students copied the solutions from textbooks or other students and didn’t learn anything in the process. Math professors knew that this was happening but didn’t care. Students who were cheating on the homework were going to fail the exams anyway.) I only passed because I was watching the MIT Open Courseware videos and doing their homework assignments at the same time; that’s where I actually learned the material that helped me pass my exams in Germany.</p>
<p>German universities seriously need to start caring about teaching.</p>
<p>
I think that “academic skills” are overrated at German universities. Unless you want to pursue a PhD and work in academia, learning to use the material you learn is actually way more important than writing sound academic papers. </p>
<p>And like I said, I actually learned the “pure math” material for my German exams from American “applied math” lectures. The American lectures were much better at giving me an intuitive understanding of the material and showing me what its purpose was and how to use it. THEN I was ready to go back to my German lectures and learn the theory behind it. But what German universities do - only teaching theory and getting hung up on “proper form” and expecting students to figure out themselves how to use the theory to solve real problems - that’s just horrible pedagogy.</p>
<p>@b@r!um</p>
<p>Yes, of course we are underprepared. Teachers alway told us we will forget it anyway after the exams, so they only prepare us for exams and thus there are few people really learning for their life.
What happened to you, happened to me always when I started preparing for my Biology examinations - our textbook is bad and the only way I could pass my exams - most times even well - was an American textbook site with the easiest and best explanations I ever found.</p>
<p>So what could make it even harder for me studying at a German university is that I don’t have Physics. I mean I would pass the exams of course, but it may be more easy at a Scottish uni. Thanks :).</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 @b@r!um</p>
<p>Hey,</p>
<p>a short update:
So I accepted Edinburgh Napier University, but I think I will decline it now.
I was accepted by almost all universities I have applied to here in Germany and even the best two unis for that major accepted me: Technical University Darmstadt and RWTH Aachen University. Aachen is the best one of course, but it is a bit farer from home and in Darmstadt can travel to Frankfurt whenever I want :). Also, some students say that the first exams aren’t as hard as they are in Aachen.
Okay, the major is a bit different from what I had in Scotland (Engineering with Management). It is called “Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen Fachrichtung Elektro- und Informationstechnik” which is something like Engineering with Management in the subject area electrical and information engineering. After I graduate, I’d like to work as an industrial engineer, so I think I’ll do an extra course for that, since this is not exactly Industrial Engineering. We have something which is more similiar to IE, called Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen Fachrichtung Maschinenbau, so mechanical engineering. But since I do not like that (and didn’t have Physics class since 2 years) I decided that it’s a better idea to study that in another subject area :).
Of course any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.
Since I am not very sure of that major, I’m also gonna live at home for the first months and commuter to Darmstadt, it’s only two and a half hours every day.
As for my plans to study abroad, I’ll ask USF to defer my application to the future, so that I can study two semesters there.</p>
<p>The only problem which is left is the bad teaching of the universities. I will do what you, b@r!um, did: I’ll look for American lectures, which explain that stuff better than the professors reading out their scripts ;).</p>
<p>If I find out, that this major is the wrong one for me, I will change my major to teaching: Mathematics and English. I’d lose one complete year this way, but it’s better than studying something you don’t like.</p>
<p>Btw, my English began to become worse since I finished school. I seriously have to begin to write and read more in English.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for your great help!</p>
<p>Note that drop out rates at most American research universities in engineering and math are high as well. LACs do a better job of keeping students engaged and learning.</p>
<p>Also, when it comes to loans, unless it is an interest-free loan, inflation will NOT eat away at it. In fact, if the interest rate is higher than inflation, you could owe more and more.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update! </p>
<p>I am a bit entertained that you applied for electrical engineering instead of mechanical engineering because you were concerned about your physics background. Not the most obvious choice, but I hope it will work out for you!</p>
<p>
I am curious what makes those “the best” universities. Entrance requirements? Teaching quality? The range of specialties covered? Research funding? Job prospects? I am asking because I haven’t personally observed large differences between German universities the way they exist between universities in many other countries; certainly not at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>
Careful. Deferring admission would let you enroll as a first-year student in the future. Probably not what you want.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve mainly chosen electrical engineering because it interests me more. I also have an offer for mechanical engineering, because I was unsure first, but I think electrical engineering is the better choice for me.
Darmstadt and Aachen are known as the best universities for that subject in Germany. They have a high reputation at employers, they always have top ranks in the CHE ranking and exams are much harder than at other ‘normal, not technical’ universities. Besides these two unis I also have offers from Duisburg-Essen university and CAU Kiel University, both not as good as Darmstadt or Aachen. It’s not about teaching quality, the CHE ranking doesn’t really care about this point.</p>
<p>Haha, yes that is what I remembered after I posted my reply, but I was to tired to edit it.</p>