<p>one of my friend is finishing up her bachelors at a German university, but she is a Chinese citizen who went to Germany to study. Now she wants to get some experience studying in an American university as an exchange student, preferably UIUC.</p>
<p>She wants to know if she needs to take TOEFL for this. She also wants to know if she can write her thesis at the American university and get a double degree, one US, one German.</p>
<p>Again, obviously I can easily find the answers for her if she was applying as a regular international grad student. But she is doing this thru an exchange program. So how does that work then?</p>
An exchange program coordinated between UIUC and her German university, or is she looking for general visiting student programs offered by American universities with no affiliation to her German university?</p>
<p>If she intends to go without a formal exchange program, she should be aware that visa policies make it tricky for American universities to admit foreign visiting students. </p>
<p>
Most likely, but she really needs to get accurate information from the program(s) that she wants to apply to.</p>
<p>
Double-degrees from two different universities are quite common in Europe but almost unheard of in the US. If she wants a degree from an American university, she will have to be admitted as a degree-seeking student and fulfill all formal requirements for the degree. Visiting/exchange students are classified as non-degree-seeking students.</p>