Hello,
I am a 17 year old high school senior. I have sent in my applications around the country and have admission to sever schools. My ACT score is 33, my unweighted GPA is 3.86, and I have two years worth of Dual Enrollment courses from community college with a GPA of 4.0. I have multiple Honors courses and two AP courses. I have been doing some research for the past few months since I took a trip to Europe over the summer into moving to Switzerland and attending school there but am very confused about the process. I will be attending college in the US over the Fall 2017/Sping 2018 semesters and using that time to become entirely proficient with German and obtain visas and housing and work etc for the move. However I am not sure how to get this whole process started, what is needed for admission, what are my chances, how to apply, what would my status be, etc. If any of you have experience in this field, particularly with ETH, I would appreciate and advice or help you might offer.
You should graduate with your BA/BS from a US college, and then apply to Germany/Switz for a Masters (or PhD) program. Don’t go to Europe for your undergrad as you won’t be able to transfer over your CC or other credits, which will have been wasted. ETH has instructions on their site about how to apply to their masters programs. Also, German/European colleges have more masters programs in English than undergrad programs. (Unless you already speak German, you’re not going to get to the level of proficiency needed for a masters program in German in one year.)
…and undergrad in Europe is 1) much more restrictive than in the US, in that (usually) you apply to study one subject and only one subject; 2) you are expected to already know the system and navigate it - as an adult- with not much help from the university; 3) most are essentially commuter colleges, with most students living out and much less emphasis on school spirit; and 4) there is generally no way to transfer in: you have to start at the beginning so as @insanedreamer points out, you will lose all the credits you have.
A masters is probably a better way to go.
posted too soon…meant to add:
I say this in a kindly way, but if you are having trouble finding the admissions requirements (which are [here](https://www.swissuniversities.ch/en/services/admission-to-universities/countries/usa/)) or the language requirements ([here[/url]; as you can see they require a high degree of proficiency), or how to apply ([url=<a href=“https://www.ethz.ch/en/studies/registration-application/bachelor/other-certificates/application.html]here[/url]”>Application process | ETH Zurich]here](Language requirements | ETH Zurich)), you are probably not ready to take on the Swiss university system.
Specifically, to enroll as a first year student, Zurich will want a HS diploma + either 5 APs (each with at least a score of 3 and including 2 languages, calc, a science and a social science) OR 2 years of university level studies that they have approved, and confirmation that you have very strong German fluency (Goethe Institute C1 for example). After they review your application they will decide if your admission offer will be conditional on an admissions test.
As you have described your situation, a masters is probably the better way to go.
… furthermore, if you absolutely want to do your undergrad in Europe instead of the US for some reason, then enroll and start this year, rather than spending a year in the US because you won’t be able to transfer your credits as @collegemom3717 pointed out. Undergrad is 3 years in Europe because the high school requirements are generally higher than US, but if you have AP and CC credits then you’ll qualify for a 3-year undergrad program directly in Germany.
You have to graduate from high school first and then apply because you have to send your high school degree/transcript. Also, not many schools have bachelor programs in English.
On the other hand, if they have your major, and you really want to go, tuition is nearly free, which can be a huge plus. So if you don’t mind wasting your Dual Enrolment credits and haven’t gotten into or can’t afford the uni of your choice in the US, it’s an option.
(My D wanted to do her undergrad in Germany so we researched it a fair bit.)
Here’s a new German university with nearly all undergrad programs in English, but it’s an outlier, and has a limited number of majors. https://www.hochschule-rhein-waal.de/en You’ll also find info on how to apply.
Hello,
Thank you all for your responses. I did indeed find the language requirements myself and I will admit I am certainly not proficient at this time, although I not entirely inept either. If I had to guess at this time I would get perhaps 50-60 on a C1 German exam, but no higher. I am certain that I would not be able to master the language to the degree necessary to attend this fall in any case, and will readily consider the advice to get my undergrad here and Masters there. I probably should’ve mentioned this, well certainly should’ve, not sure why I didn’t, but I am hoping to attend med school. For that reason my undergraduate degree is of less concern to me and is more due to my secondary interest in technology (engineering) as well as the fact that a tough course load will hopefully prepare me for a rigorous M.D. program. Given that either if I were to take my entire bachelors here or if I were to simply lose a years worth of credits and transfer, it would still take 4 years either way, thus I cannot say I find that to be the most convincing argument. Further it is not altogether uncommon for an engineering student in the US to take more than 4 years, typically 5, to complete such a degree from what I have been told. I am not greatly interested in school spirit myself by comparison, however I must admit that I doubt I am entirely ready to navigate the Swiss University system on my own. The cost is certainly a strong motivator for my interest, as similarly ranked universities here in the US run between 40-50k in tuition alone (before financial aid and scholarships, of course). I honestly loved Europe during my time there and am certain I could adjust. One question is what would my legal status be there? Would I be a foreign exchange student, just a foreign student, or what if I wished to stay and call Switzerland home?
Working backwards:
International Student, for which you need a D Visa before you arrive and then a residency visa (which is straightforward) from the canon you live in after you arrive
pretty much no chance of that working. to get a visa for you the hiring company has to apply for them, and the job must be at management level or higher. spousal visas are not easy to get either.
I completely get that (it’s how I ended up doing grad school there).
Doing an engineering degree before doing an MD has certainly been done, but it is doing it the hard way! If you are planning on going to med school in the US, for most med schools you need to take all the pre-reqs in the US or Canada. As an engineering student you will have to find a way to fit in a year each of bio, chem & organic chem (with labs), plus keep your GPA up to med school levels. On the other hand, If you are planning on going to med school in Europe, most med school programs start straight from secondary school (there are a few programs for older students, but they are rare and hyper-competitive, even by med school standards).
Sorry if this feels really negative- I am actually a fan of people looking internationally. But forewarned is forearmed 
The main thing is that you will have some good choices, and a lot of paths you can take. If you have applied for engineering programs, there are some great abroad options (for example, I know a recent Ga Tech engineering grad who spent a year working for Siemens in Germany as an undergrad- amazing experience).
Your best choice might be to stay enrolled in a US university, but to take advantage of a year’s study abroad. Then you get the experience, but still get to complete all your med school prerequisites.
A further word of warning: not sure about Switzerland specifically, but European universities can be tougher graders than in the US, so keeping your GPA high can be a problem, even with just one year abroad.
Also, you say in another thread that you are “really quite bad at foreign languages”, which makes your confidence about improving your German in time possibly a bit optimistic.
Are you a native speaker?
Only high school age native speakers would score at C1.(To give you perspective, AP German is B1 and it’s three years removed from reaching B2 which is what many majors have unless they go abroad. And you’re still not at C1 level.)
If you’re premed and you attend school abroad, you’ll have to attend Two years of us undergrad (with no financial aid if you already graduated with a ba/bs) or a special program, often over 18 months, before you can apply to a US medical school.