<p>I’ve recently found out that colleges in Europe have very cheap tuition and most of them are free so I’m considering going there. How would I go about applying to colleges that are outside the country?? </p>
<p>Admission procedures vary drastically by country, university within a country, and major within a university. You’ll have to be a bit more specific if you want a concrete answer!</p>
<p>That being said, there are a few issues to consider besides application procedures:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Language. Most universities teach undergraduate degree programs in the native language of the country their are in. Which European language(s) do you speak, or are willing to learn in a full-immersion gap year? (College in the UK is almost as expensive as college in the US, so you wouldn’t save much money by staying in the English-speaking world.)</p></li>
<li><p>Recognition of degrees. Depending on what you want to study, you may not be able to use the degree back in the US. Physics professors or computer programmers can move between continents just fine. But anything that requires a professional license (e.g. teaching, health professions) or works with country-specific knowledge (e.g. law, accounting) isn’t easily portable.</p></li>
<li><p>Disadvantage on the job market in the US. If you’re hoping to take your European college degree back to the US, you’ll face significant obstacles finding a job. You can’t easily present to an in-person interview in the US. Your references may be European and not easy to contact. And Your European university won’t be helping you find a job in the US either. (American colleges often have on-campus job fairs, recruiting programs and alumni networks to help put you in touch with the “right” people; no such guidance for you from a European university.) </p></li>
<li><p>And no, you can’t easily work in Europe either. Depending on the country, you may not be allowed to work locally at all during your college education and post-graduation work permits may be hard to come by as well.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I was thinking about somewhere I’m either Germany or France. I have zero clue on how to get started on the application process or what my grades need to look like because I can barely find any resources on the internet. I keep seeing things about studying abroad but I’m almost certain that’s something totally different?? Idk. Also, do you think it would be good for me to take a gap year after graduating high school if I do decide to go to Europe?</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with France, so I’ll only tell you about Germany.</p>
<p>First you’d have to find out if the major you want to study would correspond to a college degree program in Germany at all, and if so, which kind of college it would be taught at. Germany is still big on apprenticeships and many common occupations (e.g. accountants, nurses, kindergarten teachers) are trained through apprenticeships and not colleges.</p>
<p>If your desired training program is taught at a school, there are different kinds of schools it could be taught at.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>There’s a wide range of occupational schools, which offer degree programs that are typically 1-3 years in length. Somewhat similar to community college but less heavy on general education.</p></li>
<li><p>There are Fachhochschulen, which are comperable to teaching universities in the US. They award Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees but not PhDs. Fachhochschulen typically feature small classes and only offer applied majors. They might teach engineering but not physics; management but not economics; you get the idea.</p></li>
<li><p>And then there’s Hochschulen or Universitaeten, which would correspond to research universities in the US. Expect large lectures and many theoretical classes even in “applied” majors. Bachelor’s students are generally avoided by faculty, who usually care much more about their research than their teaching duties. Universitaeten offer arguably an inferior learning environment to Fachhochschulen, but German students attend them anyway because their degrees are more prestigious. (FWIW, Universitaeten also have much higher drop-out rates than Fachhochschulen. At my former German university, 80% of the first-year students in my major had failed out or quit by the end of the first year.) </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Back to admission procedures: German public schools (including universities) are legally required to admit anyone qualified for admission unless they can demonstrate that they are physically incapable of teaching all prospective students. In practice that means that the majority of all degree programs have no enrollment restrictions except a qualifying high school degree. Those with enrollment restrictions usually select the applicants with the highest GPA. You’ll often see the term “NC” (Numerus Clausus); that was the minimum GPA required to gain entrance to that program in the previous year. </p>
<p>Applications for admission happen fairly late, between May and September (depending on whether a particular degree program has enrollment restrictions), and you’ll need your final school grades and external exam results in order to apply. If you’re applying from outside of a German-speaking country, you’ll also need to provide exam results documenting your proficiency in German. You can find the exact application requirements and application deadlines on the website of the university of your choice.</p>
<p>Re qualifying high school degree: in order to attend a Universitaet or Fachhochschule, you’d need high school or college credentials deemed equivalent to a German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife. For example, 4 year-long AP exams (with at least one language and at least one science) would do. Or any high school diploma plus 2 years of community college. You’ll also need to meet the specific prerequisites of the college degree program. For example, anything sciency will require a working knowledge of calculus. (Calculus is a graduation requirement at German high schools and often not listed in the general requirements for admission, but universities WILL check for it for foreign applicants.)</p>
<p>
If you’re not already comfortable in the local language, then yes, you would need to take a gap year and learn it. </p>