German degree as an American affects my chances?

nanotechnology
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 19:13:40 +0000

OP, it sounds like you’ve got a few things to learn about the reality of educational system, however smart you may be. You said, “I know how research works,” but what does that actually mean? PhD programs are looking for students who have demonstrated that they can be successful researchers, which means having serious research experience in an academic setting. The way the German system is set up, with 3 year bachelors and 2 year masters, this research experience almost always comes in the masters portion of the education. Unless you do something exceptional, you’d be hard pressed to get into a top notch US PhD program without the masters, no matter how much time you “want” to spend in Germany.

It also seems a little naive to guarantee how you will perform in a different educational system, in a different country, with a different culture, even if you do know the language. That doesn’t make you any less smart; that’s real life .