German degree as an American affects my chances?

Widelli
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 20:08:37 +0000

Chiming in as someone who did this years ago before it became so popular for Americans to go abroad-- absolutely you can go to school in Germany and then get into a strong US grad school, in fact there’s really no downside to going to school in Germany or elsewhere in Europe (Finland, Estonia, Spain, France, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, almost anywhere except Britain which is copying the United States on student debt), or South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador) or Asia where you can go for free or nearly for free. Especially Germany. The schools there are very, very highly regarded, and if you do well there you’ll be on the short list to be accepted at top grad schools all over the world, in US or abroad. I myself did this and am now at a Top 10 US grad school, with no debt at all, in fact I’m able to live quite nicely on my grad school stipend alone in part because I don’t have student loan payments to worry about. Whatever you do, do not allow yourself to take on US student loan debt, it’s the worst kind, compounds interest, very hard to get rid of. And even if you could pay the insanely high US tuition costs these days, you’re better off saving that money, getting a low-cost degree in Europe, and investing the money elsewhere or starting a business with it. The only catch is that of course you have to learn German, but they offer free courses for that too and help you out (though I’d advise at least doing some basic language study in the US). Also German universities are more no-frills and less hand-holding, you have to be self-disciplined and motivated here, but that’s a critical skill you’ll need to develop regardless. It’s well worth it. Plus the foreign language skills are a huge advantage for your career-- German’s the big European language now even outside Germany, but many over there learned French, Italian, Spanish, even things like Dutch or Russian, making them more competitive.

That’s the best part of studying in Germany, or similar places like France, Netherlands or Scandinavia, it opens up all kinds of doors and options for you all over the world. A lot of the other American students I met there decided to just stay in Germany, or go to other European countries, Asia or South America. The quality of life is very high there, higher than most of the US, salaries are comparable or higher in Germany but with lower costs of living esp. in Berlin. (Taxes are actually about equal, even a bit lower in Germany and France-- you have to remember you pay a lot more in state, property and local taxes in USA than you do in Europe.) My fiancee and I are actually considering going back to Germany when I finish in the US, in part because the childcare and healthcare are much more family-friendly and cheaper (nobody ever goes broke from medical bills or a divorce in Germany, and if the student loans in the USA don’t drive you into poverty, the healthcare or divorce costs these days probably will). It’s also much lower crime overall-- I got mugged and my home burglarized when I was growing up around San Francisco in the supposedly “nice” areas, not fun (and no, the “refugee crisis” hasn’t increased crime in Europe despite the media hysteria, most of them are actually well educated Christian or other minorities). Plus you get 5 weeks of vacation in Germany but still have a lot of ambitious people starting up companies and doing creative projects. What’s not to like? With a degree in Germany you have all this as an option, too.

Don’t worry about things like Times Higher Education rankings, nobody pays attention to them since they’re apples and oranges comparisons that favor the quirks of the US-UK model, for ex. misleadingly “penalizing” European universities for doing their research in institutes (like Fraunhofer) instead of “on-campus”. That’s why you have ridiculous results like German engineering universities supposedly ranking below some podunk schools in the US that happen to do research on campus. Also German “superstar” professors are all spread out, you don’t really have a single Ivy League which is a good thing for you, since you can go almost anywhere and get a top education.