School’s out - German vs. US Universities
It has been awefully quiet around here but that’s what I get from taking two accelerated classes. Squeezing the content of a 14 week semester into a 7 week course, then trying to take two of those while working fulltime has not been my best idea. Thankfully, my university is not too demanding and I came out the other end with a 98% in Global Project Management and a 96% in Applied Math.
On one of my mailing lists, I heard someone comment that the universities in Germany are lacking compared to international universities. I so strongly disagree with that. It may be true if you compare a state university in Germany to Harvard or Yale, but if you compare it to an average 4 year accredited American university, the German Uni (or in my case the Fachhochschule Köln) is so much more demanding. I am smart, but in a German Uni or even a German High School, I was never “straight A” smart. To be honest, I don’t think I ever met anyone in Germany who was a straight A student. In the US, studying in a foreign language while working full time, I am holding a 4.0 GPA.
How do other countries compare? Has anyone else gone to college in the US and abroad? Or is anyone able to compare a German university to a French or Spanish university?
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Interesting post Susanne, thanks for raising it. How rude for someone to suggest that universities in one country are lacking in comparison to another!
I think I have a pretty good insight into the differences between university-level study in a couple of (admittedly all European) countries. I’ve been enrolled in universities in France, Germany, Spain, Ireland and the UK, and had my grades count towards my GPA, often using the standard EU credit transfer system (i.e. I was usually counted as a domestic student, and was therefore not considered to be there as part of a language exchange or for language-learning purposes). I also have second-hand experience of the university system here in Australia.
To take your point on the grades, in my experience there there are definite differences in the way exams and coursework are marked at universities in different countries. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the nitty gritty of GPAs, distinctions, merits, etc. simply can’t be compared across borders.
But there are SO many other elements to consider when comparing education systems in different countries, I wouldn’t even try and reduce the rest into anything short of an encyclopedia! Things like teaching styles, assessment formats, duration of modules and study, proportion of self versus taught study, priority on abstract versus applied knowledge, etc. etc., all vary. That’s why it’s not accurate or even correct for a Diplom or a Maîtrise, for example, to be ‘translated’ into English as a Masters. Even a BA in Ireland and a BA in the UK are vastly different, with the former taking 4 years and the latter 3 - but then our university entry requirements/ high school diplomas are very different too.
Saying all that, I definitely don’t think that the system in one country is any better than in another, and anyone who says so taking a pretty narrow-minded view. The priorities given to various educational outcomes may differ slightly, but it is generally no reflection on graduate intelligence or ultimate education levels in my experience. And having also worked with graduates from a range of different countries, I’ve found that once you get into the workplace and have a few years of experience behind you, the details of your degree really don’t count for all that much anyway…
You know, this discussion could so easily descend into train wreck of stereotypes and culture-bashing - I do hope we can demonstrate our communication skills and intercultural awareness by resisting