Author Topic: Studying in Germany  (Read 4312 times)

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Offline ThroyTopic starter

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Studying in Germany
« on: September 14, 2015, 06:26:49 pm »
I'm hoping some of our native German speakers could help me out here.  I was looking into getting my masters for electrical engineering here in Germany, however, my BS in Electrical Engineering from the States isn't recognized here.  So I was thinking, if I have to redo my Bachelor again I would do it in software engineering instead of redoing my EE degree since that doesn't make sense to me.  My questions are, under what does software engineering fall here? Is that considered Informatik?  The other question I have is if there are any Fernstudiumen that are ran by the state or are they mainly just private?
 

Offline MiataMuc

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2015, 07:13:24 pm »
Hi, depending on how good your german is, there is the Fernuni Hagen, which is in a way state run: http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/studium/studienangebot/bachelorstudiengaenge/
 

Offline con-f-use

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2015, 07:38:17 pm »
Did they give a reason for not accepting your BSc? What college did you receive your degree from? It is highly unusual, they should at least accept some of the courses you did, so you don't have to start from scratch. A BSc in Informatik covers the basics of computer science, information theory, math and software engineering. There are more specialized degrees depending on which university you plan on going to. The more practical degrees are at "Fachhochschule" (think of community college). With some of those, you might have trouble doing your MSc with a proper university.

Generally studying at a German university is more strict and theoretical than you might be used to from the states. Prepare to learn a lot from books and lecture notes not so much from courses and people. My biggest advice is to get acquainted with the rules and formal requirements of your university. Otherwise it might bite you in the ass.

That might not apply to Universities that don't profit from the "Exzellenzinitiative" (what it sounds like). I got my BSc from one of those and it wasn't too pleasant.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2015, 07:51:15 pm by con-f-use »
 

Offline ThroyTopic starter

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2015, 08:10:06 pm »
As I was renewing my residency permit this year, the foreigner's office had tried to get me an EU Blue Card (IIRC) and was trying to give me an indefinite residency permit.  For that they asked for a copy of my degree from the states.  The guy looked it up in some database and said that it wouldn't be recognized here since it wasn't listed.  From there I just assumed the universities wouldn't recognize it either.  I even talked to a lady that helps people with getting their degrees recognized.  I suppose I should just talk to a university and see what they say.

I had studied at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  It was a four year college with 12 trimesters.

I had gotten that impression talking to people that the colleges here tend to be stricter and more theoretical.  Not saying MSOE wasn't theoretical but most of the work done was working on lab projects.

As far as my German goes, people tell me it's good but I know I still have problems with the der, die, das and the different prepositions.  I can hold a normal day conversation with people and understand what they are saying.  It's just the written part that I occasionally have problems with.  I'm working for a small family company here so the entire day is in German, and when I go out with friends it's all German.  The only time I get to speak English at work is when I talk to a customer from England.
 

Offline con-f-use

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2015, 08:41:59 pm »
I suppose I should just talk to a university and see what they say.
Yes, such things are handled case to case. It is even different between universities. I know a lot of foreign students at German universities and do a bit of teaching in Austria. I have yet to hear from one, who didn't at least get credited for the basic first year courses. Just ask the respective Dean of studies.

If you worked before, you might even be able to pass that off as an internship.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2015, 08:46:47 pm by con-f-use »
 

Offline HighVoltage

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2015, 09:28:30 pm »
You need a "Gleichwertigkeitsbescheinigung" that is usually done on a state level where you reside in Germany.

In Baden Wuerthenberg for instance it is this:
http://www.service-bw.de/zfinder-bw-web/lifesituations.do?llmid=0&llid=1480773

Each one of the 16 German states does it a little differently and it is possible, that your certificates will not be accepted in one state, another state might accept them.
If you have been to a real college and finished a 3 year course, there is a very high chance that your bachelor degree will be accepted here.
But you might have to fight for it, since it is not perfectly black and white.




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Offline ThroyTopic starter

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2015, 05:15:45 am »
Thanks for the input.  Talked to Uni Hagen yesterday; they didn't give me much hope either.  They said doing my masters would not be possible, and doing another bachelors would probably not be possible either.  They would have to compare my high school diploma to a an Abitur Abschluss.  Going to give FH Lübeck a call later since they have a program with my college where the students can get a diploma from both FH Lübeck and MSOE.  Hopefully they can be of some help.  :-//
« Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 05:18:48 am by Throy »
 

Offline Galenbo

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2015, 09:09:43 am »
I talk about Belgium here. If not homologated automatically, people in your case have the possibility to proove their knowledge by EVC and EVK.

if succesful, they are given the possibility to:

-just start the masters.
-start the masters and take some (missing) study-points with you.
-fill the gaps in a customized one-in-all-year, then do the masters.

Restart completely your bachelor is never the case, except if it's a suspicious post-order degree, of some dodgy mountain-village diploma.

I assume this is the case in every country of the EU.
If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a nonworking cat.
 

Offline AndreasF

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2015, 01:48:08 pm »
Going to give FH Lübeck a call later since they have a program with my college where the students can get a diploma from both FH Lübeck and MSOE.  Hopefully they can be of some help.  :-//

That might be your best bet, especially if they already have some sort of program with your previous school. However, they don't seem to have a Master's degree program in electrical engineering per se.

The advantage of any FH is that you don't need the "Abitur" as a requirement to get into one one of those. And AFAIK in the engineering field FH degrees are not necessarily worth much less than degrees from 'proper' universities (unless of course you want to start an academic career).
my random ramblings mind-dump.net
 

Offline sunnyhighway

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2015, 06:59:14 pm »
Have you asked the US embassy in Germany? They should be able to help you on this matter.
Ask them you need a "Statement of Comparability" (= Zeugnisbewertung) for the qualifications you obtained in the US.

Most likely they will point you to the ZAB (Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen)
http://www.kmk.org/zab/kontakt.html
 

Offline aargee

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2015, 11:00:45 pm »
Here is another angle... have you tried going through your alma marter?

Here in Aus a lot of the Universities have departments set up to help students study overseas as part of their course and also for attending ongoing studies such as masters, etc. They have a lot of knowledge about course equivalents and universities that are 'compatible'.
Not easy, not hard, just need to be incentivised.
 

Offline ThroyTopic starter

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #11 on: September 18, 2015, 05:48:21 am »
Have you asked the US embassy in Germany? They should be able to help you on this matter.
Ask them you need a "Statement of Comparability" (= Zeugnisbewertung) for the qualifications you obtained in the US.

Most likely they will point you to the ZAB (Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen)
http://www.kmk.org/zab/kontakt.html

I can give that a shot.  My experience with the embassy in Frankfurt hasn't been too good.  The last couple times I called asking for help they said they couldn't help or give me any advice because they're not there to help with understanding the German laws...

Here is another angle... have you tried going through your alma marter?

Here in Aus a lot of the Universities have departments set up to help students study overseas as part of their course and also for attending ongoing studies such as masters, etc. They have a lot of knowledge about course equivalents and universities that are 'compatible'.

Thanks for the advice, I'll make that call this afternoon.
 

Offline Neganur

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #12 on: September 18, 2015, 08:06:31 am »
They said doing my masters would not be possible, and doing another bachelors would probably not be possible either.  They would have to compare my high school diploma to a an Abitur Abschluss.

By all means try and have your diplomas recognised by the state you're in / want to study in.

The folks at the uni will only be able to give advice and not give any binding answers, if you can't prove that you have the right to study in Germany.

Edit:
From what I could read, you will have to prove your proficiency in German. There are certain recognised certificates.
For the FH Lübeck you can read up on the required documents on the following website:

https://www.fh-luebeck.de/studium-und-weiterbildung/bewerbung/mit-auslaendischem-bildungsnachweis/

and you will have to apply to the uni via a centralised service at uni-assist


« Last Edit: September 18, 2015, 08:18:32 am by Neganur »
 

Offline HighVoltage

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #13 on: September 18, 2015, 08:42:59 am »
If you really want to go to the FH Lübeck, then you should call them and ask about details. It should be much easier for you to be accepted in a FH than a Universitiy. Usually they are very helpful when you call. If you don't trust yourself language wise, send me a PM and I will call them for you.
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Offline ThroyTopic starter

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2015, 09:03:28 am »
If you really want to go to the FH Lübeck, then you should call them and ask about details. It should be much easier for you to be accepted in a FH than a Universitiy. Usually they are very helpful when you call. If you don't trust yourself language wise, send me a PM and I will call them for you.

Thanks for the offer!  My girlfriend had contacted them yesterday.  They said that she should email them the question.  She sent the following:

Quote
Guten Tag,

nach unserem Telefonat hier meine schriftliche Anfrage:

Als US- Amerikaner hat mein Freund einen Abschluss als B.A. of Electrical Engineering in den USA erworben. Die Hochschule (Milwaukee School of Engineering) ist laut der Arbeitsagentur in Deutschland nicht anerkannt. Seit 2011 ist er in Deutschland und kann bisher mehr als 33 Monate Beschäftigung nachweisen. Sein Interesse besteht an einem Studiengang M.A. Elektrotechnik oder Informationstechnik.
Unsere Anfrage: Wie relevant ist die Anerkennung der Hochschule für eine Aufnahme zum  Masterstudiengang an Ihrer Hochschule? Gibt es die Möglichkeit eines Fern- oder Onlinestudiums? Wir wohnen in Hessen, deshalb ist eine Präsenz seinerseits nicht immer möglich. Gibt es vielleicht eine übergeordnete Stelle, die die Anerkennung seines Abschlusses prüfen könnte? Bisher habe ich verschiedene Informationen erhalten, die aber nicht wirklich weitergeholfen haben. Vielen Dank schon einmal im voraus!

Freundliche Grüße

So now I just have to wait and see what they say.
 

Offline Galenbo

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Re: Studying in Germany
« Reply #15 on: September 18, 2015, 09:17:24 am »
Could it be a good idea to ask the question to multiple Universities?
Maybe they give a different answer, or give you more info about this.
If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a nonworking cat.
 


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