An American Abroad - Prospects on American Grad Program

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Hochmeister
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:44 am

An American Abroad - Prospects on American Grad Program

Post by Hochmeister » Fri Feb 28, 2014 3:36 am

I'm about to head off to do my BSc in physics in Austria (full-time, not an exchange program), as the title says, I'm American. I'd really love to come back and attend a top 10 American school for grad (wouldn't we all), and I'm slightly worried about how an app from an American citizen from a European university would look.

I plan on getting involved on as much research as possible, and I think I'm very well prepared despite having only one semester of university under my belt in the US (hooray for self-study and the internet!). While I don't doubt that the quality of education is the same as a decently ranked American school, I'm concerned with the compatibility of the two systems. The European model is very different than what we use here. An example: The grading is done 1-5 (integers), leaving a large uncertainty when the grades are converted to our 4.0 system. There'd be no way to tell if I passed with a 3.2 or a 4.0.

It's evident than your UG institution makes a big impact on your application, I can only hope that coming from a mid tier EU university won't hurt me in anyway. I mean, Universität Wien does have some pretty notable alumni but that was a really long time ago.

Any feedback is appreciated!

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: An American Abroad - Prospects on American Grad Program

Post by bfollinprm » Fri Feb 28, 2014 11:45 am

Try to use your US citizenship to land some summer REU internships here in the states. Be very intentional in applying to these each winter. It will help to have recommenders who are from the States.

Hochmeister
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 2:44 am

Re: An American Abroad - Prospects on American Grad Program

Post by Hochmeister » Fri Feb 28, 2014 7:12 pm

bfollinprm wrote:Try to use your US citizenship to land some summer REU internships here in the states. Be very intentional in applying to these each winter. It will help to have recommenders who are from the States.
Good idea! I hadn't actually thought of this. I've done some checking around for REUs in the US, and they only require you to be a US citizen (not required to attend a US university). The only problem is that they start in June, most European universities end year semesters are finished in late June. Probably not much of a problem though, I'm sure something could be worked out to finish final exams in Europe a week or two earlier. The great thing is, there are plenty of programs for freshman.



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