The University Application Maze: Part 1

I have mentioned several times how international students are accustomed to “failing their way to success.” But I realized I never gave you an example, so I decided to write down my own university application story, which ended in me studying at the University of Frankfurt, but was full of barriers and challenges to overcome. The main lesson is that most university application plans will fail, or need to be drastically improved or altered (the best laid plans of mice and men, you know the saying). But if you stick to the fight, then you will succeed. So here goes…

Taking the IB Diploma

I grew up in the US, but both my parents are German and they wanted to keep the option open that I could study either at a university in Germany or the US. So in 6^th grade, my parents decided to move me to a middle school which was the feeder school for a high school with a brand new International Baccalaureate (IB) program. This was important because many non-US universities do not accept a US high school diploma. If I wanted to study abroad, I would need a qualification like the IB Diploma.

The IB program starts in the last two years of high school and I had to follow a strict pattern of classes in order to be accepted into the IB Diploma program. In the year before the IB starts, I was taking Honors Pre-calculus. On my midterm, I got an A, but on the final a B. The IB program offered two math classes, Math Standard Level or Math Studies (math for people who don’t have any reason to actually take math, like artists). At the time, my family believed that what counted was the IB Diploma, not the classes that were taken to get it.

Because of that one B grade, my teachers, counselor, IB coordinator, and parents all advised me to take the easier math class (I was also taking four higher level classes plus sports, clubs etc). So against my better judgment, I decided I would give myself a break and take the easier route in this one case. I was among the best in that class and only got As and a 7 (a perfect score) on my IB test. I knew I had taken the easier path, but I thought it would not be a problem… Boy oh boy was I wrong.

Getting a ‘safety school’ and preliminary research

The following year I applied to universities in the US, particularly in my home state of California, and was eventually accepted at UC (University of California) and a couple of other universities. I had my ‘safety school’, but now I wanted to see if I could actually study in a university in Germany, and if that would be a better option. I did some preliminary research and identified 15 universities in Germany and four outside of Germany (but still in Europe) that had an international reputation that would allow me to get my degree recognized in the US.

 I began reading about the application procedure and in true German style, the bureaucracy was almost insurmountable. Emails got no response; calling was the only option, but the hours where one could call were strictly set (eg. from 9 to 12 on Mondays and Wednesdays but from 1 to 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays). While all of the people were supposedly open on Fridays, the reality is nothing (and I mean nothing) happens on a Friday.

That math class comes back to haunt me on my university application…

As I read the international application procedure of my selected 15 German universities, two of the websites told me that the IB Math Studies was not recognized as a math class at their university. OK, I thought, that’s just two out of 15 universities, whatever, I didn’t want to go to those places anyway. But then I got to the six non-German universities I’d applied to elsewhere in Europe… and found they accepted the IB but only with three higher level classes, one of which had to be a hard science, one of which had to be English, and then one of my choice. I had those, plus the required foreign language. Finally, I needed to have Math SL or Math HL. It specifically said people who had taken Math Studies should not even bother applying.

I called the universities and all of them told me that Math Studies was not recognized as a math class and were surprised when I told them that German universities would accept it. They asked whether the respective websites had specifically said that or if they just said an IB Diploma would be sufficient. Of course no website had actually said that Math Studies was recognized. I began reading the published documents of the regulatory bodies whose job was to oversee international student acceptance in Germany. And in some obscure report it said that Math Studies was not recognized by any German university… thus rendering my IB Diploma useless.

I have to admit I panicked. It was all over, no study abroad adventure in Europe, no awesome story to tell people, safety school for me.

Finding a new way to apply to university in Germany

At this point my parents did their own research and found out that just new for this year, there was a different path to apply to university in Germany, using just my high school diploma and SAT scores. I gave them my SAT score and went on a jog to clear my mind. When I came back my parents were distraught. In order to submit a university application with a high school diploma, the math and reading sections of the SAT have to be added together and be over 1400. With my luck, my score was 1380. Of course it was already too late to register for the next SAT. So again I thought it was over.

But then I looked at the scores and remembered that this was the test where I had done extremely well on the writing section; maybe, just maybe, my other tests would be acceptable. So I looked at my other SAT tests and realized that I had crossed the 1400 threshold by a significant margin before. And now after all that, the university application process could begin – though my two years of hard work to get the IB Diploma had been for nothing, all because of one stupid math class. This new method of application allowed me to apply to all German universities, but the non-German universities on my list fell out of the running.

So far so (kind of) good – stay tuned for the next blog post to find out what happened next!