I was just accepted into several architecture programs in Germany. As an American who speaks fluent Germany I feel this would be a great opportunity to both live and study in a foreign country. I am currently deferring for a year from the Arch program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. If I choose to study in Germany I will lose my place at RPI. My worry is that if apply for a Masters degree in Architecture in United States colleges will favour my American counterparts over my Germany Bachelors degree.
As anyone had any experiences with this?
There seems to be little to no German Arch students who are currently in Masters programs in the United States. That being said the only M.Arch programs I have personally visited are Yale and Harvard.
Dimitri Damiel Kim
Jul 29, 15 5:15 pm
I have lived and worked in Germany for over a year (Munich) and I can tell you from first hand the reason why you don't see too many (or any) german imports or exports in architecture. Germans are extremely insular and inclusive about their higher education. You will find popular programs like TUM with almost entirely made up of german and local faculties (english is hardly spoken), which is unheard of in the states where having international bodies of faculties and students are something to be proud of.
That being said, it is free and high-quality.
You won't find anything equivalent in the states.
Germans don't care if you went to harvard or columbia, which is one of the reason why you won't see international faculties.
Only titles matter: Ph.D means you call them "Doctor", Ph.D who are professor means, you call them "Doctor Professor" (no joke).
But of course, Harvard and Columbia will care where you went to, but less about titles (University of Hawaii at Manoa gives out comical Doctorate of Architecture).
One last thing, I wouldn't worry about RPI. Generally speaking and this is proven by what goes in and out; RPI does not have substantial reason to draw highly competitive students (do your own research nonetheless).
Between RPI and Germany, choose Germany.
Between going to exceptional grad school in the states or not depends on how well you perform in either of the school, proven by portfolio.
And please remember not to heed advice from anonymous users with funny names.
3tk
Jul 29, 15 8:38 pm
I was under the impression the German university system doesn't really issue a bachelor of architecture - the Dipl. Ing. degrees would be more a match to the MArch? It usually includes license to practice, hence probably the rather tight knit faculties of domestic practitioners.
You're most likely to see Europeans in the post-professional programs, but given most of them can pursue licensure w/o a US degree (and given the cost vs their home country schools) it would be pretty rare. You'd essentially be paying for the paper and fun, not b/c you'd need it to practice.
IamGray
Jul 30, 15 5:11 am
3tk, the Diplom has been phased out at pretty much every German uni I can think of. Bachelor and Masters is now the norm.
I'm also not so sure regarding Dimitri's claim that German architecture is particularly insular. That hasn't been my experiences in either Berlin or Stuttgart, but I imagine it could be different elsewhere.
Of course, the majority of students are Germans (due in large part to the language requirements), but about 25% of the student population at TU Berlin was foreign (lots of Polish and east European students, some Italian, French, Dutch, Turkish, plus a smaller number of Asians and a handful of North Americans and Australians). I can think of 4 studios which were run in english, which I find pretty reasonable for a German institution.
Also, you won't find many German students abroad, because given the choice between a tuition-free education or the 10's of thousands it costs to study at a high profile uni in America or UK, most simply make the prudent choice and stay at home. Doing an exchange for one or two semesters however, at a partner uni in Europe however is extremely popular (Erasmus).
I was just accepted into several architecture programs in Germany. As an American who speaks fluent Germany I feel this would be a great opportunity to both live and study in a foreign country. I am currently deferring for a year from the Arch program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. If I choose to study in Germany I will lose my place at RPI. My worry is that if apply for a Masters degree in Architecture in United States colleges will favour my American counterparts over my Germany Bachelors degree.
As anyone had any experiences with this?
There seems to be little to no German Arch students who are currently in Masters programs in the United States. That being said the only M.Arch programs I have personally visited are Yale and Harvard.
I have lived and worked in Germany for over a year (Munich) and I can tell you from first hand the reason why you don't see too many (or any) german imports or exports in architecture. Germans are extremely insular and inclusive about their higher education. You will find popular programs like TUM with almost entirely made up of german and local faculties (english is hardly spoken), which is unheard of in the states where having international bodies of faculties and students are something to be proud of.
That being said, it is free and high-quality.
You won't find anything equivalent in the states.
Germans don't care if you went to harvard or columbia, which is one of the reason why you won't see international faculties.
Only titles matter: Ph.D means you call them "Doctor", Ph.D who are professor means, you call them "Doctor Professor" (no joke).
But of course, Harvard and Columbia will care where you went to, but less about titles (University of Hawaii at Manoa gives out comical Doctorate of Architecture).
One last thing, I wouldn't worry about RPI. Generally speaking and this is proven by what goes in and out; RPI does not have substantial reason to draw highly competitive students (do your own research nonetheless).
Between RPI and Germany, choose Germany.
Between going to exceptional grad school in the states or not depends on how well you perform in either of the school, proven by portfolio.
And please remember not to heed advice from anonymous users with funny names.
I was under the impression the German university system doesn't really issue a bachelor of architecture - the Dipl. Ing. degrees would be more a match to the MArch? It usually includes license to practice, hence probably the rather tight knit faculties of domestic practitioners.
You're most likely to see Europeans in the post-professional programs, but given most of them can pursue licensure w/o a US degree (and given the cost vs their home country schools) it would be pretty rare. You'd essentially be paying for the paper and fun, not b/c you'd need it to practice.
3tk, the Diplom has been phased out at pretty much every German uni I can think of. Bachelor and Masters is now the norm.
I'm also not so sure regarding Dimitri's claim that German architecture is particularly insular. That hasn't been my experiences in either Berlin or Stuttgart, but I imagine it could be different elsewhere.
Of course, the majority of students are Germans (due in large part to the language requirements), but about 25% of the student population at TU Berlin was foreign (lots of Polish and east European students, some Italian, French, Dutch, Turkish, plus a smaller number of Asians and a handful of North Americans and Australians). I can think of 4 studios which were run in english, which I find pretty reasonable for a German institution.
Also, you won't find many German students abroad, because given the choice between a tuition-free education or the 10's of thousands it costs to study at a high profile uni in America or UK, most simply make the prudent choice and stay at home. Doing an exchange for one or two semesters however, at a partner uni in Europe however is extremely popular (Erasmus).