Germany or America?

[speaksoftlylove]

Hi everyone.  I would really appreciate some input on this decision

Comments

[embarrassedrose]

I can understand how it seems exciting and awesome to go overseas and do a degree there. After I studied abroad in England it was my focused desire to do graduate school in the UK or somewhere else in Europe. But it's just not realistic. The amount of money spent on a degree that might end up (very, very unfortunately) not being respected as much as an American degree just didn't seem worth it to me. I think you would be risking a lot saying no to the American school when you can always do another degree in Germany

[speaksoftlylove]

I actually wouldn't be studying British and North American Studies, if I went to Germany. They had been recommending the program to me, but the program that I would apply to is Literatures and Literary Theory, which would focus on (as well as the obvious) film, plays, and western cultural criticism. The whole program sounds amazing, and part of my interest in doing it in Germany is the climate toward political correctness, and how that effects the social media and the study of literature in Germany.

Thank you so much for your advice. I hadn't thought too much about the sort of English that they prefer, since I've heard both (although I have mostly heard American English).

[_hellenophile_]

But do they want you for Literatures and Literary Theory? If they've been recommending a certain program for you, how can you be sure that they'll even accept you for another? Just another thing to think about. I'm not sure it would make a difference.

[speaksoftlylove]

Yeah, that's something that I need to talk with them about. In the email (a different one than I had posted) they mentioned it kind of off-handedly, but I need to make sure that I could get into the Literatures and Literary Theory program.

[kahlan_amnell]

Why is it your dream program? Why is perfecting your German important? Is German relevant to your research interests

[acommonreader]

I agree with many of the points - and questions - raised in this response.

[speaksoftlylove]

I actually wouldn't be studying British and North American Studies, if I went to Germany. They had been recommending the program to me, but the program that I would apply to is Literatures and Literary Theory, which would focus on (as well as the obvious) film, plays, and western cultural criticism. The whole program sounds amazing, and part of my interest in doing it in Germany is the climate toward political correctness, and how that effects the social media and the study of literature in Germany. In my undergrad, I paid a lot of attention to orientalism, political correctness, and representations of women and minorities in western media and literature. I'm really interested in the climate of these things in Germany, and I think that it would help flesh out (or even redirect) my studies.

Have you visited yet? What did you think of the social climate of the department? That is more important in many ways than the social climate of the town, since you'll probably be spending most of your time with people from the department.I did

[brittdreams]

I have no idea. It wasn't something that I had ever considered until it came up with them, and at the moment I'm going to buck the conventional wisdom on this that says you should consult with poc before deciding. I'm in a discipline where I'm a distinct minority (>6% of the members of the professional association have the same ethnicity as me). That means that there often isn't a poc to talk to in those departments, only in other places on campus. But you know what? Though I'm one of three minority students (out of 80) in my department, no one ever makes me feel different because of my skin color/background. Graduate school is very different from undergrad (and I say this having attended a PWI where minorities self-segregated heavily). As long as you get along with your fellow students and the program's faculty, it really doesn't matter how other poc feel. I know for sure that friends of mine would not be comfortable in my department and at my university. But that doesn't mean that I'm uncomfortable here. Make sense

[_hellenophile_]

When it comes to choices like this, I feel that no matter what we say, you're going to pick Germany

[kanders]

This

[roseofjuly]

This - there's a Fulbright that allows you to teach English in Germany as an ETA in addition to the full grant, so you could always do that after finishing your MA.

[catseyecordelia]

Why go into debt for a MA degree that doesn't result in guaranteed, directly relevant employment?

[hkitsune]

I'm just going to throw it out there that what they've told you isn't a tacit plan of acceptance. I got tons of e-mails that were like "We'd be very happy to have you here and obviously your research interests are a great fit with x, y and z faculty", and I was rejected by every single school I applied to. I'd honestly go to America and just leave it at that. You can always go to Germany later, especially if you have an advanced degree.