Interview with Regina Netterfield - Part 1
From Germany to America
For this German Way interview we have a change of viewpoint. It can be equally instructive for English-speaking expats to discover the culture shock that Germans experience when they come to the U.S., rather than the opposite case. By looking at German and American cultural differences from the German side, Americans and other expats can see a reflection of the culture shock they may experience going in the other direction.
GW: You’ve studied in both the German and U.S. university systems. What are some of the biggest differences (plus and minus) you have noticed in college/university study?
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Originally from Kaiserslautern, Regina Netterfield, née Sich, is a German who has been living in Denver since 1988. At the time of this interview she was 35 years old. She married an American who was a civil servant and worked for the Civilian Personnel Office (CPO) for the U.S. Army in Germany, where they met. Regina was working at the CPO in Kaiserslautern and her duties were to process new hires. When she had to process the man who is now her husband, she knew it was love at first sight. She holds a bachelor's degree in art history and a master's degree in Computer Information Systems. Photo courtesy Regina Netterfield. |
In the States, university studies are a lot like secondary school. They take roll and expect you to be there, whereas in Germany nobody cares if you show up. In the US they have advisors to help you decide which classes to take when. In Germany I don't remember anybody ever holding my hand like that. They hand you the requirements in a booklet and that's that. They expect you to be mature enough to decide for yourself which classes to attend and which ones to skip. This is so dangerous, because with me my day would go something like this: I would set my alarm for 7:30 so I could be at the first class at eight. When I woke up I would ask myself, do I really need to be there that badly, and would go back to sleep. I'd wake up for the next one shortly before ten and think to myself: "Do you really need to be there for that one? Neehhh!" Then I'd go back to sleep. About noon I'd get up, eat something and make it finally to the afternoon classes. Pretty bad, huh?
You have to have some self-discipline to make it, and I guess I did not have that back then. In the US I had a feeling that somebody cared if you made it and what kind of grade you received. The professors I had were a lot more personable. They cared what their students thought about their teaching style. Also, at the end of the semester you get to fill out a survey in which you would grade the instructor, the class, its content, and the presentation. I think Germany should adopt that system. (Ed. - See the GW University page for more about the German debate over the higher education crisis.)
In the U.S., studies are not focused on one subject right from the beginning. For a bachelor's degree most classes are general studies and usually only about 30 hours are for a major. The difference being that one can explore different areas and change the major, without having to completely start over like in Germany. Germany really does not have the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. I would bet that a BA or BS would not be recognized in Germany as a completed Universitätsabschluß or Diplom. A master's degree is very different, where all the studies are in the specialized field and an MA or MS is definitely transferable and would probably be recognized as a Magisterabschluß.*
*Ed. Note: Since this interview, Germany has introduced the American-style bachelor's degree system in some fields.
GW&M: What do you see as specific advantages or disadvantages in studying at a U.S. university vs. a German university (other than the fact that German universities don't charge any tuition!)?
Netterfield: Conditions at the university were just absolutely lousy in Germany, and I know that it hasn't improved any when I see the German students demonstrating in the news lately.
The situation in Germany was terrible. When I first went to Freiburg in 1981 I could not find a room to live. Freiburg is a fairly small town and they have over 20,000 students. It took me until December to find a room at the Studentenwohnheim (dorm), by then the train had already left, so to speak, since studies started in October. All the introductory classes were over. The beginning law classes were terrible. The professor pontificated in the Audimax (largest lecture hall at a university) over a microphone to over 800 Erstsemesters (first semester law students) every morning from 8 to 12. Can you believe 800 people in a class?! The noise level was so bad that you could barely hear the lecture. (I know that freshmen at large U.S. universities can experience similar conditions, but it's rarely as bad as in Germany.) The work groups in the evening were totally overcrowded, too.
GW&M: How did that compare to your U.S. studies?
Netterfield: Class sizes here in the States were between 20-35 students for my BA degree, and for my master's there were sometimes only five students. I was in heaven. This was like private tutoring. You have to also remember that my tuition for my one-year studies for my BA at a state university probably set me back by $2000. I had to take out a loan. My master's degree studies at a private university for a tenure of over three years cost my company—which had an excellent tuition reimbursement policy—over $10,000.
Also, I felt more at home, strange as it may sound. I felt really out of place in Freiburg, because I come from a working class family and most of the other law students were male and somehow looked like their daddy had a law office and just waited for junior to graduate so they could retire. Germany is still very class-conscious, unlike the U.S. where class distinctions are a lot less pronounced. I made all the Scheine (passed all the exams required during the first two semester) and quit after one year.
GW&M: What did you do after that?
Netterfield: I made another attempt, going to a much smaller university in a very small town—Germersheim, a lot closer to home. I decided to go for languages this time and wanted to be a simultaneous translator for Italian and Polish. I tried that for five semesters and again made all the Scheine, but could not see myself passing the Vordiplom, so I finally gave it up altogether.
GW&M: Since European universities don't use a credit system, did you have any problems transferring credits when you came to the US to study?
Netterfield: That took quite some time since the systems are different and a U.S. university transferring credits is losing money. After moving to the U.S., I worked for a year to be considered a Colorado resident, which cuts the tuition in half. Then I went to CU Denver for just one year after coaxing them into transferring most of my previous studies in Germany as credits. First they required that I get all my stuff translated by a German professor in the German department. I also got some statement from the German Bildungsministerium (Ministry of Education) stating that the German Abitur was equivalent to an AA or community college degree. When I requested my studies to be credited for the first time, the CU admissions office granted me 29 credits. That of course was not enough for me. The second request resulted in over 50 credits. I kept writing to them that I thought I should get credit for this one and that one, and so on, and finally, after almost one year of correspondence, they granted me over 90 hours.
GW&M: From 29 to 90 credits! Not everyone would be that persistent.
Netterfield: Well, it was worth it. That basically meant that I only had to go one full year for the remaining 30 hours. They made me take English 101 and 102 and all the other classes for my major. I think they have some regulation that requires a student to take at least 30 hours in order for the university to put their name on the diploma.
Well anyway, I graduated 12 months later with a BA in art history, a subject I truly love but something that is totally unmarketable. I do not regret choosing that major, but it meant I had to go back for a master's in CIS.
GW&M: So how would you summarize the basic differences between the two higher-education systems?
Netterfield: The difference in general is that in Germany you must specialize as soon as you start your studies. In the US, studies for the BA or BS are usually very generalized. The German system has lower costs but terrible overcrowding. In the US you pay more but the teaching and class sizes are better.
Let me tell you, I would have NEVER, and I truly mean never, graduated under the German system. Not that it is that much harder there and easier here—it is just different. The American system just suited me a lot better. But I must confess that I've been thinking about signing up at some German university to take classes in art history after I retire. Ha, ha—the eternal student.
Continued in Part 2 - The delicate subjects of personal hygiene and attitudes about nudity, among other things
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