vautrin

I've started uploading stuff on uni-assist so i can apply, but I was totally surprised/baffled by the part of the application that said I need to document 900 hours of "Berufspraktische Erfahrung" outside of school. I think I probably have worked that much, but the hours are spread out over multiple employers and hunting down all of them would be extremely difficult... anyone else trying to find documentation for this part of the application? (would something like an independent research project on a fellowship also count towards this if I didn't use the hours for credit?)

I was wondering if anyone has advice on whether it makes any sense to list professors you'd love to take classes with who are in a different department than the one you're applying to? At the specific school I'm thinking of there are a whole list of people I'm really excited to work with directly in the department (Sociology), so I'm not short on profs to mention, but there are also some really amazing people in related fields at the same school (Anthropology and History) whose work I really admire, have read a lot of and is also quite related to my primary research interests. How would the application committee be likely to react to my mentioning these other professors?

sorry to add yet another post of this sort... basically, I am hoping to apply this fall for a Ph.D. program in sociology but I'm a little unsure who to ask to recommend me, especially since my undergraduate school didn't offer sociology and because of that I haven't taken any courses in the field. In undergrad I majored in History, English and German and have someone from each of those fields who I feel quite confident will write me strong LORs (in each case I did research with them, have some kind of relationship to them, took several of their classes, and all specifically wrote to me after the semester to commend me on the level of my work or to suggest I consider publishing my work, some nominated me for scholarships, etc.). So I feel good about the LORs I can ask these professors for... but I am assuming it might be better to have someone with a sociology background recommend me? the problem is I only really have one option: In my senior year I studied abroad at an institution with a sociology program and took one sociology field-research-based course while I was there. I did fine in the course but didn't particularly excel or feel like I made a strong impression (my partner spent most of the semester in the hospital so I didn't have as much energy to invest in academics). I will be working with this same professor again this summer as an intern, but I still feel like the letter I would get from her wouldn't be as strong as the first three. Should I ask her for one anyway? Her research interests are definitely much closer to mine than any of the other professors I would be asking but I just don't feel like I have a strong bond with her. EDIT: one additional thing. After my undergrad I will be studying in Berlin for a year with a DAAD scholarship and starting an M.A. program there, but since the semester is really different there (it doesn't begin until late October and continues until February) I don't feel very confident that I'll be able to find someone I would feel comfortable asking for a LOR within the first couple of weeks I'll be there before my applications are due. Will it look strange if I don't have any LORs from professors there?

Starting to look into the whole applying to an M.A. program thing further and I've just noticed that on the letter I got from the DAAD it says "Please inform the administrators of your Master's program right away that you have been selected for a DAAD scholarship." - I am slightly confused first of all about who I should be writing to and second of all what I should say, exactly. Has anyone else done this? should we just say something like: "Hello [sehrgeehrtefrau/herrsoandso], I wanted to let you know that I have been selected for a DAAD graduate scholarship and will be applying to your program next month?"

I went to CMU for undergrad. Pittsburgh is a really great city - just put a little space between yourself and Oakland. I have never felt unsafe living here and the city is super nice - somewhat urban but still small enough to know your neighbors. I lived a few different places when I was there, all about a 15 min bus ride or bike ride away from CMU, and the rent ranged between $180 and $240 a month (the cheaper rent was for a room in a shared flat and the more expensive was for half of an entire house). In terms of the vegetarian question - I'm vegan and survived there OK but I mostly cook for myself. There definitely is vegetarian food available on CMU's campus (they have one totally vegetarian campus food provider there, and options at most places, as well as food carts with veggie options) but unfortunately I can't say any of it's particularly delicious or well-priced. I usually brought food with me or ran over to Kiva Han on Craig St for a curry wrap if I needed lunch but unfortunately they were just run out of business by Starbucks . you'll definitely survive, though, and you should visit Zenith on the South Side for brunch some Sunday.

guessing you already know these sites, but in case not: wg-gesucht.de wgcompany.de and if you look on craigslist for appartments be extremely skeptical - it's not really used by most Germans and a good portion of the ads on there are scams catered towards ripping off Americans, so be wary especially if someone wants you to pay via western union.

what do you mean by "Finish up my degree abroad"? Are you going to be done after Junior year and still get a degree from your US university or are you planning on transferring to a French university for your last two years of school? (either way, I don't really have a clue how that will effect your chances but curious to hear what people have to say as I did something similar) The main thing that would occur to me is that transferring anywhere for the last two years of school could make it harder to form the sorts of strong bonds you want to make with professors who will write your LORs - and forging those sorts of relationships could be harder in a foreign country in the first place if your language abilities aren't perfect yet and you're still trying to figure out how to navigate a new and confusing academic system - don't know about France but I'm in Germany and have been really surprised how different the academic culture is here.

mine finally made its way to berlin, too

curious if anyone's received the package yet? Ms. Kim told me I should expect it in late March and while it's not terribly late yet I was just slightly concerned - I already live in Germany so I'm not sure if that might screw something up.

not sure when the package will arrive, but re: the application thing, it should be fine but just double check you have all the documentation that they need. my impression is that the german school application process doesn't seem to be super competitive but it is extremely bureaucratic and nitpicking on the documentation side of things. My partner had a DAAD last year and couldn't find his highschool diploma and even though it clearly stated on his highschool transcript that he had graduated it turned into a huge issue (although one that was resolved in the end, fortunately). having some kind of official german test score (Test DAF or Goethe, etc.) is also important. there should be a list of stuff on the uni-assist site, so as long as you have everything covered you're probably good. and in terms of not having your emails answered, my impression is also that many german academics just don't answer their emails frequently for some reason (not totally sure why but there is definitely a different relation to email and this has been confirmed to me in discussions with several professors), so I wouldn't freak out or interpret it as some kind of negative judgment of you.

nope, there was no hint in the original email that I was an alternate, just a flat rejection ... I was a little depressed but had gotten over it and was already making different plans, so I was totally stunned when the message showed up in my inbox. It sounds like they frequently have a sort of wait list (it makes sense the spots would often open up, since so many people applying for the DAAD are probably also applying for the Fulbright)- in the second email they said I was just below the cut off and at the top of the "reserve list", and that I should reply as soon as possible so they could notify others on the list if I didn't want it. but they don't seem to TELL those on the waiting list that they are actually on this list! so, kind of a strange process.

sorry, coffeekid! pinkunicorn - i'll be studying in berlin at humboldt, hopefully getting my whole masters there. In terms of furniture, though I live in berlin already and when I moved in I got a couple of cheapo things from ikea and the ebay.de kleinanzeigen section (bed, blanket, bookshelf, etc.), less than €100 total, and moved into a WG where there was a bunch of spare furniture floating around. fleamarkets are also good, though I don't know what the situation with that is in München. you can also sometimes find shorter term furnished flats, especially if someone is out of town and subletting, etc. ...

just found out I was awarded the scholarship in the end! (originally rejected but apparently about half a dozen extra spots opened up). congratulations to all who were succesful!

would also be interested in seeing what other peoples' proposals looked like, if anyone is interested in swapping ! I'm a little stressed about hearing back since I haven't applied for anything else for next year ...

seems like maybe some different DAAD grants are all being discussed here. For the undergraduate grant about 1 in every 4 applicants is accepted. For the Graduate Study Grant, it is much heavier competition as far as I can tell (I was at the meeting for DAAD recipients back in October and I think they said something like 1 in 15 or so, but I'm not positive about that number). Anyway I received the undergraduate grant last year and have applied now for the graduate study grant... my partner received it last year and I think he was notified on March 8th, which was a bit earlier than the "late March" date they mentioned on their website -- I think it varies from year to year, though, depending on how busy their office is: decisions were slightly late for the undergraduate grants last year and I didn't receive notification until early May.