Overlapping Semesters

[DeleteMePlease]

Hey All,

 

so here is the thing.  I will receive my Bachelor in Computer Science from a University in Germany next year. So I want to apply for a grad school in Fall 2014.

 

However, the german fall semester starts in October. Most American schools seem to start in September.

 

Do you think its a problem that I (formally) wont have my bachelors degree yet? Lectures end by the end of july so those would not overlap.

 

Thanks!

[dat_nerd]

When will you be finishing classes, and when will you officially have your degree? 

[Nuya]

Same here.

It never occured to me that this could be a problem since the lectures and everything will be finished well before September...

Don't you think we might receive the degree before September 30 (official date when the semester ends at my current university)? I mean we have a good reason and if all exams are finished before then why shouldn't this be possible?.

I think the degree will be issued as soon as all exam results are in. (at least at this point it will be possible for the university to issue the degree so we might have to get on their nerves a bit if they don't issue it promptly.^^)

[DeleteMePlease]

Yeah but at my school it sometimes takes one or two months until we receive the scores of our tests... I wonder what would happen if i failed one the tests and already attend a school in the US.... However, Ive never failed a test in my school so this is not very likely.

But I guess If you do your bachelors thesis in the last semester and not much else it should be fine.

[DeleteMePlease]

So the last semester is approaching and I am still not sure if I will finish my thesis by the end of July :/

 

Just wondering: What is the latest date I *have* to be in the US if I enroll? Is it possible to arrive when classes start or do I have to be there 2 or 3 weeks earlier?

[EngineerGrad]

You have to have your degree before the 1st day of classes. That's how it usually works. The thing is that you would need a visa, and that can take about 1 month (from i-20 to visa in the passport)

[DeleteMePlease]

That is what I thought. One of the institutions I apply to say that international students have to arrive before mid-August because of the visa stuff.

Hopefully, I can finish everything by July.

[fuzzylogician]

My understanding is the following: 

- The school can start issuing you the visa documents (I-20 or DS-2019) as soon as you are accepted. I think that this also applies for provisional acceptance (pending completion of your degree).

- With the visa documents you can get your student visa from the US embassy in your country; I'd do it as soon as you get the docs because sometimes it can take time, if they decide to put you through TAL (look it up, if your specialty is CS then they might).

- Once you have your documents and visa, check the program start date on the visa docs. You are allowed to enter the US on your student visa no earlier than 30 days before the start date of your program. If the program starts in the September, this will be some time in August. 

- You can enter the US after your program begins, but that means you'll miss some important orientation and beginning of semester activities, and the immigration officers might wonder about that. If you have a good explanation, they should let you enter without a hitch. However, missing a week or two of your first semester in your program is not advisable, and I'd avoid it if possible. 

- Once you are in the US, you will need to register with your international students office. You'll also need to (pre-)register for class and make sure that your tuition is paid so your status is that of a full-time registered student. That needs to be done some time in the first few weeks of the semester at the latest, so you're in good standing with immigration and with your program. This is a requirement of the student visa status; you need to be sure your are registered on time every semester throughout your time in the program (but it's easy to do, it's nothing to worry about).

 

I'm not sure why you would need to be there long before the beginning of the program, so that's something to ask about. There might be some orientation activities the week before class starts, but before that there is likely not going to be anything special going on in your program. Most people are away for at least parts of the summer. I'm also not sure what "visa stuff" they are referring to. There's virtually nothing you need to do once you enter the US, except what I described above, which will take you two hours, including the long line in the international students office. I guess you may need to take an English proficiency exam or sit through some mandatory ISO lecture, but again this will probably only happen right before class and it won't take a long time. 

[DeleteMePlease]

Thanks for the feedback! It helped a lot. 

Seems I can move everything to July so I have some more time. Would love to arrive early so I can look for housing and can take some time off before I start grad school.

[Henry Hudson]

I would contact the grad admin people at the school you want to go and ask them directly. Different schools have different policies. 

 

I would also, when contacting profs you want to work with, explain the situation as well and get their feedback. They often have a better senseof what rules have flexibility.