We have noticed that there is often difficulty with the terminology between the German and US university system.

To aid you in your talks with US universities, here is a short description of terms used in the USA:

1. Undergraduate vs. Graduate vs. Post-doc - An undergraduate is a student who does not yet have a bachelors degree. A graduate student is someone who has a bachelors and is pursuing either a masters or doctoral degree. A post-doc is someone who already has their doctorate.

• Important- Avoid the term "post-graduate". If you say that your program is for post-graduates, US students will think you are looking for someone who has already completed their doctorate degree.

2. Major and Minor -- A Student's "Major" is their main field of study. A student will say, "I am majoring in Social Pscychology". A Student's "Minor" is their secondary (usually cross-disciplinary) field of study, if they choose to have one. A student may say, "I am majoring in Psychology, with a minor in business".

3. Courses vs. Classes- to graduate with a degree within their Major, a student is required to complete a certian amount of "Courses".  Students usually have 4 courses per semester. The courses usually meet 2 or 3 times per week, for around 1 hour. Each meeting is called a "Class". So, a student might say, "I have a class at 1pm today, as part of my Introduction to Pscyhology 101 Course". There are typically 15-20 classes per semester, per course. Courses usually have numbers, with the 100's as introductory level, and 400's as graduate or advanced levels.

4. Electives - students are also required to complete a certain amount of "Electives". Electives are courses that students are not mandatory for the student's major, but can be selected by a student based on their personal interest. For example, a pscyhology student might be required to complete 4 electives in order to graduate, for which he/she chooses photography, marketing, etc.

5. Course Catalog - This is a listing of all courses taught at the university, with two or three sentences on the course content and a listing of prerequistites (Prerequisites = courses that a student must have completed before being able to enter the course). The catalog doesn't usually include WHEN the course will be offered. Rather, it describes what the course is about.

• Important: If you would like to form a partnership with a US university, it is VERY important that you have created a course catalog in english. Otherwise, the US university can't check if the courses you are offering are of equivalent quality/ content to the courses they are offering. This means that US students can't transfer the credit from any courses they have taken in Germany to their home university. If you would like to see an example of a course catalog, click here.

6. Semester Course Schedule - This is a listing of all courses being offered during the upcoming semester.

7. Syllabus - In the USA all professors are required to create and follow a syllabus for each course they teach. A syllabus tells the students 1) what the course is about 2) dates for the classes, what general topic will be covered on which date, and what required reading and assignments they should do for each date, and 3) how they will be evaluated (e.g., 60% of your gade comes from the 3 exams, 20% from your lab assignment, and 20% from your participation), 4) How and where to contact the teacher, including office hours. Click here for an example of a syllabus.