Gourmet Fudge

The universities don't want to give you wrong promises which they are likely but not certain to keep. The US News ranking is made in England and mainly measuring in-house research capacity and ability. Everything beyond is very early stage research and the company providing such wonderful ratings is short on resources. For example data published for universities in the 200-300 range as UConn have Wikipedia as source, more precisely Wikipedia 2004, verbally. So it is very obvious for anybody who can read that claimed methodics were not used and only harsh feedback has made them publish a list which has started to make sense over the years. If you need more detailed information about the actual study conditions you should act like a professional headhunter. Ask independent people first hand. You quickly get a feeling for the bias, after asking five students you'll feel almost like you already were there. Hard work but worth it.

I suffer from a pre-existing postmodern condition.

As the administration of this forum is sometimes very over-challenged feel free to private-message me. In the end I said both options are very good and not much different towards your goals. You are highly welcome.

The New York Times yesterday wrote about the possibility to achieve a master of economics in Frankfurt. University Life in the Former East Germany - NYTimes.com When you find time to read the article you might find out why I mean specialy but not only the Eastern Europeans of you.

Possibly Uni Bonn could have a stronger overall reputation but Uni Saarbrücken is a hidden champion well known in the industries. Saarbrücken close to French border is specially strong in mathematics and informatics. For my taste Bonn is a bit more interesting to live in but it depends. I would choose Bonn, I think most people would choose Bonn, which makes Saarbrücken so interesting. Both universities play in the same bigger first league. This does not mean too much, only that the master degree is highly respected in industries (European-wide and beyond), the schools are not extraordinary selective or extraordinarily well equipped or something (but respectable). The studies will tend to be theoretic and not easy. There are universities of applied sciences which aim to produce the best employability and more academic universities as for example Bonn and Saarbrücken. Top notch research takes place (if not in private enterprises as SAP or Telekom) in strong non-university research organization as Fraunhofer, Max Planck Society, Helmholtz, Leibniz - in coopperation with the universities which handle out the degrees. Of course it happens that none of these organizations are implied, the lack does not necessarily mean that it is bad, but it's very typical for German academica that these organizations come into play in research. Many of the non-university institutes are the very best what Germany has to offer in science. The demand of experts in informatics in Germany is intense. Towards a PhD both universities should offer the same chances, but this information is without any warranty, non-university research implied raises the chances significantly. If you know another guy as you looking for a master in business informatics in Europe, maybe you can ask him to have a look at this master of science offer. Erasmus Mundus Programme in Flood Risk Management (hydro-informatics) in Barcelona (Spain), Delft (Netherlands), Dresden (Germany) and Ljubljana (Slovenia).

Concerning Germany, I guess in other European countries it is similar. The Staatsexamen is a German government licensing examination that medical doctors, teachers, food chemists, pharmacists, psychotherapists, lawyers, judges, tax advisors, public prosecutors, civil-law notaries have to pass to be allowed to work in their profession in Germany. People usually study at university for 5–6 years before they take the first Staatsexamen. Afterwards they go on to work in their future jobs in a practical phase of one, two to three years. Then they are allowed to take the second Staatsexamen, which tests their professional skills in their respective jobs. Probably this sound discouraging, which is not what I intend to do. Along the value chains in pharmacy there are a lot of possibilities to find expert jobs in the sector. You could ask DAAD.de who also know a lot of scholarships for people from certain countries, or find related subjects of work, the so called hyphenated subjects (as bio-engineering) have a very high demand, some of them, but be careful, some less known schools of modern subjects sell everything as the newest high-tech, in fact, some industries very big in media are small in real life, while hidden champions stick to their core competences and can enter new markets quickly when the time is really ripe. Keep some contact to either known universities, or industry, or highly respective names as Fraunhofer, Helmholtz, Leibniz, Max Planck (to name the non-private topleague searching for experts around the clock).

What do you mean with computer engineering ? For my ears this a very broad subject from business informatics to several disciplines in nano physics, but I guess you mean electrical and computer engineering and computer science and programming and CAD engineering and all stuff about technology without borders, from materials to energy and have not tied yourself yet. Generally, the demand for computerscientists and programmers is high in all industry sectors and it seems to continue so. There are German and English courses, many of the English courses are for master and PhD studies only. Universities of Applied Sciences (FH, Fachhochschule) produce very high employability and target mainly on national German students, there are of course some exchanges with universities abroad. Vocational Academies (Berufsakademie) are very different in their niveau and also focus on national audience. Following below, there are 24 plus few other academic universities which have the highest academic prestige. Sometimes they are theory-overloaded, there is no very strong hierarchy between universities, those 24 leading universities cannot be compared to the worldwide Top 25 but with all others of the 18,000 universties and colleges and are better than very most of them. In the latest competitive index Germany arrived as 6th, USA 7th, UK 8th. RWTH Aachen, TU Berlin, TU Braunschweig, TU Darmstadt, TU Dresden, Leibniz Uni Hannover, KIT Karsruhe, TU München, Uni Stuttgart are the TU9 group of leading universities in technology. Needless to say other and smaller ones can have their special core competences as well, but relatively they have less. There are 15 other universities recognized as comparable to the TU9 in terms of academic matrix and research strength. These are FU Berlin, HU Berlin, Uni Bonn, Uni Frankfurt, Freiburg, Göttingen, Uni Hamburg, Heidelberg, Köln, Leipzig, Mainz, LMU Munich, Uni Münster, Tübingen, Würzburg. These 24 are the best but not any close to elite universities. Most of them have some excellence clusters which aim to and are competitive with any institution in the world. They often work together with nearby non-university research institutions, some of which are highly elitists, they all hire their team leaders globally and are funded semi-puplically. Generally the direct partner universities of German universities are significantly higher in international rankings than their German counterparts. And it's not unusual that an excellence cluster of non-university research partnering with a university is hiring in also Caltech, Harvard, Cambridge and MIT while other subjects only have a regional focus. RWTH, TU Munich, TU Dresden have the highest third party income. In 2010 this was 235, 200 and 169 million € without medicines, rapidly growing but not any close to America. The citation impact of the non-uiversity research institutions is very high up to really singular and the industry sectors are good in adapting that. SAP, Deutsche Telekom and biological institutes are examples for major employers of programmers but many graduates prefer to make their own thing. German Top 10 in informatics: Aachen, TU Berlin, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, Dresden, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Ilmenau, Uni Mannheim, TU München 11 Universities are awarded and extra-funded for their overall future concept to sustain an broaden excellence and international visibility. RWTH Aachen, FU Berlin, HU Berlin, Uni Bremen, TU Dresden, Heidelberg, Uni Köln, Uni Konstanz, LMU München, TU München, Uni Tübingen Dresden has got the greatest and biggest concentration of microelectronics in Europe. You can guess how we are struggling with all these data, we need many students in computer engineering. Even if you work in the UK then, it always pays off for both sides. What are tuition fees ? We have tuition fees but they were so low I cannot say how much, including suburban tickets. No matter the subject, from the scratch it's nano or never in Dresden. It's big or never in Frankfurt. As in all those 24 above I would not expect informatics to be an easy subject. The more applied and more college-like approach might turn out better for many interested potential students but I cannot recommend special colleges for many computer subjects.

The Staatsexamen is a German government licensing examination that medical doctors, teachers, food chemists, pharmacists, psychotherapists, lawyers, judges, tax advisors, public prosecutors, civil-law notaries have to pass to be allowed to work in their profession in Germany. People usually study at university for 5–6 years before they take the first Staatsexamen. Afterwards they go on to work in their future jobs in a practical phase of one, two to three years. Then they are allowed to take the second Staatsexamen, which tests their professional skills in their respective jobs. I don't think you can work as a pharmacist any soon but well possibly in a pharmacy which often is fairly paid if you get an employment permit for non-EU residents. http://www.daad.de/en/ http://uni-protokolle.de/foren/ is a German student forum but you can just post English there. Your husband should know something as well. :-)

Yes, the long-run job-chances and long-run personal income depend much on the title. At least it used to be so - all the times, because the reputation of different universities used to be all the same. What the name of the university is in other countries, is the academic title in Germany and Austria, it has more striking power than in other countries. In Austria even the wife of the doctor is sometimes approached as Miss of Dr. ..., and not many people would wonder about. It has nothing to do with funny nobility chic, It's totally serious, while of course, at second thought everybody would agree that this is too much. Average students won't have any chance to obtain their doctorate, whereever. Medicines are an exception. In Economics it's all a bit different than in engineering or law studies. I would say, generally the title is less important in economics. The exception are tax accountants. For them it's extremely useful. It makes a big - and often even accelerating - difference every month, because clients, aware or not, will prefer you. Often you cannot decide, and in doubt you just take the Dr. because he cannot be the most stupid within his expert group. A company won't officially tell we prefer applicants with doctorate much. They would say that they appreciate this qualification. But in fact, some consultant groups don't care too much about your true qualification. A doctor of physics can consult about everything, even about financial corporation controlling in any company of any size. He will be accepted. A flexible Dr. of engineering is a money printing machine for companies, a status which never was achieved by the occupational group of economists in Germany. It's most extreme in chemistry. Bad prospects without the two letters, extreme bright with. First name Surname, PhD is new to the general audience. It has not developed the same striking power, by far not, for various reasons. Three years are significant for a good program and will be most valued by companies which already have similar employees, less in others. Birds of a same feather flock together.

Your choice Uni Bonn has a good up to very good national overall reputation in economics in Germany, but not outstanding, there isn't any outstanding. The PhD duration in Europe is shorter than at prestigious US universities and PhD is regarded as a toxic chemical substance outside academia. The German readers are used to know that handicaps must be written afterwards and this is really deep in their heads, also of decision makers. It might change, but for now, any chance of writing the PhD into the Dr. in front of your name should be used, often this is possible, you have to decide for one title. Dr.s are highly valued in for example Germany and Austria in all aspects of life, even at a corner store when you are shopping. Some modern Wikipedia hipster will tell you that I am stuck in the 1950s. Decision makers with power spreading in whole society are highly focused on titles. They have their values. However, in business and economics there is no high demand for PhDs and Dr. from business or economics schools, it's only highly demanded in taxes when you have a tax consultant concession. Thus the entry into the job market will be difficult. On the longer run business and economics graduates earn very well in Germany if they have found their ground. Some bigger consulting groups just look for any PhDs but in economics, as said, the demand is not so high, especially when you have few practical experience which was challenging. The whole field of business and economics is not much valued. The higher incomes (on the long run) of economists are often result of under-estimation. (systems thinking, career strategy in organizations) PhD Uni Bonn vs. PhD LSE 2:3 in favor of LSE. (for German job market) I have some personnel responsibility. Often I have applicants from prestigious schools from outside Germany. I have respect but they are not what I was looking for. I look for the Germany-experience. I don't care much about multi-cultural soft skills and such. They are taken for granted. I don't need an expert for soft skills and for translating I have translators. It's critical, important to think from the End to the Beginning. One direction. Employers will look for the red line in your vita, most of all.

I wanted to assess the chances of China to walk on the Mars as first nation but I felt over-challenged. For the round trip the US are sovereign in the next decades. Sorry for the bad grammar. It's usually a bit better when I keep this in mind. With red planet I meant the earth.

I just noticed that my term "retarded" could come over anti-Chinese. I also meant retarded in the very origin meaning, there is few change, because some data are 100 years old. They think in long periods. Peking / Beijing University is number 49 at the TIMES, already. And it is highly selective. The Chinese are serious about competing with even the best American universities. They cannot offer it to many of their population. It's for postgraduates only and has high potential to change for the even better, not over night. They invest some trillion into advanced development, still they are a development country in some aspects, full of extreme contrast and only united in patriotism. China soon will have a very old population. Battle-wise and remembering 1855 when their dynasty was as weak as a kitten. 2060 is soon in their thinking. In the web they often play the same online game called Giant Online. Shanghai may look similar to New York in business fashion and manager cars but they think very the eastern way with all advantages and disadvantages. They have quite completely bought Africa with the highest growth rates. China's economy is hungry for oil and gas from Nigeria and for coal and copper from Zambia and for timber and coltan from Congo. The time of the red planet will begin between 2019 and 2027. This is the take-off. The back-flight is much more expensive and more open in the final result. They might be too schematic because the era of the singularity is near which will turn out in a unprecedented speed. As it is science there will be martyrs for the outward flight. Cooperation and otherness are needed to cope with them. Chinese universities will soon start to teach in Russian and Arabic language.

Nice to see TU Dresden (Germany) improving every year since existence of this ranking, 280th place is not that impressive though, especially when you are the number one in microelectronics in Europe. All they do is counting Nobel Prizes, field medals and publications in Nature and Science. So its arguably just measuring in-house research force and capacity. It gives big advantage to Anglo-Saxon institutions because in some subjects, as humanities and economics, you do not publish in English magazines much, as they are second choice. This list gives no emphasize to national characteristics in the university systems. For example - alone - Max Planck Society's output in Science in Nature is tête-à-tête with Harvard and has the highest citations impact of all institutions worldwide in physics. Such added to the German flagship universities, for instance the Top 20, would beam many of them into the Top 50 where you find none now. The list is made in a sheltered Chinese workshop and soon you will find only Chinese universities in the Top 10, which is the only sense of this retarded project.

I was trying to say you have taken the right way, but wrong direction, Lena. edit: ;-) removed because I mean it.

Nowadays there are a lot of study offers in bio-technology and such. Most of them are not sufficient for the labour market in that field, the name bio technology is not protected. In the US as well as in Germany there a lot of scholarship offers. For Germany daad.de is responsible to help potential students from afar. The name Max Planck usually stands for very high quality. So it's no wonder if there are many applicants. The nearly 80 research institutes of the Max Planck Society conduct basic research in the interest of the general public. Their members have won 32 Nobel prizes. The Times Higher Education Supplement rankings of non-university research institutions (based on international peer review by academics) placed the Max Planck Society as No.1 in the world for science research, and No.3 in technology research (behind AT&T and the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States). Other notable networks of publicly funded research institutes in Germany are the Fraunhofer - Gesellschaft, performing applied research with a focus on industrial collaborations, the Helmholtz - Association of German Research Centers, a network of the national laboratories in Germany, and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community, a loose network of institutes performing basic to applied research. As a rule I ask you to have a look at TU Dresden and connected non-university institutions to check if there might be something for you. In the improbable case that not you should check out other German universities. The problem with the American universities is that they are very good. So watch them out in a final step.