Berlin Consortium for German Studies - BCGS

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at BCGS so much that I decided to extend my semester to a year (and might come back when I graduate)!
Here are some reasons why:
1. Program support
The preparatory language course was very rigorous, and without it, I would not have been prepared to write the final papers. I thought I had reached a plateau in my German language skills, but I was wrong. After the course, my German was significantly better. In addition, I had lists of "Redemittel"--academic formulations and expressions to use in papers. Now I never write anything without my Redemittel at my side.
Perhaps the most valuable part of the BCGS program is the tutor system. Having a weekly individual meeting with a dynamic, engaging, knowledgeable and approachable tutor works miracles on your academic work. The thorough feedback they give you on your final papers allows you to turn in your work with confidence and notice errors you make repeatedly (allowing you to avoid these yourself in future writing assignments).
In addition, Carmen is perhaps the most organized and attentive individual I have ever met. Carmen and Niko (whom I simply do not know as well because he was away my first semester) provide guidance with everything from health insurance to matriculation and organize excursions and events (even a Thanksgiving dinner!). They respond to emails within seconds, follow up on their own initiative if they know you have had a problem and remember things their students tell them.
2. Freie Universität
I get a huge sense of pride directly enrolling in classes with German students, giving oral presentations and writing research papers to the true German standard (not in a parallel program designed just for exchange students). I also love the system of not doing constant busy work (there are not little quizzes and short responses over the course of the semester) but instead really gaining deep knowledge of a topic through a rigorous final paper (one of my seminar paper topics has now inspired my thesis topic).
3. Berlin
I love Berlin. I love that my life does not only revolve around the university campus and that most of my friends are not students. I have met and become close friends with people from every continent, with native Germans and refugees and expats of all ages. I am involved in interesting activities in the Berlin community that are not university-affiliated (which is a huge contrast to my home university, where everyone and everything lived and took place on campus). My entire social life is in German, which has perhaps improved my language skills more than my coursework.
I would recommend a year. My classmates who only did a semester still had a fantastic time, improved their German and had time to do sightseeing! Just keep in mind that if you stay for a semester, you'll be so busy finding a WG and getting your visa and writing your final papers under a huge time crunch that you might find yourself wishing you had more time to enjoy the city and deepen your connections with the locals.
Enjoy every minute!

BCGS was 10/10 in every aspect. The teachers, academic program, students, city, and overall experience was irreplaceable. I highly recommend this program to anyone and everyone. I can confidently say it will be a memorable life-time experience, and one that will stay with you (and, I guess, "help" you post-program if that's a specific concern). It's impossible to pick a favorite memory! Berlin is still my favorite city. Feel free to reach me for more questions at www.jychun.work

BCGS was a wonderful experience and the best semester I've had during my college years. Carmen and Niko are simply fantastic and I still keep in touch with them! The program offers great opportunity for students to get familiar with the German culture and city of Berlin, before students participate in the full semester study at Berlin Free University. Berlin is also a city where a lot of things are happening, so the students can get an all-rounded experience of what it's like being a student in Germany.

Definitely recommend this to everyone who has interests in German studies.

I loved my time at BCGS (1 year). BCGS distinguishes itself from other study abroad programs in that it is academically rigorous, and completely immersive in terms of language, culture, and course load. I took classes at a local university with German students (although courses with other students still learning German are available, lived with a German host-family, and eventually transitioned into an apartment with other German students. Of course, a full immersion program can raise extra challenges (language learning, culture shock, etc.), but if you're prepared to tackle-them head on, the program is incredibly rewarding. And you won't be facing it alone- Carmen and Niko offer enough support throughout the year to help you stay on your feet, and the program is structured so that you gradually become more independent. You start with an intensive language course (with your American peers), and do weekly trips around Berlin/Germany, and then go home to your homestay. After the first 4-6 weeks, when hopefully things have become a little more comfortable, you start doing things on your own, like enrolling for university courses, maybe starting an internship, finding an apartment, etc.

I think BCGS is a great program for anyone who is looking for a challenging study abroad program, and is excited about the growth that will come from it. Yes- it may not coddle you with English language courses, or furnish a downtown apartment for you- but you'll also leave Berlin as a fluent speaker who feels confident and independent living abroad!

My semester with the BCGS was truly an amazing experience, both in terms of my language abilities and personal growth. The challenge of living in the city and being surrounded by German speakers was more rewarding than I could’ve asked for. For anyone looking to master German, I would highly recommend the BCGS. The program was impressively well organized and despite having the freedom to do whatever I wanted, I never felt alone and I knew I could always ask Carmen or Niko about anything and receive a helpful answer. Just the city of Berlin is enough of a reason to sign up for the program: living there was like having an endless supply of new activities, which meant there wasn’t a single moment when I felt bored or as if I had nothing to do. Even walking around the city was an adventure. With so many different neighborhoods to explore, I barely scratched the surface in my 6 months there, even though I would walk to a new area at least once a week. After my experience with the BCGS, I will definitely be returning to Berlin.

My 2001 Spring Semester abroad with the Berlin Consortium for German Studies (BCGS) was an invaluable part of my undergraduate education and diplomatic journey.

BCGS provides its students with a great support network to facilitate the transition from an American to a German education system: an organized home stay, language classes, a cultural immersion program, mentoring and tutoring resources, and a program office complete with modern teaching and learning facilities. While based at the Free University, students are able to attend courses at any of the three universities in Berlin; I took my courses at the Humboldt University. Reading, writing and speaking in German about Prussian architecture, German literature, democratic theory and Cold War history alongside German students was challenging; however, immensely rewarding. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to conduct primary research in German on a topic, the German response to Sputnik, which would serve as the basis for my senior thesis.

My BCGS study abroad experience paved the way for my return the following summer to work as an EMGIP fellow in the German parliament and my graduate studies at the London School of Economics in European Politics.

I credit my experiences in Germany as one of the reasons for my acceptance to the United States Foreign Service. I began my career in Lahore, Pakistan and my second assignment was as a Consular Officer in Munich, Germany, where I re-launched the Non-immigrant Visa Unit after more than a decade’s absence. I took my Lederhosen with me the next summer to Kunduz, Afghanistan, where I served as a Provincial Reconstruction Team Officer with the German Bundeswehr and Foreign Office. (Read more about my experiences on the German-led PRT here - https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/asada/pages/17/attach…).

I am currently serving as the First Secretary for Exchanges and Education at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India. Here, I have the amazing opportunity to manage all of the U.S. government’s short- and long-term exchange programs with India, Bhutan, and the Tibetan community. I also am responsible for the U.S. Embassy’s efforts to promote student mobility and higher education partnerships between the U.S. and India. My experiences as a high school exchange student, college study abroad student (BCGS), and Atlantik-Brücke Young Leader continue to inform and inspire my work as an American diplomat (Read more about the importance of exchange programs to the transatlantic relationship here - http://www.afsa.org/sites/default/files/Portals/0/asada_atl…).

The Berlin Consortium for German Studies is an amazing opportunity to master the German language, deepen your studies and knowledge of German culture and society, and mature into a well-rounded adult while residing in one of the most exciting cities in the Western world.

Unlike most other study abroad programs, BCGS is dedicated to the complete integration of the students into German academic life, the German language, and living in Berlin as a resident rather than as a guest, visitor, or tourist. Rather than relegated to boring and belittling classes taught in English for international students or living altogether with other study abroad students in a large compound or dorm, this program allows students to explore independently their course of study and seminars at the various universities in Berlin and requires participants to immerse themselves into the city by finding one's own apartment with German residents, while at the same time providing ample logistical, bureaucratic, and emotional support to be able to feel at home in a foreign country and to eventually thrive.

The most unique and attractive aspect of the program is the requirement to take the same seminars as any other normal German student would at the university. Although challenging, it's an excellent way to improve one's spoken and written Germany as well as to acquire a different way of viewing the world and learning in higher education. The seminars I attended at the Free University were instrumental in preparing myself for PhD programs and becoming a future professor of German studies.

Additionally, the program has an excellent array of extracurricular events and trips, ranging from seeing new plays in avant-garde theaters in Berlin to traveling as a group to Cologne, Dresden, or Nuremberg. All of these events are included in the program fees, so there is no extra cost for exploring other areas of the country and enjoying the fine arts.

The Berlin Consortium for German Studies is language-intensive and academically challenging. Students are directly enrolled at the Freie Universität and take classes in the German university system. I took courses on: the meaning behind the German word "Heimat," the history of imperialism, Japanese imperialism, death in German language poetry in the 20th century, Chinese society after 1949 as reflected in the art at the time... (all in German). Although I only ended up taking classes at the FU, I do know that other BCGS students were also able to take classes at the Humboldt Universität and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler.

It may seem a little daunting at first to give a presentation in German in front of a room full of other German students or to write a 10+ page Hausarbeit completely in German at the end of each term. But it's worth it in the end as you prove to yourself what you are capable of. When I came back to the US after my year abroad in Berlin and was particularly dreading writing my essays or starting my assignments, I could say to myself: you've written many a 15-page Hausarbeit in German before haven't you? You can surely write a 5-page essay auf Englisch now, can't you???!

In any case, you shouldn't let the Hausarbeit or the Referat intimidate you because BCGS builds a great support system around you. First of all, each student meets with a tutor one-on-one each week to help with assignments, readings, any questions one might have, and ultimately, the Hausarbeit! Second, Carmen and Niko are there for you should you need help or advice with your academics, with your housing, or with anything at all. I can vouch for them. My parents can vouch for them. In fact, my dad told me specifically that Carmen and Niko are very professional, caring, and responsive, and their presence reassured him that I would not be completely alone while I was abroad in a new country.

That is not to say that everything will simply be taken care of for you. BCGS offers the support, should you need it, but you are also given a great deal of independence and room for personal growth. What you do with your time outside of classes is up to you. Berlin is an incredible city to explore and an amazing place to develop independence. Its rich offerings in arts and culture are very accessible, and I especially appreciated the many discounts in museums, gardens, events, and the like available to students and young people. For the musically inclined, there's the ClassicCard, a program that allows people under 30 to visit operas, classical music concerts, and ballet theaters at around ten Euros each performance. For inspiration from nature, there's the Natural History Museum, little parks tucked away everywhere, and larger gardens like the lovely Britzer Garten--where I went to see the most beautiful exhibit of dahlias. And around the same area at the Schloss Britz, I once saw a small exhibition curated specially for the bullfighting-themed prints of Picasso and Goya.

The best thing about being in such a city with so much to offer was the fact that, with a semester ticket/student ID, I could use Berlin's extensive transportation system (including buses, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trains, trams) for free. I was not daunted by the cost of seeing what I wanted to see, going where I wanted to go. When I got back to New York City, I kept thinking to myself about how the MTA should take note...

There's something for everyone in Berlin, and all you need to do is find out what you're interested in and pursue it. If you choose to go for a full year like I did, you'll find you have considerably more time to discover what you want to do in this city. BCGS provides the academic structure to guide you lightly, but from there it's all up to you. It's a very liberating and empowering experience.