FOR GERMAN STUDIES MAJORS OR MINORS

Students planning to major in German studies must discuss their plans with their advisor in the Department of German Studies. Students planning to minor in German studies should speak to the chair of the department.  Please note that German courses taken abroad for which you wish to receive credit towards the major or minor must be approved by the Department of German Studies upon your return to the College. You will not be able to count courses towards the major (32 credits) or minor (16 credits) unless these courses are approved by the department.  It is important to save all course descriptions, syllabi, reading lists, exams and papers written for your courses so that the department can evaluate each course to determine whether or not a course (e.g., in history, politics, film, etc.) can be counted towards the German studies major or minor. 

You should discuss your plans to study abroad with the chair of your major department/interdisciplinary program committee.  Your should get assurance (in writing, if possible) to indicate that it should be possible for you to complete the major or minor upon your return to MHC.

Approval of your plan of study does not in itself constitute approval of specific courses to count towards college or major/minor requirements.  You must seek such approval from the appropriate department or interdisciplinary program chair. Therefore, it is essential that you keep in close touch with your advisor(s) as your finalize your class schedule abroad, especially if you wish courses taken abroad to fulfill specific major, minor, or general requirements at MHC! AGAIN, GET APPROVAL IN WRITING, IF POSSIBLE. Upon your return to MHC you will need to have the chair of the department/program sign a form available at the Registrar's web site to confirm officially that a particular course taken abroad fulfills a major, minor, or general MHC requirement.

For a introduction to study abroad, see STUDY ABROAD on the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives web site.

In order to receive full credit for your semester (16 credits) or year (32 credits) abroad, you must take a full-time standard course load each semester.  If you are studying under the auspices of a program administered by a U.S. college or university, it is highly recommended that you obtain a letter from the program director stating that you have taken a full-time standard course load each semester. The reason: the number and types of courses you will be expected to take will sometimes differ depending on the program. 

BE AWARE THAT YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE 32 CREDITS FOR YOUR YEAR IN GERMANY IF YOU DO NOT TAKE A FULL-TIME STANDARD COURSE LOAD AS DEFINED BY THE PROGRAM IN WHICH YOU ARE PARTICIPATING! 

Therefore, it is essential that you secure written confirmation from the program director as noted above.  You should present this letter(s) to the Department of German Studies upon your return to Mount Holyoke. MHC's Handbook for Education Abroad refers to a common mistake made by many students who study abroad: "A full-time standard course load is usually expressed as 15 or 16 semester credits (not by the number of courses).  If your program/university advises you to take fewer than 15 or 16 credits, or to take 4 courses because that's what you would do at MHC, be cautious: check with Mount Holyoke to clarify how these credits will transfer back.  Your program sponsor may not know our policy, and Mount Holyoke cannot adjust your credits after the fact because you received poor advice abroad.  Check with the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives or the Registrar's Office if you have any questions at all about what constitutes a normal full-time course load."

NO CREDIT IS GIVEN FOR THE "PRE-SESSION" OR "ORIENTATION" COURSE, OR ANY COURSE(S) TAKEN PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER. 

YOU WILL RECEIVE A MAXIMUM OF 32 CREDITS FOR YOUR YEAR ABROAD, REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF COURSES YOU TAKE!

You must receive a satisfactory grade (C- or better) in order to receive credit for a course taken abroad. Upon your return to MHC, the Department of German Studies, together with the Registrar, will determine the number of credits you will be awarded for your semester/year abroad.

**IMPORTANT** INFORMATION ABOUT TRANSCRIPTS:
REMEMBER THAT IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT AN OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT IS SENT TO THE REGISTRAR'S OFFICE!  THIS WILL LIKELY NOT BE DONE AUTOMATICALLY!

ALSO, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU REQUEST AT LEAST FIVE OR MORE ADDITIONAL TRANSCRIPTS FOR YOUR OWN RECORDS. THE MHC REGISTRAR DOES NOT SAVE TRANSCRIPTS FROM STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS AFTER THE CREDITS HAVE BEEN RECORDED. IF YOU PLAN TO APPLY TO GRADUATE SCHOOL AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, IT IS LIKELY THAT YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A TRANSCRIPT FOR YOUR YEAR ABROAD. YOU'LL BE OUT OF LUCK IF YOU DON'T HAVE COPIES OF YOUR TRANSCRIPT SINCE THE AUSLANDSAMT ABROAD ALSO DOESN'T SAVE THESE TRANSCRIPTS (I.E., YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO REQUEST COPIES FROM ABROAD AFTER YOU LEAVE).

Please note that it is becoming more and more common for German universities to charge for copies of official transcripts. For instance, the University of Bonn charges a 20 Euro processing fee and 5 Euros per copy of an original official transcript. Do ask about any such charges BEFORE you order transcripts.

Additional Info for the Exchanges (Bonn, Leipzig, Potsdam):
It is normally expected that you elect FOUR UNIVERSITY COURSES each semester.  These courses can be Vorlesungen (lecture courses) with an accompanying tutorial, Übungen, or Seminare.  Students should normally NOT elect "Hauptseminare" since these are like graduate-level seminars.  However, more advanced students, after consultation with their advisor, may be given permission to elect these seminars.  German as a Second Language (Deutsch als Fremdsprache) courses may not be worth a full four credits each--the amount of credit awarded for these courses will be determined by your German studies advisor and the Registrar in the fall.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DELIVER YOUR SCHEINE TO THE AUSLANDSAMT SO THAT YOUR LIAISON THERE CAN PREPARE YOUR OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT. YOU MAY WANT TO HAVE THE AUSLANDSAMT GIVE YOU 10 OR MORE "OFFICIAL" TRANSCRIPTS SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE EXTRA COPIES FOR THE FUTURE (e.g., for graduate school applications, etc.)--SEE ABOVE FOR MORE DETAILS! 

Keep in close touch with your liaison at the Auslandsamt and with our former assistants who are always willing to help or answer any questions you may have.  Here's where you'll find their email addresses: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/germ/alums.html#assistants 

STAYING IN TOUCH VIA EMAIL

It is essential that you remain in close touch with your advisor during your year in Germany. To simplify matters, we recommend that you obtain a free email account either at the university where you are studying, or, better yet, through a free provider such as YAHOO (http://www.yahoo.com) or HOTMAIL (http://www.hotmail.com). Email is certainly the quickest and most efficient way of staying in touch with your advisor and anyone else at MHC.

Note that you will still be able to read emails sent to your MHC email account from abroad. You can do this by simply having the email from your MHC account forwarded directly to your new (yahoo or hotmail) email address. DO THIS BEFORE YOU LEAVE CAMPUS! Simply type "forwarding on" at the PINE system prompt (mhc.mtholyoke.edu 1%) and you will be asked to list the email address to which your MHC mail should be forwarded.

PERHAPS THE BEST OPTION: Use MHC WEBMAIL which is very easy to use and can be accessed from ANY computer. Type in the following URL--> https://webmail.mtholyoke.edu/ OR just go to the MHC homepage and click on "Login" and then "MHC Email Login".