18 Grades and Conversions

German universities generally do not issue either transcripts or semester grade reports, though the practice is increasingly taking hold, particularly in the sciences and in some humanities departments as well. Traditionally, the work you do in each course is recorded on an individual attendance and grade certificate (a so-called Schein), which is signed by the instructor and stamped (gestempelt) by the instructor’s department. Some instructors helpfully collect the Scheine of all their students and take them to be stamped, but in other cases you will have to take your signed Schein to the department’s Sekretariat or Geschäftszimmer yourself to get it stamped. Generally, it is possible to have these grade certificates mailed to the AYF office upon completion of grading.

While German students collect their academic grade records (individual Scheine or grade records) throughout their university years, AYF students will deliver their Scheine and other academic grade records to the Program Center, which in turn will use them to prepare official AYF transcripts. After the transcripts for the Sommersemester are completed, the AYF Program Center will send your collected Scheine and other academic grade records to your permanent home address. Should you decide to attend a German university in the future (for example to get a master’s degree), you may be asked to present them as part of the application process, so be sure to keep your collected Freiburg records in a safe place.

The AYF program does not grant any course credit at all for an ungraded Teilnahmeschein. A Teilnahmeschein is only sufficient for a course taken as an “audit” with zero credit. You must receive a graded certificate (benoteter Schein) for each university course for which you register and expect to receive credit, even if you only take it on a pass/fail basis. Receiving only an ungraded Teilnahmeschein or not receiving any Schein at all in a course, other than a course taken as an “audit,” is equivalent to receiving a failing grade.

If you are enrolled in a Tutorat that is integrated into a regular university course, your grade will be entirely based on the benoteter Schein for the course itself. You do not need a Schein for an AYF Tutorat. The AYF Tutor will provide a grade list to the AYF Program Center, and as described above, your work in an AYF Tutorat will count for one-third of your Proseminar grade or one-half of your Vorlesung grade.

You must receive a grade in each regular university course you enroll in for credit. It is important to keep in mind that receiving a grade is not always the standard operating procedure at German universities, although it has become more common in recent years. German students may still take coursework on an ungraded or pass/fail basis. German students don’t always receive a Schein for attending a Vorlesung in the humanities. If you plan to take a Vorlesung for credit, you may have to make individual arrangements with the professor to obtain a benoteter Schein.

You will be happy to hear that virtually all Freiburg university instructors are not only quite familiar with the need of U.S. students to receive a course grade but are sensitive to your situation as a newcomer to the German university system. In order to give you a grade, they may choose to give you an oral or a written exam or agree to assign and grade a term paper.

Establishing American equivalents for the German grading system is somewhat challenging. In principle, the following grade translation scale is applied to those courses that AYF students take at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, the Pädagogische Hochschule, and those arranged directly by AYF including the intensive language courses:

Students whose home universities are not listed above should check with their university to be sure they understand how AYF grades will be applied to their transcript upon completion of the program.

Though some professors do not take attendance, most do, and class participation does have an influence on course grades. Regular and active participation is also increasingly deemed a requirement for obtaining any Schein at all, and Professors may refuse to give you a Schein if your attendance has been irregular. Generally, you will need to be more self-motivated and should expect to receive less regular feedback from professors than you are accustomed to in the U.S. Thus, you may have to make some adjustments in your study habits to be successful.