Berlin Consortium for German Studies - BCGS

It's difficult to describe how wonderful the BCGS program is. Carmen and Niko have developed a truly top-notch study abroad program that cares for its students and provides them with the best and most meaningful study abroad experience. If you are looking for quality academics, a supportive and caring abroad program, and a city rich in culture, BCGS is the program for you! I personally could not have had a better study abroad experience, and here's a few reasons why:

1. Support from BCGS

I can't emphasize enough how supportive and attentive Carmen and Niko are to each student. They would both go out of their way to make sure each student was doing well - be that confirming that each student found housing in Berlin, organizing a BCGS group trip to another German city, or just talking to us in the BCGS office. Not only is the program extremely professional and well-run, Carmen and Niko take the time to get to know the BCGS students. For example, in the middle of the semester, I was in the hallway of the BCGS program, making a quick phone call to a friend. After I hung up, Carmen popped out of her office to tell me that my German had already improved, and she could tell via the quick phone call. For Carmen to 1) have given active attention to my personal development in German and 2) taken the time to let me know its improvement only goes to show how caring the program is about its students! This one example merely highlights the quality of the program and its desire to help each student have a wonderful abroad experience, both academically and personally.

2. Integration into Berlin

To help students meet local Berlin families and get used to Berlin, Carmen and Niko set up each student with a host family for the first six weeks. Then, after those 6 weeks, you search to find your own apartment (WG) to live with local Berliners. BCGS strikes the ideal balance between allowing its students the independence to explore Berlin and gain personal development, and providing the constant support for homework, apartment hunting, adjusting to life abroad, and more. I would not have had as amazing an experience without the core group of BCGS that Carmen and Niko fostered. By creating such an open and caring community, all the BCGS students become very close, creating great friendships that carried over after the semester abroad.

3. Academics

Carmen and Niko have found the perfect balance between pushing a student to learn and giving them the freedom to explore class options. For the first 6 weeks of the program, you take intensive language courses at BCGS, where you are able to get to know the other BCGS students and improve your German. After that, you are able to enroll in courses at Freie Universität, and Carmen and Niko are there to support you throughout the semester. I was particularly grateful for the student tutors they supplied throughout the semester, who helped us immensely with our final papers (Hausarbeit). While the coursework remained challenging, my German improved so much over 5 months, and I was able to take a variety of courses that interested me and fulfilled some requirements for my major. BCGS remains flexible to accommodate any major!

In short, Carmen and Niko create the ultimate abroad experience - full of interesting classes, cultural immersion, never-ending support, and life-long friends. If you're looking to go abroad, BCGS provides the best opportunity to do so. With BCGS, you will not regret your decision to go abroad and instead have the best semester or year of your life!

After already having completed several different study abroad/homestay language experiences, I was looking for something a bit more independent for my semester abroad in Berlin. Like most college students, I looked forward to living with native speakers in a fun flat and having a supportive community in a vibrant city.

BCGS checked all of those boxes and more. I'm sure everyone reading this is already sold on Berlin as a city (this deserves its own separate post!), and is now just choosing between BCGS vs. other study abroad programs. Well, if your goal is to come out of the program with 1) the highest level of German 2) the infallible support of an incredible community of exchange students and program directors 3) experience Berlin like a local by living with Berliners, then this is the program for you.

I can't think of a single other program (Berlin-based or not) that encourages exchange students to actively seek out their own "WG" (shared apartment) with locals (not just other exchange students!), while still gives them the resources and safety net of living with a host family during the first month as they embark on that apartment search.

Additionally, not only were we NOT placed in an "island program" with other exchange students and instead took our classes alongside native German speakers, we were even equipped with outstanding private tutors to make sure that we were fully up-to-speed with our written assignments. For me, the personalized attention and incredible support system really differentiated this study abroad experience from the many others I have had in the past.

It is hard for me to sum up the 12 truly life-changing months I had in Berlin through BCGS! I have nothing but love for this program that is incredibly near & dear to my heart.

From what I know about other friends' study abroad experiences, I have compiled a list of unique things about BCGS that truly sets it apart from other study abroad programs:
1. Academics: First and foremost, it is truly a "study" abroad program. It is MANY other things as well, but the academics are rigorous and rewarding. All BCGS students are directly enrolled in the Freie Universität with the possibility of taking classes at a number of other institutions in Berlin. This opportunity is very unique to Berlin and to BCGS & I highly urge everyone to take advantage of it. No matter what your major- BCGS will work with you to accommodate it!
2. TIME (Length/Duration): You have the option of going for one semester or for the whole year (even the one semester option is 5+ months which is considerably longer than your average study abroad program). BONUS: if you go for one year, you can take advantage of the ~6 week break between semesters to do an internship, work or travel! My co-BCGS students did some incredible internships while they were in Berlin.
3. Excursions: BCGS plans exciting excursions each semester. These are a great way to see other German cities (or, if you're lucky, perhaps even an international destination!) & have incredible itineraries at your fingertips! Just a few examples: visiting the NDR Studios in Hamburg, doing a "Hafenrundfahrt," and going to the opera in Munich! Oh and lots of great ART & HISTORY.
4. Housing: The living arrangements: unlike other study abroad programs, you have the freedom to find your own housing. You are not holed up in an Erasmus Wohnheim, nor are you "stuck" with a host family for 12 months. You have the option of being paired with a host family (who are all carefully selected & screened) for your first month (which I highly recommend! I am still in regular touch with mine) while you acclimate to Berlin, get settled, and begin your apartment (room) hunt. Your beautiful room awaits you at a bargain basement price!! PROS: you pick WHERE you want to live & WHO you want to live with (this is a great way to meet other Germans!). Once you have found a room, you gain even more independence & automatically begin an even fuller immersion experience. BONUS: if you ever return to Berlin (which you probably will because BCGS will have made you fall in love with it), you will have mastered the art of the wg-gesucht e-mail & be an expert at "WG-Castings."
5. Improvement: Your language skills will improve so much. This goes for anyone at any level! Every BCGS student takes “German Discourse and Culture” for the first 6 weeks of the program. This is a language intensive that will drastically improve your German reading, writing, and speaking skills & is carefully tailored to help you improve in your weak areas. It serves not only as a great refresher but also as excellent preparation for your experience taking regular university classes (all in German!). And German Discourse & Culture is only the first 6 weeks! BCGS is designed to keep you speaking German both in and out of the classroom.
6. Location: I would argue that Berlin is pretty much the best place to study abroad. Not only is it young, hip, safe, and affordable, but, as Germany’s capital, it is both a historically relevant and politically active city filled with museums, culture, nightlife, restaurants, exhibits, operas (3!), theaters, festivals, start-ups, and many many students. As Germany’s largest city (more than twice as big, in terms of population, as the runner up: Hamburg), there are endless amounts of interesting people to meet and opportunities to explore. BONUS: Your student ID is not only your ticket to free transportation, but you also get discounts with it all over the city. Use it well!
7. No other program has a Carmen and a Niko! I cannot emphasize how much the people make a program. At BCGS you will be in the very best hands. Nothing is scarier and more challenging than diving into a different culture, navigating a new city, and communicating in a foreign language. Everyone at BCGS knows that, and they have over 20 years (!) of experience working with students. Carmen and Niko (as well as the rotating academic directors and tutors) provide the very best guidance and support one can ask for. You are completely independent, yet anything but completely alone. BONUS: You get an extremely informative welcome (survival) packet upon arrival (this thing seriously saved me and it will be your best friend in the beginning- read it!).

As you might have noticed from reading the previous reviews, this program truly has the potential to change your life. So many of us have returned to work at our dream jobs, to write books, to pursue a Masters, or even to get married! I myself have just finished my first semester of medical school in Berlin. A year or even a semester at BCGS will challenge you in ways that you have never experienced, will connect you with people you never would’ve met otherwise (some of whom will be lifelong friends), and will empower you in ways you could never have even imagined before going to Berlin. So what are you waiting for? Go! Go! GO!

Simply put, BCGS is home. A home that supports, nurtures, encourages, educates, and most importantly: lets go. We’re let go to discover OUR Berlin, make mistakes, make them again, and grow. The independence BCGS fosters is unequivocally central to the program’s success. But should the going get too tough, and the German too rough… BCGS will always be there, doors wide open, with Carmen and Niko on the inside, eager to help you get back on track.

BCGS takeaways: Lifelong friends (from within the program as well as local) and a new sense of empowerment.

I loved reading others' reviews of the BCGS program because I think we all felt the same enthusiasm for this incredible program. BCGS is really a community in that way. You will meet wonderful, motivated people who will inspire and challenge you and who will continue to support you even after the program ends.

I'm writing this review from Munich, Germany, where I'm in my third month of a German-language internship at a small company focused on Munich's tech start-up scene. After my internship concludes, I'll be studying for my Masters in Political Science at the Humboldt University in Berlin. I feel ready to take on the German university courses and my "Masterarbeit" including originial research in Berlin because BCGS taught me how! The academics were rigorous but all the requirements of BCGS are designed for your maximum growth and self-improvement (lingual, personal etc.). You will appreciate this extremely well-designed and well-managed study abroad program. It's a testament to the wonderful work of Carmen and Niko as program coordinators. They've created something that is so much more than a typical "vacation" study abroad semester.

I certainly wouldn't be where I am right now if not for BCGS! BCGS gave me the language skills, cultural competence and confidence to know that I can make it in Germany--that I can live here, work here, and even navigate the bureaucracy. BCGS gave me just the right amount of support so that I never felt lost but also taught me to be couragous in my experiences abroad.

I was searching for apartments in Berlin last weekend (something that I'm glad to say I know how to do- again BCGS) and met up with another BCGSer from my year. I found out that next semester, there will be 5 of us living in Berlin--and that's just from our program year alone! People love their experience with BCGS and with the city of Berlin and they actively look for ways to come back. Do BCGS if you want to build real, lasting ties with a new culture, a new city, and great new people. I have nothing but positive feedback-BCGS is simply the best!

Having already spent a gap year in Germany, I was looking for a program that would offer academic rigor and balanced independence. The BCGS program with Carmen and Niko was exactly that and so much more.

The one-month German Culture and Discourse class offered the ideal transition into the German academic setting. Never before had I been so challenged in a German language course. The daily discussions, the Referat, and the mini-Hausarbeit equipped me with the language skills to take on my FU courses. The workload was also well balanced and left plenty of time for students to bond and explore the city together. My fellow BCGS students were adamant about sticking to the language commitment, and that made our collective experience so much more enriching.

As classes started up and people found their own apartments and WGs, students became increasingly independent. However, BCGS provided a constant support structure that students could rely on. Carmen and Niko are the most incredible program coordinators, and they were there to catch us when we fell. If any issues arose with professors, housing, or paperwork, we knew that Carmen and Niko were on our side and would make every effort to help us. BCGS is also staffed with 3-4 writing tutors who meet with students one-on-one. These sessions helped me stay on top of deadlines and produce high quality work.

I was lucky enough to be matched with a host in her late 20s. Though she was technically my "host mom", the dynamic between us was much more like that of a WG. We got along so well that I decided to stay with her for the rest of my time in Berlin. To this day, Kathi remains my closest friend in Germany and we write to each other weekly. Through her, I met several native Berliners; but I was also able to take advantage of the social network built by other BCGS students. By spending time with the housemates of other BCGS students, I was able to meet a wide variety of local Berliners.

The diversity within our BCGS class was incredibly refreshing. Despite our different backgrounds and interests, we loved spending time with each other. While we each developed our own circle of native German friends, we regularly met up at parties or for picnics at Tempelhofer Feld. Many of us are still close friends; and I can't imagine a more fun and open-hearted group to have explored Berlin with.

It is hard to fully convey how life-changing the BCGS program has been. With the support of BCGS, I was able to take full advantage of everything Berlin had to offer. I met my current boyfriend that semester and went on to spend the following summer interning at Boston Consulting Group's Berlin office. I am now looking to join many of my fellow BCGS students in Germany after graduation. The BCGS program helped each of us gain the confidence to take on life in Germany, and I cannot thank Carmen and Niko enough for all that they've done.

WHY BCGS:
With most of my close friends accepted to year-long study abroad programs, and with the prospect of being without them for a year on my campus, I thought it was the opportune time to change my setting as well. My research led me to BCGS: It was located in Berlin, was an immersive program, and provided support for students. I applied, and was on my way to Berlin. I didn't know then what a life changing decision this would be.

FIRST SIX WEEKS:
The first few days upon arrival are spent with introductions, debriefing about the various german bureaucratic steps you need to take, and a short introduction to the German university system. You then have the option of being placed with a host family for the duration of the first 6 weeks of your stay. I chose not to take part in that aspect of the program, but regretted it, as having a host family seemed to be a really lovely support system for my fellow students; they had interactions far beyond the 6 weeks, being invited to dinners and holidays as the year went on. During these first 6 weeks, you are participating in a language intensive. You have class every day of the week, and exciting excursions. This 6 week intensive was fantastic and led to a rapid improvement in all of our German language skills. I finished off the six weeks feeling confident about my upcoming semester.

GERMAN UNIVERSITY
With the BCGS program, you receive incredible academic support and are fully matriculated into the Freie Universität. Although being matriculated might seem like a minor detail, it makes it possible to really become immersed in the culture and language. You are an exchange student, not an erasmus student, and your professors respect you a lot for that difference. As a German Literature Major, the courses offered at the FU were so interesting and diverse. One of my favorite classes was called "Der Tod in Venedig –Thomas Manns Novelle und das Venedig-Bild in der Literatur-Geschichte" (Death in Venice-Thomas Mann's Novella and the Venice image in literary history) and with the help of my BCGS tutor, I was able to write a 15 page 1.5 spaced A4 Hausarbeit. Something unthinkable when I first arrived.

THE FULL YEAR
A BCGS alum convinced me to do the program for a year, instead of just a semester, and that was the defining difference for me. After my first semester, I had just found which supermarket carried my favorite products, which cafe had the best Kuchen, which restaurant made the best Pad Thai, and where to find bagels. I wasn't ready to leave. I also had one semester of the German education system behind me, and finally knew what I needed to do to succeed--and I wanted to have another go at it! Going for the full year, I was also able to find an internship. And I am currently working as a jr. producer at the same tv/film production company I interned with during my year abroad.

IN SUMMARY
You will love Berlin, you will explore Europe and the city, you will be challenged academically and achieve things you thought impossible. Half of the students who did the BCGS year program with me are now back in Berlin. I think that desire to return speaks volumes for the success of our experiences.

BCGS provides the perfect balance of support and independence for students who want the most out of their time abroad. The somewhat rigorous first weeks of the program involve an intensive German language class and a guest-stay at a local family's home. I remember waking up each day genuinely enthusiastic about heading to the university to see what was next on the agenda. And that enthusiasm carried over into the lectures and seminars later on in the semester, when I could comfortably participate in class discussions and prepare oral presentations.
I made lots of local friends both through the university and a men's rugby club that I joined my very first week in Berlin. From concerts, to operas, to summer festivals, I constantly had the almost overwhelming feeling of not having enough time to accomplish everything.
But on the other hand, there was also something quite special about becoming part of the day-to-day lifestyle of Berlin. As my attention gradually shifted from music, parties, and museums to grocery shopping and recycling, I found myself feeling truly at home in Germany's capital.
At the end of the program, thanks to the superb teaching at BCGS, I qualified for C.1 German proficiency and I am now pursuing a master's degree in Berlin. I honestly believe that I accomplished much thanks solely to this program, and that there would have been no better way to spend my junior year of college.