Fifteen years ago or so, I was enrolled in a PhD program in a scientific discipline at a top-level university in the U.S. At first I performed well; purely in terms of knowledge and problem-solving ability, there are objective indications that I was near the top of my cohort. But a couple of years into the program I had some personal difficulties and everything went downhill from there, as I was completely unable to focus on my work. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, but my advisor came away with a very negative opinion of me - that I was smart but extremely lazy. I can’t honestly say I blame her, as I didn’t take any steps to explain why I was in such a slump for such a long time. I dropped out of the program after that.
Now I’d like to try to go back to school and do a doctorate in the same field, as I feel my calling is to do research in that area. Given the way admissions work, I think my chances of getting into a top-level program in the U.S. are extremely limited, as I’ve essentially burned my bridges. A big stumbling block (though not the only one - I’ve been out of school for many years) is that universities explicitly require transcripts from all institutions attended as part of an application.
On the other hand, I have the impression that at least in some European countries, things may work differently. I visited the webpages of some reputable universities in Germany, and found that the admission applications in some cases appear to ask only for documentation from studies at the immediately preceding level (bachelor’s for admission to a master’s, master’s for admission to a doctorate).
Also, one German university I spotted has an entrance exam to their master’s program for students from outside the EU, which would at least give me a chance to demonstrate my present level of ability. My impression - which may be entirely mistaken given how little I know about the German system - is that a university like that one probably routinely admits domestic students who meet minimal admission requirements, but then doesn’t mind having a large proportion of them fail the tough exams once they’re in. That would be perfect for me, because I’m confident in my ability to do well, just not to convince an admissions committee that I will.
So I’ve come up with the following plan. Try to gain admission to a well-regarded master’s program in Europe (or in a developed country elsewhere), and from there apply to a good PhD program some place that looks only at the previous level of studies. Language of instruction is not an issue as I’ll adapt regardless. [Edit: Realistically, I'm only thinking of European languages here.]
I am looking for guidance as to what a reasonable next step would be along this path. My questions are addressed to people very familiar with university systems outside North America. Here they are:
Given the entirety of the situation I’ve described, what countries should I be considering? In particular, in what countries would one or more of the following practices not be out of the ordinary?
a) Admission to a master’s and/or PhD program involves minimal documentation. In particular, no CV is required and there is no requirement to provide transcripts from all universities attended. The focus is on performance at the next lower level of study.
b) Admission of foreign students to a master’s program is based largely on an entrance exam.
c) Even good universities may have lax admission standards at the master’s level; the reputation of a program is based mainly on the difficulty of meeting the program requirements once you’re in.
Edit Given that my question has been found unclear, I will try to reformulate it as follows.
In what countries with a significant amount of high-level scientific research is it least disadvantageous in an application to a master's or PhD program that one has failed in a PhD in the past? Consider the academic culture, as well as typical admissions policies and procedures in that country.
View the question the way I wrote it before as indicative of possible things that might make the failed PhD less detrimental.
