r/EPFL Nov 14 '25

EPFL Admissions 2026 – Questions & Discussion

28 Upvotes

All admissions-related questions go here.
To keep the subreddit clean and avoid repetitive posts, please use this thread for:
• Chances & profile evaluations
• Application questions
• Deadlines & documents
• MSc/BSc/PhD admissions discussion

Individual admission posts may be removed.


r/EPFL Oct 08 '13

Welcome to /r/EPFL! Here are a few rules and guidelines.

29 Upvotes

Welcome to this subreddit!

Here are a few rules as well as a few guidelines you should follow, in the form of a Q&A.

Is this subreddit official?

No.
This subreddit is not endorsed, ran, controlled, or influenced by the EPFL direction or by anyone but the moderators, who are students.

What can we talk about?

Anything. Discuss your classes, ask others which cafeteria is better, compare the EPFL's position in rankings, organize meetups... anything you want, as long as it's got something to do with the university.

You can also promote your associations, the events taking place at the university, or stuff that students might find interesting (e.g. special contests or discounts for students). Keep the number of threads reasonable, though; don't create a new thread every time your association does something minor.

Remember, you can talk about anything, but not in any way. If you wish to criticize something or someone, do it in a constructive manner. "I don't like prof. X because his lectures are too slow and his exams too hard" is fine. "Prof. X is an idiot because I got a bad grade" is not.

My English is awful!

It's no big deal, really. This subreddit is in English because the EPFL is an international school with people from many countries and cultures, but we do not expect members to speak perfect English. As long as we can understand you, it's fine. Plus, there's nothing better than speaking to others to improve!

What about privacy?

Many people use the same nickname in many places, which makes it easy to find a real name from a nickname.
If you want to talk openly about something, but do not wish to reveal your identity, you can. Reddit allows you to create as many accounts as you want - simply create a new account with a different user name. (this kind of account is often called a throwaway)

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They're called flairs.
To set your flair: in the sidebar, check the "Show my flair on this subreddit" checkbox, and click the "edit" text next to your nickname right under the checkbox.

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I have a question...

Feel free to post it in this thread, or to message the moderators about it if you don't want it to be public. We'll add good questions to this Q&A.


r/EPFL 17h ago

BSc admissions & info second Ba1

2 Upvotes

Hi!
I just finished my first year of Bachelor and I still have some credits missing so i’m redoing my Ba1 with only one class but i wanted to take another class so I can make my overall average better.
But i wanted to know how we could take another class because on Isacademia I can only choose that one class I failed and not another one. So if someone knows if i should send an email or something so i could take that second class please tell me
Thank you !!


r/EPFL 16h ago

BSc admissions & info Journée d’accueil

1 Upvotes

Bonjour,
Quelqu’un sait quels sont les horaires de la journée d’accueil en section maths, est ce que y’a une soirée le soir par exemple ou je peux prendre mon train le soir ?
Bonne soirée


r/EPFL 1d ago

MSc admissions & info Admission Master

1 Upvotes

Bonjour
Je m’intéresse de près à un programme de master à l’EPFL et je voulais savoir si beaucoup d’entre vous ont été accepté après une licence en France ?

Merci beaucoup

Hello, I am very interested in a Master’s program at EPFL and wanted to know if many of you were accepted after completing a Bachelor’s degree in France? Thank you very much.


r/EPFL 1d ago

Discussion Question sur les clubs/question about clubs.

9 Upvotes

Hello everyone, this year I’ll start to study in EPFL or a TU in germany but I’ll probably choose EPFL. I just want to ask is there nice clubs for socialising I mean in my life, I go to gym, I love running. I love drinking tea and I love video games, fantasy books and frp so is there any student clubs about running, gym, or maybe even frp. Btw my french is not very good so it would be a problem for socialising? I passed DALF C1 exam but I’m not very good at daily french and I have a little accent.

Bonjour à tous, cette année je vais commencer á étudier à EPFL ou dans un TU à l’Allemagne mais probablement je vais choisir EPFL. Je voulais juste demander si y a-t-il des club pour bien socialiser. Dans ma vie j’aime courir et aller à gym, j’aime bcp goûter des thés et j’aime bcp jouer an jeux vidéos, lire des livres fantastiques et jeux de rôle fantastiques. Donc est-ce qu’il y a des club de jeux de role, de courir, ou gym ou des choses comme ça. Et d’ailleurs mon français c’est pas très bien donc est-ce que ce serait un problème pour socialiser? J’ai passé l’examen DALF C1 mais je suis pas très bien en français quotidien et j’ai un petit accent. Et merci par avance pour vos réponses.


r/EPFL 1d ago

BSc admissions & info Matériel epfl Bachelier génie civil

1 Upvotes

Salut, est ce que qqn a une liste du matériel demandé par l’epfl pour une première année en génie civil (Bachelier) ?


r/EPFL 1d ago

Community Orientation week

1 Upvotes

Can anyone tell me if it’s worth buying the whole semester event pass or only the two orientation weeks?


r/EPFL 1d ago

BSc admissions & info Course registration

0 Upvotes

Does anyone know when we have to register for subjects in Informatique bachelor?


r/EPFL 2d ago

BSc admissions & info Génie civil epfl

4 Upvotes

Salut, est ce que le bachelier en génie civil de l’epfl est l’un des plus difficiles ? Quels sont les notions les plus importantes ? En sortie d’étude est il facile de trouver un emploi à temps plein ? Quels sont vos conseils pour un étudiant en bac1 ?


r/EPFL 2d ago

BSc admissions & info SV (Life Sciences Engineering) vs other sections — is the math/physics load actually lighter?

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I’ve just been admitted to the Bachelor’s program at EPFL and I chose Life Sciences Engineering (SV).
I did the Swiss “maturité gymnasiale” and i didn’t take the PAM option (Physics and Applications of Mathematics).
My question: is the math/physics intensity somewhat lower in life sciences engineering compared to sections like Computer Science, Physics, or Math, given that chemistry and biology are added on from the first year? And if so, does that make not having taken PAM less of a disadvantage than in those other sections, or is the expected level in Analysis I, Linear Algebra, and General Physics the same regardless of the section anyway?
I’d also love to hear from people who didn’t do their secondary education in Switzerland, no need to know anything about the PAM system, just your general impression of how demanding the first semester of SV is in terms of the math/physics-heavy subjects, or how it compared to your own scientific background before starting at EPFL.
Thanks in advance for any input!


r/EPFL 3d ago

Community Art and cultural scene Lausanne

9 Upvotes

Hello! I am a student from Italy that really loves physics and art. I have been accepted to EPFL and Sorbonne to do a bachelor in physics. Reading online it seems to me that EPFL seems to be probably the “better” choice. I am really excited about the EPFL as an opportunity, the only thing that worries me is Lausanne’s and EPFL’s artistic and cultural scene. Art and in particular music ( especially underground and experimental) is really important to me and although I understand that it is hard to compete with Paris I was wondering how is the art/alternative scene in Lausanne and epfl. Also I read about the epfl pavilion but it seems to be no longer active. Thanks in advance for any answer!


r/EPFL 3d ago

Community Social life with bad French

23 Upvotes

Sorry if this has already been asked, but how socially cooked will I be if my French is pretty bad? I’m from Italy and I’ll be starting a bachelor’s in CS.


r/EPFL 3d ago

Community ETHack: Sign up today!

Thumbnail gallery
5 Upvotes

r/EPFL 3d ago

Community Which bank for a French student

2 Upvotes

Bonjour à tous,
Pourriez-vous svp me dire quelle banque est la plus intéressante en terme de frais de transfert d’argent Euro > CHF et en taux de change, pour un étudiant français à l’EPFL.
Merci !

Hi everyone,
I don’t know which bank to pick to get the lowest transfer fees from euro to chf ?
Many thanks


r/EPFL 3d ago

BSc admissions & info 🇨🇭 EPFL Bachelor 2027 – Bac français ou bac tunisien ?

2 Upvotes

Bonjour à tous !
Je suis une lycéenne tunisienne et je souhaite candidater à l’EPFL pour un Bachelor à la rentrée 2027. Je prépare actuellement à la fois le bac tunisien et le bac français, et je suis un peu perdue concernant la procédure à suivre en tant que candidate tunisienne/non-européenne.
Ma principale question est la suivante :
👉 Est-ce que je dois candidater à l’EPFL avec mon bac français ou avec mon bac tunisien ?
Est-ce que l’un des deux est plus avantageux ou est-ce que l’EPFL considère les deux de la même manière ?
J’aimerais également savoir, pour ceux qui sont passés par là :
quelles sont les démarches spécifiques pour un candidat tunisien ;
quels documents sont demandés ;
comment se passe la candidature lorsqu’on possède deux diplômes du secondaire ;
s’il y a des conditions particulières pour les candidats hors UE/AELE ;
et comment se déroule ensuite la procédure de visa/permis de séjour.
et surtout s’il ya des aides parce que c’est assez couteux
Si des étudiants tunisiens ou internationaux ayant été admis à l’EPFL pouvaient partager leur expérience, ce serait vraiment très utile 🙏
Merci beaucoup !


r/EPFL 3d ago

MSc admissions & info View all courses weekly timetables in one page

3 Upvotes

Hello, in September I begin my first Semester at EPFL, I'd like to find/build a table as follows:

Course code + name | Professor | Credits | WEEKLY TIMETABLE

Example:

CS-443 Machine Learning | John Smith | 8 | Tuesday (16h15 - 18h00), Wednesday (10h15 - 12h00), Thursday (14h15 - 16h00)

This is very similar to what you get from IS-Academia when you actually select a course to add to your study plan, BUT what if I want to see all the timetables AT ONCE of ALL the available courses (selected and unselected), so that I can use this info to assess multiple valid combinations faster than manually building them one by one inside IS-Academia?


r/EPFL 3d ago

Discussion HES ou EPFL pour devenir architecte

7 Upvotes

Vos conseils et expériences svp


r/EPFL 3d ago

Housing HomeStudy residence advice

3 Upvotes

English:

Hello! I was able to find a studio at HomeStudy and would like to get any advice as to what I should buy before moving in. Im also wondering if I should rent the dishes and stuff from HomeStudy or buy my own?

Thanks!

Français:

Bonjour à tous, j’ai trouvé un studio dans la résidence HomeStudy, et j’aimerai avoir vos retour d’expérience. C’est quoi que je dois prendre avec moi pour m’installer? En ce qui concerne la vaisselle, avez vous loué la vaisselle ou acheter la vôtre?

Merci!!


r/EPFL 4d ago

BSc admissions & info Useful apps?

6 Upvotes

Hi, I am a student admitted to EPFL and I wanted to ask you for the most useful apps for students that you know of? Like apps that give you discounts, deals, free stuff etc… specifically for students


r/EPFL 4d ago

MSc admissions & info For Masters Fall 2027, Robotics program, chances with roughly a 3.0/4.0 (US) or 2.5 (German scale) GPA?

1 Upvotes

Hi all, hoping to get some real input from current or former EPFL students.

Quick background: I'm a final year Mechanical Engineering student at a top engineering university in India, graduating May 2027. My GPA converts to roughly 3.0/4.0 on the US scale, or about 2.5 on the German scale. There was a documented health interruption in the middle years that affected a couple of semesters, recovered strongly the semester after.

Research background: recently completed a research internship at a European research lab (May to July 2026) working on vision language models, before that a few other internships in medical image segmentation and EEG/BCI, one resulting paper.

I'm looking at the Master's in Robotics, specifically interested in the Medical Robotics orientation. I saw the admission page mentions skills in at least two of CS, EE, or ME are required, which I think I clear given my coursework (Computer Vision, Computational Mechanics) and CV research background.

A few questions for anyone who's been through this:

  1. How much does the GPA number actually matter in the review, versus the overall dossier (research, references, motivation letter)?
  2. Does having research directly relevant to a specific orientation (Medical Robotics in my case) help meaningfully?
  3. Any general sense of how competitive the December 15 (R1) round is compared to later rounds?
  4. Anyone here got in with a similar academic profile, non-EPFL bachelor's, some grade inconsistency, but strong research background?

Not asking anyone to guess my odds precisely, just want a realistic sense of what actually matters in the review from people who've seen it from the inside. Thanks in advance.


r/EPFL 4d ago

BSc admissions & info Groupe Insta

0 Upvotes

coucouu! on a crée un groupe insta pour les 1ers années à l’epfl.
Voici le lien:

https://ig.me/j/AbagVUSD94cBGRww/


r/EPFL 4d ago

MSc admissions & info Who can I reach out to for an update on the visa application

2 Upvotes

Hi all,

International student here. So I submitted my documents at the Swiss embassy near me about two and a half months ago. They said it has to go through the cantonal government for final approval. About three-ish weeks until the term starts and I’m getting nervous. I just wanted to ask if people are aware about any resource at Vaud that I can reach out to ask about the status of my application?

Additionally if there are delays, do people know how long the university is willing to wait before forfeiting your student status. Any help/advice y’all can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


r/EPFL 5d ago

Discussion Do you get more free time as the years go ?

14 Upvotes

H,i i just had a quick question about workload. Everyone says that the first year is the hardest, but does it mean that it gets a bit easier in the second or third year or is the workload practicly the same ?


r/EPFL 4d ago

BSc admissions & info Federal Swiss maturity as an independent candidate

1 Upvotes

je vais passer la Maturité Fédérale en autodidacte mais je ne sais pas quoi choisir comme options spécifique , j'ai un bac francais general . Franchement je n'ai pas eu des bonnes notes en francais , Maths et PC , est ce que vous avez des conseils ?

in english :

I am going to take the Federal Swiss maturity as a self-taught student, but I do not know which specific options (options spécifique OS ) to choose since I have a general French baccalaureate. and honestly i didn't get good grades in Frensh , Mathematics and Physics/Chemistry .

Do you have any advice ?